Improving Students' Score in the General Aptitude Test with Test Repetition without the Need of Professional Training: تحسّن درجة الطالب في اختبار القدرات العامة بتكرار أخذه للاختبار ولو بدون تدريب احترافي

This study aimed to identify the extent to which students' score on the General Aptitude Test (GAT) improved when taking the test more than once. The semi-experimental approach was applied for its relevance to the objectives of the current study to follow up on the experience of repeating the GAT several times by the target students. The study sample consisted of (40) high school students who took the GAT (once, twice, three times, four times). The results of the study showed statistically significant differences between students’ scores on the GAT according to the difference in the number of times they took the test; the students’ score improved when they took the test more than once. Besides, the study showed that there were no statistically significant differences at the level of significance (0.05) between the average score on the GAT in the second time and the average score in the third time; there is no improvement in their grades the third time compared to their scores the second time. The study recommended educating students to take the test more than once, in order to achieve the best possible result. The study concluded that taking the test more than once has positive effects on the student and their families and mitigate worrying about the process of repeating the test. Finally, in light of the results, the study suggested conducting some studies with the aim to investigate the students’ reluctance to repeat the test four times and a study to identify the forms of professional training necessary for students to test and study the training's impact on students' psychology and their future aspirations.

Exploring Saudi Students’ Perceptions of National Exams: A Washback Study

Research on washback and impact of tests (either positive or negative) on teaching and learning in the language assessment field has proliferated in approximately the last three decades. This study aims to explore the positive washback of the General Aptitude Test (GAT) and Scholastic Achievement Admission Test (SAAT) based on the perceptions of secondary school students in Saudi Arabia since this topic is underresearched in the literature. While the existing research has provided insight into the validity and reliability of these tests, we have a limited understanding of how these tests can positively impact the performance of students. In this qualitative study, data were collected from 103 participants using a case study approach through the means of semistructured questionnaires and semistructured interviews. Data were analyzed inductively by employing a computer program called NVivo. The results of the study showed that the participants were positively influenced by the test. This impact was manifested in students’ low pressure test-taking experiences, their successful honing of soft skills needed for future university study instead of reliance merely on indoctrination or the memorization of information and the feasibility of enrollment in universities because the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) is no longer the sole indicator of academic performance. Students’ scores increased due to the method of testing, test preparation and test retaking, which played key roles in promoting score gains and thus accentuating a positive washback.

Saudi Standardized Tests and English Competence: Association and Prediction for Freshmen Medical Students’ Performance in Chemistry

The research is created to investigate the prediction of admission criteria for medical student achievement in chemistry in Saudi Arabia. It examines if the General Aptitude Test (GAT), the Scholastic Achievement Admission Test (SAAT), and English competence, can to a certain extent predict and foretell students’ achievement in the chemistry. The study sample consists of 240 participants, providing their grades in the admission criteria and chemistry. Regression analyses are utilized to define the weight of individual admission criterion prediction for student achievement in chemistry. It illustrates that admission criteria could predict students’ grades in chemistry with a variance of 30%. The results also show English competence does play a more significant rule in predicting students’ performance in chemistry. More research is needed to examine whether these criteria are also predictors with a large scale of students’ population.

Assessment of Civil Servants’ General Competencies while Implementing the Civil Service Competency Model in Lithuanian Municipalities

This paper presents summarized results of a survey on the new Civil Service Competency Model implemented in the Republic of Lithuania. Mažeikiai District Municipality was chosen for this survey.This complex study using qualitative research (semi-structured individual interviews) and quantitativeresearch (questionnaire with closed questions for opinion investigation) methods confirmed scientists’ opinion about the benefits of a centralised assessment of key competencies in the selection process and showed that a general aptitude test should be continuously revised and updated. Municipal authorities emphasised that specific and so far not assessed but very important competencies, such as decision making, project development, managerial, should be assessed. 25 civil servants from MažeikiaiDistrict Municipality, who took part in the competition for a position and passed a general aptitude test, supported centralised assessment of general competencies as contributing to the objectivity and transparency of the selection process.

Proposal for Evaluating Workers’ Work Characteristics – Case Study on Business Machinery Production Line –

The General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) is widely used to evaluate a subject’s cognitive ability for the purpose of selecting appropriate employment. The results of the GATB have been used to place staff in departments ranging from clerical departments to assembly lines. However, at actual manufacturing and assembly sites, workers receive mixed evaluations of “slow work” and “fast work” from the site administrators even though they all have high GATB scores for their jobs. In this study, with the aim of improving job design and employment selection, we do a detailed analysis of the existing GATB method of evaluating work characteristics and worker capacities. We conduct inspection ratings to measure each worker’s ability to adjust their working speeds and analyze the relationship between the GATB score and the worker evaluations. Next, we discover specific motions that explain the evaluation of workers by analyzing worker motions during the GATB. Lastly, we propose a method of determining whether an employee can work quickly in the field.