The concept of testing is used in multiple areas.
Test is an English word accepted by the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) . This concept refers to tests designed to evaluate knowledge, skills or functions .
The word test can be used as a synonym for exam . Exams are very frequent in the educational field since they allow the knowledge acquired by students to be evaluated. They can be oral or written, with open-response questions (where the student answers freely) or multiple-choice questions (the student must select the correct answer from a list).
Multiple choice exam
In Spain, the term multiple choice exam is used to refer to the second type of test mentioned in the previous paragraph, which presents questions with multiple possible answers. It is usually very common in universities and foreign language teaching institutes. There are different positions regarding the validity of this methodology, since a correct answer does not always reflect having studied , but may simply be due to luck. In fact, given that it is easier to recognize a phrase having seen it written on another occasion than to know a topic in depth and be able to explain it, even when a student passes without cheating, it cannot be said that he or she has learned.
Educational centers, 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's entirely possible that a computer will do the hard work of reviewing the tests, returning a series of cold, vague scores 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 believe they are incorporating .
Test to obtain a driver's license
The tests are also used to obtain a driver's permit or license . Whoever wants to drive a vehicle must obtain an administrative authorization, which is obtained after successfully passing an exam.
It is important to indicate that anyone who drives without a license is in violation of the law .
A test can be an evaluation.
psychological test
Psychological tests , on the other hand, are tools that allow us to evaluate or measure the psychological characteristics of a subject. The answers given by a person are compared through statistical or qualitative methods with the answers 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 psychometrics . In many schools it is mandatory to subject students to psychometric tests to detect potential adaptation and learning problems.
Check the software
In software development , it is essential that part of the process is dedicated to examining the product, looking for potential errors 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 through all possible paths , acting both as consumers will do and in an unusual way, almost causing errors, to ensure the solidity of the applications. and its resistance to inevitable misuse.
Genetic test
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 hereditary diseases.
In this way, it is possible to determine the individual's predisposition to develop these diseases .