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South Bend Tribune (Indiana)

November 27, 1994, Sunday, MICHIGAN, INDIANA, TRIBUNE

GRE test goes high tech * paper, pencils giving way to computer screens, mouse

The mouse replaces the No. 2 pencil, and the computer screen replaces the test booklet.

The GRE General Test is going computerized, offering up a menu of advantages and disadvantages for people considering graduate school.

GRE stands for Graduate Record Examinations, and the GRE General Test is a graduate school admissions exam. The test is produced, administered and scored by Educational Testing Service in Princeton, N.J.

For the next couple of years, the traditional paper-and-pencil version of the test is being phased out and replaced by a computerized version. In fact, the goal is to no longer offer the paper-and-pencil version beginning with the 1997-98 school year.

About 400,000 people are expected to take the exam in 1994-95, and about 40,000 of them will take it on a computer, according to ETS.

Taking the exam on a computer can raise anxiety levels for those more comfortable with the traditional paper-and-pencil test, said Jose Ferreira, national GRE director for Kaplan Educational Centers, a test-preparation company.

"Because it is so different, it stresses a lot of people out," he said. "Taking a standardized test is already a stressful experience, and taking it on a computer can really stress some people out."

Instead of using a pencil to fill in the bubbles in a test booklet, you use a mouse to mark your answers on a computer screen.

That leads to several advantages. For example, you can find out your score in just minutes after finishing the computerized test. With the paper-and-pencil test, it takes about four to six weeks for you to learn your score.

And with the computerized test, graduate schools receive your score about two weeks after you take the test. With the paper-and-pencil version, it takes about four to six weeks for graduate schools to receive your score.

The computerized and paper-and-pencil versions have different formats.

The paper-and-pencil version consists of seven 30-minute sections: two verbal sections, two quantitative (math), two analytical, and one section containing questions that are being tested for future exams.

The computerized test has four sections: one 30-minute verbal section, one 45-minute quantitative (math), one 60-minute analytical, and a fourth section containing experimental questions used to develop future tests.

In the paper-and-pencil version, you answer as many questions as you can in the 30 minutes allowed for each section. In the computerized version, however, you must answer 80 percent of the questions in each section just to receive a score for that section.

And how you answer each question on the computerized test determines which question you receive next. For example, the first couple of questions will be of medium difficulty.

If you answer both questions correctly, the computer begins to feed you more difficult questions. Then, if you miss some of these questions, the computer begins to feed you questions that are a little bit easier.

From then on, each question you receive will be one that satisfies both your previous performance and the design of the test. Therefore, each test is unique to the abilities of the person taking it.

That leads to some disadvantages. You must answer the questions in the order the computer presents them, meaning you cannot skip around. You also cannot leave an answer blank, and once you answer a question, you cannot go back and change your answer.

This alters some of the strategies used when taking the paper-and-pencil version of the test, said Ron Adelsman, who teaches test preparation at Indiana University South Bend.

For example, there are 38 questions in a verbal section of the paper-and-pencil test. Adelsman suggests that you answer the reading comprehension questions last because they take the most time. He said you should answer the sentence completions and analogies, skip ahead to the antonyms, and then spend the rest of your time on the reading comprehension. His strategy isn't possible on the computerized test.

David Waldherr, president of Cambridge Educational Services, a campus-based test-prep company, said the computerized test can cause anxiety among prospective graduate students.

"If you've been out of school 20 years, don't use computers, are unsure of your math skills, and know you can't skip around, I think that would be a little bit intimidating," he said.

Before the computerized exam begins, test-takers use what is called a tutorial, or a program that helps them learn how to navigate the test. The tutorial explains how to use a mouse, how to scroll through a reading passage, how to mark answers and how to check the time remaining, among other things.

Test-takers will be given scratch paper to write on.

The computerized version of the test is now offered nationwide at Sylvan Learning Centers, including the one in Mishawaka, and about 20 colleges and universities. More and more colleges and universities are expected to begin offering the computerized test.

While the paper-and-pencil version of the test may be taken only on certain days of the year, the computerized version may be taken almost any time by appointment.

But if you are not yet prepared to take the GRE General Test on a computer, don't worry. The paper-and-pencil exam schedule for the 1994-95 school year consists of four dates. The first test date was last month, and the other paper-and-pencil dates are Dec. 10, April 8 and June 3. The February test date has been dropped.

Slowly, the number of paper-and-pencil test dates will decrease. For example, the goal is to have only two paper-and-pencil test dates for the 1995-96 school year, and one test date in 1996-97. Beginning with 1997-98, the GRE General Test will be given only on a computer.

In addition to the GRE General Test, computerized subject-specific GRE tests also will be phased in. Beginning in April 1995, the Psychology, Literature in English, and Biology GRE tests may be taken on a computer. Other subject-specific tests will be offered on a computer thereafter.

GRE TEST SCHEDULE

The paper-and-pencil version of the GRE General Test will be administered three more times this school year - Dec. 10, April 8 and June 3.

GRE stands for Graduate Record Examinations, and the GRE General Test is a graduate school admissions exam.

The registration deadline for the Dec. 10 administration has already passed. March 3 is the registration deadline for the April 8 administration, and April 28 is the registration deadline for the June 3 administration.

The paper-and-pencil version of the test costs $56 and may be taken at the University of Notre Dame.

For more information about the GRE General Test, pick up the "1994-95 GRE Information&Registration Bulletin" at your local college or university. This bulletin should contain registration materials.

Or you can call Educational Testing Service, the company that writes, administers and scores the exam, at (609) 771-7670.

The computerized version of the GRE General Test may be taken at Sylvan Learning Centers in and near Michiana. The computerized version of the test costs $96. The following is a list of Sylvan telephone numbers where the computerized test is administered:

*Mishawaka, 16616 Edison Road, Suite 5, (219) 254-1055.

*Merrillville (219) 736-1113.

*Fort Wayne (219) 436-2710.

*Grand Rapids (616) 957-0368.

For more information on the computerized version of the test, call 1-800-967-1100.

Testing service may change exam itself

By Michel A. Slatin Tribune Staff Writer

In addition to computerizing the GRE General Test, officials at Educational Testing Service are looking at several changes to the exam itself.

As a result, prospective graduate students should not expect the usual multiple-choice exam consisting of verbal, quantitative (math) and analytical sections.

GRE stands for Graduate Record Examinations, and the GRE General Test is a graduate school admissions test. ETS is the company that writes, administers and scores the exam.

Perhaps one of the biggest changes to the GRE General Test coming down the pipeline is the probable addition of an essay section, said Charlotte Kuh, executive director of the GRE program at ETS in Princeton, N.J.

"Our present plan is to ask people to write an essay for 45 minutes," Kuh said. A second, shorter writing task of about 30 minutes also might be included, she said.

The first essay would ask test-takers to present their perspectives on an issue and support it with reasons and examples drawn from areas such as their academic studies, readings and observations. The second essay would ask test-takers to critique an argument.

Here is a sample writing topic for the first essay:

"Explore the implications of the following statement: 'In any field of endeavor - the sciences, the humanities, the social sciences, industry, or other area - it is not the attainment of a goal that matters, but rather the ideas and discoveries that are encountered on the way to the goal.' "

Kuh said about 80 possible topics would be published each testing year, and test-takers would have the opportunity to look over those topics beforehand. When test-takers are ready for the essay section, two of the 80 topics will be offered to them, and they'll write on one of those two.

The essays would be graded by college and university faculty members, Kuh said.

"We're really looking for people's abilities to express themselves coherently and logically," Kuh said. "And they'll be given a number of 1 to 6, where 1 is the lowest score and 6 is the highest score."

It'll probably take about four weeks for you to receive your score on the essay section, Kuh said. Test-takers will have the choice of writing their essays on the computer or on paper.

ETS also is considering adding a mathematical-reasoning section to the GRE General Test. This section would stress college-level mathematics such as calculus, functions and their graphs, probability and statistics, geometry and finite math.

Those wishing to pursue graduate study in engineering, physics, chemistry, biochemistry, biology, computer science, math, economics or related fields more than likely will need to take the new mathematical-reasoning section.

Those wishing to do graduate study in the social sciences, education, life sciences, humanities and similar fields more than likely will not need to take the new mathematical-reasoning section.

The essay and mathematical-reasoning sections probably will become part of the GRE General Test beginning in the summer of 1997, Kuh said.

In addition, ETS plans to revise the existing verbal, quantitative and analytical sections of the test. Computerizing the GRE General Test gives ETS many more options as to how the exam is formatted, and the test therefore doesn't necessarily have to be multiple-choice.

For example, in the reading comprehension section, a test-taker may be asked to use the computer's mouse to highlight that part of a reading that best illustrates the main idea.

Or, a test-taker may be asked to identify the antonym (opposite) of "illiterate." In the current version of the test, five choices are given, and the test-taker is supposed to choose the antonym from those five.

In the new version, however, the list of five choices may be expanded to 50 words, making it tougher for test-takers to use the process of elimination.

"The goal is to have people produce answers," Kuh said, "because that's what you're asked to do in graduate school - you're asked to produce the answers, not look at them. We're trying these (techniques) out now, and we haven't settled for sure on what we're going to have."

Copyright 1994 South Bend Tribune Corporation

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