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Qatar University Math-Placer
Mohamed Ben Haj Rhouma, Department Head of Math, Foundation Program
With the backing of the Foun-
dation Program management
and the Dean of General Stud-
ies, the Foundation Program
Department of Math (FPDM)
has created a standardized
placement test.
The creation of a standardized
placement test required multi-
ple steps. Firstly, a placement
test team developed a table of
specifications. Next, the Qatar
University Testing Center
(QUTC) provided training on
how to write high quality test
items. The placement test
team then wrote approximately
300 items. Many of these items
were piloted in diagnostic tests
given to students at the begin-
ning of the Spring and Fall of
2017. This enabled FPDM to
obtain statistical measure-
ments on each question and
its corresponding distractors.
The entire test was then pi-
loted and the results were
compared with the new version
of ACCUPLACER Math. The
comparison was favourable.
Furthermore, the feedback
received from the external
reviewers of the test was
“excellent”.
Both QUTC and FPDM visited
all colleges to inform them
about the math placement test
and the feedback resulted in a
common agreement that the
newly developed math place-
ment test should be imple-
mented. Finally in late April
2019, approval was obtained
from Qatar University to use
the QU Math-Placer as the
main placement tool for the
Foundation Program’s mathe-
matics courses. We are
pleased to announce that more
than 60 students have already
taken the test and that their
results are at the expected
levels.
Developing a new placement
test is a painstaking job. My
sincere thanks go to the place-
ment test team as well as to
the QUTC. Creating the
test has enabled us to reflect
on and improve on our assess-
ment practices. Going forward,
we will continue to work on
generating new reliable items
and new test forms.
The placement test team: Photograph courtesy of QUTC
Mr. Salim Nazar Salim: Photograph courtesy of QUTC