There’s a lot going on in the world of education right now, and we are learning not only new content, but new ways to show our learning.
So, February marks the time to prepare for these new formats of exams. Some of these exams are formatted in a way such that they are hybrid or online.
How are this year’s exams different?
Let’s start with AP exams. For some popular college credit receiving exams like AP Biology or AP Calculus, it appears the exam will retain much of its pre-Covid structure. Most AP exams will still be in person with paper and pencil, in May.
The exam will be administered for many students at the same time, at their specific schools of attendance. Testing centers which host many students taking exams are also prevalent. For a comprehensive look at the policies and guidelines of these standard format exams — which remain standard from many years past, click here.
Still however, the pandemic is a factor in exam administration.
For AP exams like AP English literature and AP World History, there will be a selection of exams hosted still in school, but online in a digital format. The key takeaways to understand for how these exams will operate differently are:
- The school must have applied in fall of 2021 to administer the exam online
- The exam will still be taken at the school in a proctored setting
- Students will be able to go back and forth online with questions
- Schools may be able to provide Windows, Mac, Chromebooks or even Ipads for the exam
- Digital and paper exams will be taken in different locations within the school
For graduate degrees, the online format is also variable. The GRE is a good example to understand. A grueling 3 hours and 45 minutes, this exam is known to be tough even prior to the pandemic. With the shifts in learning, the GRE averages 1.5 million test takers with a mean score of around 150 out of 170 for the quantitative and verbal reasoning sections. The exam is entirely administered online. Here are some of the considerations for GRE for adult learners of this time:
- You can edit your answers and preview sections
- There is a built-in calculator function
- You can mark/ review answers on the digital format
- You can take the exam at home or at a testing facility
- At home testing is available 24/7 and proctored by an online human proctor.
To read more about these exams, click here.
With all of these exam changes, it will be interesting to see how students this year fair with online test scores! Seems like a good time to goal-set, and get help tutoring if you need it!
