• Journal of Korean language education
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.1-24
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• 2017

This article explores the developmental history of TOPIK over the last 20 years and its recent trends. Over the last two decades, TOPIK underwent two major systematic reforms, achieving both quantitative and qualitative growth over the course of its 52 testing sessions. TOPIK has utilized a six-level evaluation system from its inception to the present. The evaluation system was amended from the earlier six-test set - whereby each level corresponded with a separate test (1997~2005: the $1^{st}{\sim}9^{th}$) - to the three-test set (2006~2014: the $10^{th}{\sim}34^{th}$), and finally to the two-test set (2014~present: the $35^{th}{\sim}42^{nd}$). In the earlier exams, abilities in Vocabulary Grammar, Writing, Listening, and Reading were assessed. However, beginning with the $35^{th}$ TOPIK, abilities in Listening, Reading, and Writing (only in TOPIK II) were assessed and the evaluation of the writing section was changed to a task-based process, improving TOPIK into a more qualified analysis of proficiency. Over the last 20 years, the number of countries TOPIK is administered in has greatly increased from 4 to 73 countries, and the annual number of test-takers has also significantly increased from 2,692 to 250,141. The distribution of proficiency levels of the test-takers has shifted over time - initially "Beginner>Intermediate>Advanced" in the earlier exams, to "Intermediate>Advanced>Beginner" after the mid 2000s - as the number of those studying the Korean language for specific purposes and continuing education increased. Test-takers have indicated a shift in their purpose for taking the exam, initially citing "to assess proficiency" and more recently selecting "to study abroad," and this could also correlate with changes in the proportion of test-takers' proficiency level. In general, 85~95% of beginner, 50~65% of intermediate, and 45~60% of advanced test applicants passed the respective proficiency level. To date, no practices have yet been implemented to standardize the difficulty level longitudinally across test sets.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.1-12
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• 2018

In this study, we introduce the background and model for the Test of Practical Competency in ICT(TOPCIT), which is designed to diagnose and assess the competency of ICT industry related workers and software(SW) developers, and also attempt to derive meaningful policy implications for developing a global level of ICT SW competency evaluation system across the different cases in domestic and foreign countries with regard to the application and dissemination of the TOPCIT. First, we analyze the test results from surveys conducted a preliminary test (or a pilot test) for the process of global dissemination of the TOPCIT in 2015. Then, we attempt to compare the results with the domestic test results. The findings show that the average score between domestic and foreign test takers was similar, but in the highest score group, the number of domestic test takers was relatively higher than the number of foreign test takers. Moreover, the average score can be varied by the language ability, especially fluent in English, of test takers. Therefore, the findings suggest that the localization is one of the key components for building upon the global TOPCIT system.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.33-40
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• 2010

This study aims at investigating the linguistic and educational factors affecting TOEFL scores, focusing on three OECD countries, Korea, Japan, and Finland. The data comprise document analysis on curriculums, websites, and literature. The findings reveal that the number of Korean test-takers and their TOEFL scores gradually increased year by year. Finnish test-takers consistently gained greatly high scores, and Japanese examinees showed the lowest scores. The languages Korean, Japanese, and Finnish are all far distant from English and receive little support on historical grounds from the Indo-European family tree. In Finland, however, Swedish which belongs to Indo-European languages is still used as an official language with Finnish. Korea and Finland adopt English education from Year 3 in primary school, whereas English is not an official subject in primary school at present in Japan. Finnish students are taught a foreign language in addition to English from primary school. These seem to support the result of the high TOEFL scores of Finnish test-takers. This study concludes that social context which includes linguistic and educational environments are the main factors which affect TOEFL scores.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.191-210
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• 2004

The scores of TOEFL, TOEIC and TEPS have been increasingly used for many purposes in Korea In particular, these test scores are being used as a measure of the test-takers' overall communicative competence. Nonetheless, few studies have been conducted that investigate the validity of the test scores used for this purpose. As a preliminary step to explore the validity of the test scores, we conducted a small scale study by comparing 30 university students' scores in TOEFL, TOElC and TEPS with their class performances in English conversation and composition courses. The correlations between the test scores and the grade point averages of the courses show that the test scores are much harder to use as a valid measure of test-takers' overall communicative competence than usually thought to be and that the score in TOEFL is, nonetheless, a more reliable measure than the ones in the other tests. Although tins study has a few limitations such as the small number of participants, the homogeneity of the sample as a group, etc, it provides some insight into the use of the three tests for measurement of overall communicative proficiency and suggests need for conducting further validation studies in these areas.

• Journal of Korean Dental Science
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.58-65
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• 2019

Purpose: This study was aimed to investigate the possibility of utilizing smart device-based test (SBT) for competency evaluation in dental education and to analyze the student responses on overall competency evaluation using SBT method, in comparison to ubiquitous-based test (UBT). Materials and Methods: Questionnaire surveys have been conducted at Yonsei University College of Dentistry from 2015 to 2018 to obtain students' feedback on the application of SBT to competency evaluation. In addition, in order to supplement the competency evaluation procedure, considerations were explored by comparing the expected and actual difficulty of each item when preparing items for competency evaluation with SBT. Result: According to the survey results, student responses between the initial two years (2015 and 2016) differed from those in next two years (2017 and 2018). Students in 2017 and 2018 had more positive responses on competency evaluation with SBT. To determine the test validity, criterion-referenced evaluation was adopted to compare the data in 2017 and 2018 and slight differences in test difficulty in 2018 between the expected and actual difficulty of items were found. Conclusion: The results indicated that SBT was more appropriate for competency evaluation than UBT, based on four-year period of competency evaluation. The SBT was not affected by either the file size or the number of test-takers. Interestingly, students were not sensitive to test version of competency evaluation (paper-based test and SBT). This study suggests that the quality of the test items should be measured by continuous monitoring of the expected and actual difficulty of items for determining test validity. More detailed results and discussions of the findings are given for the development of test procedure and further potential research directions in dental education.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.59 no.12
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• pp.483-489
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• 2016

Purpose: We investigated the number of test takers of the Korean-Developmental Screening Test (K-DST) in a single children's hospital within a year, according to age, referral rate, and follow-up percentage. Methods: For this study, 4,062 children who visited and received K-DST at Woorisoa Children's Hospital between January and December 2015 were enrolled. Seven test sets were used according to the Korean National Health Screening Program for infants and children in the following age groups: 4 to 6, 9 to 12, 18 to 24, 30 to 36, 42 to 48, 54 to 60, and 66 to 71 months. The results of the K-DST were categorized into 4 groups as follows: further evaluation (<-2 standard deviation [-2SD]), follow-up test (-2SD to -1SD), peer level (-1SD to 1SD), and high level (>1SD). Results: The test participants' population and follow-up population were concentrated before the age of 24 months (2,532, 62.3%). The children most commonly referred for further evaluation were those in the 30- to 41-month age group. A mismatch was found between the results of the K-DST and the additional questions. Most of the infants and children with suspicious developmental delays showed catch-up development in their follow-up tests (43 of 55, 78.2%). Conclusion: The use of K-DST should be encouraged, especially among children aged over 24 months. Multiple-choice question format for the additional questions is recommended to avoid confusion. We suggest a nationwide study to evaluate and revise the K-DST.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.21-31
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• 2019

This study examines a Song-dynasty book entitled TaeYiKukZieKuaZungMun Kyuk (A Collection of Imperial Medical Service Examination Questions and Answers 太醫局諸科程文格), which is the collection of questions and answers in the state examinations on medicine. This book was compiled by Hah Dae-yim (何大任) who was the vice-principal of the TaeYiKuk (The Imperial Medical Service 太醫局). The book consists of nine chapters. The present study reviewed all the chapters and found a number of significant issues. First, test-takers were required to be highly proficient in the fundamental knowledge of canonic texts of East Asian medicine. Second, pulse diagnosis was emphasized among the four diagnostic methods (四診). Third, herbal medicine formulas are organized according to the fixed structures of Ki Bang (奇方), which contained an odd number of herbs and Wu Bang (偶方), which contained an even numbered herbs), and fixed ratios for mixing various herbs. Fourth, there is a theory for division of therapies in which acupuncture is used for meridian diseases and herbal medicine for organ diseases. Fifth, herbal medicine formulas based on Unki theory (運氣學) are simpler than those of the previous generations. Sixth, the knowledge on the place of origin of herbs was emphasized. Seventh, knowledge of the relationship between herbs was also emphasized. Eighth, Tang (湯) and San (散) were used most frequently as forms of medicine.

• The Journal of Korean Association of Computer Education
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.29-37
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• 2018

In this paper, questions from the last three years' appointment examinations for secondary teachers for informatics computer subjects are classified in a way to fit thirteen basic mandatory courses, for which the composition of scores and the number of questions tested were examined. Of these thirteen basic mandatory courses, questions from six basic mandatory courses with high frequency of assessment were analyzed on their score composition based on the evaluation area. In addition, questions testing knowledge in C language were analyzed separately. The results show scores for the curriculum content subjects ranged from 0% to 17.1%, and the ratio of questions tested from curriculum content subjects 0% to 15.8%. In addition, questions from three courses showed a large deviation in scores for each year. Second, the score composition based on the evaluation area showed a large discrepancy, ranging from 0% to 52.0%. Lastly, the questions tested on the C language exhibited high score on average at 33%. Based on the results from the analysis, this study proposed plans to improve ways to evaluate test takers' aptitude.