Christine Coombe

To change or not to change: investigating the value of MCQ answer changing for Gulf Arab students

This study investigates whether the practice of answer changing on multiple-choice questions (MCQs) is beneficial to Gulf Arab students’ overall test performance. The proficiency exam used in this study is the Michigan English Language Institute College English Test - Grammar, Cloze, Vocabulary, Reading (MELICET-GCVR), which was developed using retired forms of the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB). This exam was administered to 286 students at Kuwait University and Dubai Men’s College, Higher Colleges of Technology. Findings suggest that we should encourage students to change answers judiciously after they have scrutinized their original answers for more plausible alternatives. Most important, students should not be influenced by traditional perceptions that incorrectly malign answer changing. The effect of item difficulty as well as its impact on answer changing is also reported. Finally, information on the efficacy of one specific objective test strategy, that of changing answers, is disseminated.

Common Educational Proficiency Assessment (CEPA) in English

The Common Educational Proficiency Assessment (CEPA) is a large-scale, high-stakes, English language proficiency/placement test administered in the United Arab Emirates to Emirati nationals in their final year of secondary education or Grade 12. The purpose of the CEPA is to place students into English classes at the appropriate government institution. The first administration of the CEPA began in 2002 as a joint venture between the National Admissions and Placement Office (NAPO) in the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and the three federal higher education institutions in the UAE, namely the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), and Zayed University (ZU). Currently, the CEPA office has full-time staff dedicated to the development, scoring, and administration of the exam. In addition to CEPA English, students can also sit CEPA Mathematics upon request.