Open-ended questions possible on university entrance tests, says board

ANKARA

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“By next year, it is possible to partially switch to open-ended questions,” YÖK head Yekta Saraç said. “On 2017 university entrance examinations, on tests that are taken by fewer students, it is highly possible that open-ended questions will be included, even though they would be in small numbers. In the first step, it would be a better method to have questions which are looking for fewer words, maybe one-word or single-numbered answers.”



According to the plan, YÖK is also preparing to offer university entrance examinations more than once a year.



Saraç said YÖK was also working on a plan for universities in which it will look at all criteria, such as infrastructure, classrooms, libraries, laboratories and student satisfaction in its examination of university quality.



“During the education process, without giving a time frame and by making on-site supervisions, we will examine issues like infrastructure, library capacities, education quality and student satisfaction. In the assessment of future quotas, reports on these assessments will be taken into consideration,” said Saraç.



The YÖK head also touched upon a new upper quota system that they have enacted for certain departments like medicine and law due to intense demand for associate degree programs in health fields.



Saraç said some of the demands of the Health Ministry and universities were in conflict, as the ministry wants a reduction in quotas in medicine, pharmacy studies and other health programs, while educational institutions want “almost unlimited quotas.”



The current multiple choice test system for university entrance examinations could be replaced by an open-ended question system, the head of Turkey’s Higher Education Board (TÖK) has said.