The math department has chosen a standardized, computer- generated test to replace the assessment test it has used for the past 20 years to determine students’ appropriate placement in math classes.

The new test – called the Accuplacer Exam – will become the official assessment test in two or more semesters.

It will replace the current comprehensive diagnostic program for testing incoming freshmen created by the UC, CSU, and community college systems.

“I think the [current] tests were effective measures,” said mathematics instructor Holly Kresch. “But they have been around for a very long time, so it is time to update them for many reasons.”

Kresch cited those reasons as test security, the cost of giving the exams with proctors, and the fees to the company that holds the copyright to the exams.

The Accuplacer Exam is a computerized “smart test” that adjusts the difficulty of its multiple-choice questions to the test-taker’s skill level. If the problem is answered correctly, the next question will be slightly more difficult. If the problem is answered incorrectly, the next question will be slightly easier.

The exam typically takes 30 to 45 minutes to complete, but is not timed and calculators are not allowed.

Upon completion of the exam, students receive a printout displaying their score, percentile, time record, and course placements.

“It tends to zero in on the student’s abilities,” said math teacher Tom Mowry, who has worked extensively on the Accuplacer Exam. “Using that zeroing-in aspect, we’re hoping to be able to more realistically place students in all of our courses.”

DVC math students are being asked to try out the Accuplacer Exam in the math lab.

Saira Tiwana, who took the test last week, said she found the questions stimulating and liked having a paperless exam. But she said the computerized test posed one major problem.

 “We can’t go back to check our answers,” Tiwana said. “I was frustrated. I would prefer it if I could go back and check.”

Mowry said there have been security breaches regarding the current assessment exam.

 “Everybody gets the same exam, and I’m sure some students have given other students answers,” he said. “Case in point: one student went in to take the exam [and] finished in five minutes with a perfect score. The only way that could have happened is if he had the answers.”

While most of the Accuplacer Exam has been finalized for use at DVC, the point scale has not yet been determined.

“We’re trying to figure out, as the students come out of the prerequisite courses, what mathematical levels they have,” Mowry said. “We’re correlating that with the grades they got in the courses to see what kind of a cut score we can use in the future.”