What Does test Mean
Test is an English word accepted by the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) . This concept refers to tests designed to assess knowledge, skills or functions .
The word test can be used as a synonym for exam . The exams are very frequent in the educational field since they allow to evaluate the knowledge acquired by the students . The exams can be oral or written, with open-ended questions (where the student responds freely) or multiple-choice questions (the student must select the correct answer from a list).
In Spain, the term multiple choice test is used to refer to the second type of test mentioned in the previous paragraph, which presents questions with multiple possible answers. It is very common in universities and foreign language teaching institutes. There are different positions regarding the validity of this methodology, since a success does not always reflect having studied , but may simply be due to luck. In fact, since it is easier to recognize a sentence from having seen it written on another occasion than to know a subject in depth and be able to explain it, even when a student passes without cheating, it cannot be said that he has learned.
Schools, on the other hand, seem to be the ones who benefit the most from multiple choice exams, since correcting them is very easy; Depending on how the quizzes are designed , it is quite possible for a computer to do the hard work of reviewing the tests, returning a series of cold and imprecise grades that students will accept as a symbol of how much they know . The problem is that to prepare, they must mechanically overcome a series of challenges, such as writing a narrative in less than ten minutes, which have nothing to do with the real usefulness of the knowledge they think they are incorporating .
The tests are also used to obtain a driver's license or permit . Anyone who wants to drive a vehicle must obtain an administrative authorization, which is obtained after successfully passing an exam. He who drives without a license is in breach of the law .
The psychological tests , on the other hand, are tools to evaluate or measure the psychological characteristics of a subject. The responses given by one person are compared through statistical or qualitative methods with the responses of other individuals who completed the same test, which allows a classification to be made.
The branch of psychology that is responsible for measuring personality traits and mental abilities is known as psychometry . In many schools it is mandatory to submit students to psychometric tests to warn of potential adaptation and learning problems.
In software development, it is essential that a part of the process is dedicated to examining the product, looking for potential faults to correct them before launching it on the market. This is much more complex than it may seem to an inexperienced user who only wants to satisfy a specific need through a program. It takes numerous teams of people testing the programs for months in an organized and gradual way, trying to go all the possible paths , acting as much as consumers will and in an unusual way, almost causing errors, to ensure the robustness of the applications. and its resistance to inevitable misuse.
Finally, it should be noted that a genetic test is a biochemical procedure that analyzes a person's DNA, RNA, chromosomes, proteins and metabolites to detect genotypes, mutations, phenotypes or karyotypes linked to inherited diseases. In this way, it is possible to determine the predisposition of the individual to develop these diseases .