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Greetings from the Director Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research National Admissions and Placement Office (NAPO) P.O. Box 45372 Abu Dhabi, UAE Phone: + 971 2 642 8400 Fax: + 971 2 642 7172 E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.napo.ae NAPO NAPO NEWSLETTER NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2010 ISSUE IX T he New Year is here. The 2009 year has flown by and we are ready for a new year and new se- mester that we hope will be as fruitful and beneficial as the previous one. This is the 9 th issue of the NAPO Newsletter, which highlights the projects, ac- tivities and initiatives con- ducted by the Office. One of the most important initiatives undertaken by NAPO is that we have ceased distributing paper-based student admis- sion application forms, bro- chures and packages for the 2010 academic year admis- sion cycle. Currently, stu- dents can only apply on-line. The application form is available on the NAPO web- site. A final decision has been made regarding multiple ad- ministrations of CEPA- English. Commencing in De- cember 2009, grade 12 leav- ers had a chance to take the exam more than once. Some 1505 students sat for the first administration of the CEPA- English computer-based test (CBT) which took place on December 19, 2009. Prior to the exam, the CEPA depart- ment organized workshops for site invigilators and IT staff. In the fall of 2009, a new Arabic test to assess the lan- guage ability of Arabic na- tive speakers was piloted at UAE University. The test fo- cuses on student proficiency in Arabic reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. A total of 432 first- year students sat for the test. The fall of 2009 was marked by several events the Office arranged for their employees. One of them was a guided tour around the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, a national landmark in Abu Dhabi. Impressive design, awesome decorations and a knowledgeable guide made the tour unforgettable. Another memorable event was a trip to Al Samaliya Is- land, a protected marine and coastal sanctuary. We are grateful to the Emirates Heri- tage Club for organizing this for us. We had a wonderful time there. We wish you all the best in the new year. Youmna Badowah Director of Higher Educa- tion Planning and Coordina- tion Department INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Greetings from the Director by Youmna Badowah 1 NAPO Student Portfo- lio by Ramdas Sunkari 1 CEPA Challenge Book for Grade 12 Students by CEPA staff 2 Multiple Administra- tions of CEPA-English CBT by Paul Jaquith 3 Arabic Test Piloted at UAEU by Dr. Annie Brown 4 CEPA-Math 2010: Fare- well to Calculators by CEPA staff 4 NAPO Student Portfolio D ue to the increased awareness and usage of the internet by grade 12 stu- dents and improved network infrastructure at schools, NAPO has developed and implemented a student portal and on-line application proc- ess. It aims at replacing a pa- per-based application form with an electronic one to go green. During NAPO school visits, secondary school leav- ers were encouraged to apply on-line by presenting them demos and videos covering the new application process. The benefits of the system are: an easy-to-use Arabic interface, tool tips at every stage, SMS alerts and updates to registered students, stage-wise application entry process, validation and checks to ensure quality data, easy uploading of docu- ments, and, status checks and up- dates by students. The system was launched on November 1, 2009. Table 1 shows the number and per- centage of applicants as of December 22, 2009. Females constitute 77% of the com- pleted applications, while 23% are male applicants. This is an encouraging trend. As of the same day last by Ramdas Sunkari Head, IT Department
Transcript

Greetings from the Director

Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

National Admissions and Placement Office

(NAPO)

P.O. Box 45372 Abu Dhabi, UAE Phone: + 971 2 642 8400 Fax: + 971 2 642 7172 E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.napo.ae

NAPONAPO NEWSLETTERNEWSLETTER

J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 0 I S S U E I X

T he New Year is here. The 2009 yea r has

flown by and we are ready for a new year and new se-mester that we hope will be as fruitful and beneficial as the previous one. This is the 9th issue of the NAPO Newsletter, which highlights the projects, ac-tivities and initiatives con-ducted by the Office. One of the most important initiatives undertaken by NAPO is that we have ceased distributing paper-based student admis-sion application forms, bro-chures and packages for the 2010 academic year admis-sion cycle. Currently, stu-dents can only apply on-line. The application form is available on the NAPO web-site. A final decision has been made regarding multiple ad-ministrat ions of CEPA-English. Commencing in De-cember 2009, grade 12 leav-

ers had a chance to take the exam more than once. Some 1505 students sat for the first administration of the CEPA-English computer-based test (CBT) which took place on December 19, 2009. Prior to the exam, the CEPA depart-ment organized workshops for site invigilators and IT staff. In the fall of 2009, a new Arabic test to assess the lan-guage ability of Arabic na-tive speakers was piloted at UAE University. The test fo-cuses on student proficiency in Arabic reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. A total of 432 first-year students sat for the test.

The fall of 2009 was marked by several events the Office arranged

for their employees. One of them was a guided tour around the Sheikh Zayed Mosque,

a national landmark in Abu Dhabi. Impressive design, awesome decorations and a knowledgeable guide made the tour unforgettable. Another memorable event was a trip to Al Samaliya Is-land, a protected marine and coastal sanctuary. We are grateful to the Emirates Heri-tage Club for organizing this for us. We had a wonderful time there. We wish you all the best in the new year. Youmna Badowah Director of Higher Educa-tion Planning and Coordina-tion Department

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Greetings from the Director by Youmna Badowah

1

NAPO Student Portfo-lio by Ramdas Sunkari

1

CEPA Challenge Book for Grade 12 Students by CEPA staff

2

Multiple Administra-tions of CEPA-English CBT by Paul Jaquith

3

Arabic Test Piloted at UAEU by Dr. Annie Brown

4

CEPA-Math 2010: Fare-well to Calculators by CEPA staff

4

NAPO Student Portfolio D ue to the increased

awareness and usage of the internet by grade 12 stu-dents and improved network infrastructure at schools, NAPO has developed and implemented a student portal and on-line application proc-ess. It aims at replacing a pa-per-based application form with an electronic one to go green. During NAPO school visits, secondary school leav-ers were encouraged to apply on-line by presenting them

demos and videos covering the new application process. The benefits of the system are:

• an easy-to-use Arabic interface,

• tool tips at every stage, • SMS alerts and updates

to registered students, • stage-wise application

entry process, • validation and checks to

ensure quality data, • easy uploading of docu-

ments, and, • status checks and up-

dates by students. The system was launched on November 1, 2009. Table 1 shows the number and per-centage of applicants as of December 22, 2009. Females constitute 77% of the com-pleted applications, while 23% are male applicants. This is an encouraging trend. As of the same day last

by Ramdas Sunkari Head, IT Department

year, NAPO had 3554 applica-tions entered, which made up just 34% of the current com-pleted applications.

Figure 1 reflects student on-line entry behavior pattern which is uniform during any given week. Activity is higher after 5

p.m., which we may infer per-tains to the fact that applicants use internet from home or inter-net cafes rather than from schools. The average turnaround time from registration to completion is three days. Over 70% of ap-plicants complete their applica-tion in one day. Also, applicants can use the portal to register for the CEPA-English exam. 1570 students had registered for the first ad-ministration of the exam, which was held on December 19, 2009.

Based on users’   feedback, NAPO will enhance the system further to make it more infor-mative and useful for students, institutions, and the commu-nity.

2

D ue to popular demand, CEPA Challenge: the

official CEPA English test preparation book has once again been distributed to secon-

dary schools across the coun-try. The book, co-authored by Rachel Lange and Dr.

Annie Brown, is being pro-vided free of charge to all grade 12 Emirati students in the coun-try, in both public and private schools, as well as to home school and adult education stu-dents. Roughly 19,000 students in all seven emirates received the book in January of 2010. “We had an overwhelmingly positive response to the first edition of the book, distributed in the 2008/2009 academic year,” said Youmna Badowah, director of the Higher Educa-tion Planning and Coordination Department. “Many students found the book useful as a sup-plement to their regular English courses, as it was designed to be a self-study aid which could be reviewed at home without the help of a teacher. Although the book was originally in-tended as a one-shot project as part of our contract with the Ministry of Education, we had so many requests for copies of

the book that we decided to r e v i s e t h e b o o k a n d r e -distr ibute i t again for the 2009/2010 school year. We felt that it would be useful in help-ing students prepare for the new multiple-administration exams starting this year.” The content of the 123-page book spans the range of skills and activities included in the exam itself. It contains, for ex-ample, samples of all the read-ing text types that are used, and grammar exercises and vocabu-lary from the sampling domain of the CEPA-English exam. However, the book’s main fo-cus is on the development of skills and knowledge of linguis-tic content rather than on item-type practice. This is to say, many exercises are in a differ-ent format from those on the CEPA exam. The writing sec-tion has CEPA-like prompts and skill-building reflective exercises, as well as sample essays. Also included are tips for test-taking and facts about the exam. “The purpose of the book is certainly not to help students ‘ace’ the exam or ‘game’ the test,” said Dr. Brown, who is

also the associate director for assessment and professional d e v e l o p m e n t a t N A P O . “Rather, it was produced in such a way as to orient them to the format of the test and to give them some quality mate-rial that can supplement their regular course of studies as they prepare to begin their terti-ary career. The goal, as always, is to make sure that students have the tools necessary to suc-ceed in their transition from secondary school to higher edu-cation.”

CEPA Challenge Book for Grade 12 Students

NAPO Student Portfolio (cont.)

CEPA-English

Grade 12 students Grade 12 students n o w h a v e t h e n o w h a v e t h e chance to take the chance to take the CEPACEPA--English test English test more than once. more than once.

There will be five There will be five test administra-test administra-tions in the cur-tions in the cur-r e n t a c a d e m i c r e n t a c a d e m i c year:year:

Students can take Students can take the test twice: in the test twice: in December, Febru-December, Febru-ary or March, and ary or March, and then again in May.then again in May.

From December From December to March, the test to March, the test will be offered in will be offered in computercomputer -- based based format only. On format only. On May 1, 2010, a stu-May 1, 2010, a stu-dent may be allo-dent may be allo-cated to a com-cated to a com-puterputer--based ver-based ver-sion or a papersion or a paper--andand--pencilpencil --based based version. They will version. They will not be allowed to not be allowed to choose. choose.

For more informa-For more informa-tion, please visit: tion, please visit: www.napo.ae/cepawww.napo.ae/cepa..

• Saturday, De-cember 19, 2009

• Saturday, Feb-ruary 20, 2010

• S a t u r d a y , March 6, 2010

• S a t u r d a y , March 20, 2010

• Saturday, May 1, 2010

Figure 1: Activity by hour from 00-24Hrs time line.

by Hrs

Table 1: Applicants to UAEU, HCT, ZU and study abroad as of December 22, 2009.

Application Completed

Application Entry Registered

10,449 11,305 12,634

Did You Know?

The CEPA-English exam lasts for two hours and con-sists of three sections: Gram-mar and Vocabulary, Read-ing, and Writing. The test is administered in two formats – paper-and-pencil and com-puter-based. A student will be allocated to one of the two formats. You can download a practice test from the CEPA website.

For more information, please visit: www.napo.ae/cepa/cepaenglish.html.

Completed Over Entry %

Completed %

Entry %

92% 83% 89%

by CEPA staff

3

O n Saturday, 19 December 2 00 9 , 15 05 s tu d e n t s

across the Emirates participated in the first official administra-tion of the CEPA-English com-puter-based test (CBT). The exam was given at nearly all of the HCT campuses and UAE University. Demand for the CBT was much higher than anticipated and prompted a flood of students applying to NAPO. In the 30 days leading up to the test, NAPO registered more than 12,000 students. Approved ap-plicants were eligible to register on-line for the CBT administra-tion, but demand was such that all seats were taken within a few days of its opening. Atten-dance for this test was very high (see the table below).

Reactions to the CBT were quite positive. Many students said that the test was easy to take, and invigilators and ad-ministrators frequently com-

mented on how smooth the ad-ministration went. Students were registered quickly and ef-ficiently, and exam rooms started as soon as they were full. This test administration repre-sents the first step in a move to make the CEPA exams fully computer based, and is part of efforts to make the CEPA available for more regular test-ing, which will give students the opportunity to take the CEPA-English earlier in the year and have multiple opportu-nities to achieve a higher score. Having students take the test early in the year also allows the institutions to offer promising students early conditional ac-ceptance. The CBT project has been sev-eral years in development, and has been piloted on a small scale on several occasions. Last year, a large part of the CEPA-Math exam was done on the computer and the English exam was piloted at UAEU in Au-gust. In October, Dr. Annie Brown and I met with site su-pervisors and the IT staff at all the tertiary institutions to look into the feasibility of large-scale computer-based testing. Nearly all sites were capable of administering the CBT in some capacity or another, although some are quite limited by avail-able computer resources. In November, we conducted a se-ries of training sessions for in-vigilators and staff at each of the potential test venues. This was to ensure that all invigila-tors, site supervisors, and IT staff were clear on what needed to be done leading up to and during the test administration. There are many advantages to computer-based testing. Two of the most important ones are the dramatic increase in content se-curity and the prevention of cheating. Since the test is en-crypted and distributed securely to the student workstations,

there is no chance that anyone can walk out with a copy of the exam. In addition, since the CBT samples from a large res-ervoir of test items, students sit-ting next to each other will not receive the same content, mak-ing sharing answers very diffi-cult. Another obvious advantage is that there is no shipment of exam materials to and from the test centers. This repre-sents a dramatic savings as far as time, money, and human ef-fort are concerned and will make running these exams much easier for the sites. The CBT also allows us to be-gin processing scores within minutes of the exam being fin-ished. Rather than waiting days for the scanning and processing of the paper-based exams, we can immediately score the mul-tiple-choice part of the exam, and the student writing samples can be uploaded for markers at the same time. This results in scores being reported in a very short time. Several long-term advantages are also presented by the CBT. It makes possible the testing of listening and speaking, which is logistically challenging in the traditional paper-based format. It also raised the possibility of adaptive solutions, which can significantly reduce exam times and increase the accuracy of scores. In the future, it is possible that CBT administrations will be extended into local secondary schools and other venues in an effort to increase the system-wide capacity for computer-based testing. Resources for students to pre-pare for the exam can be found o n t h e C E P A w e b s i t e www.napo.ae/cepa, including a video tutorial and a complete exam.

Multiple Administrations of CEPA-English CBT by Paul Jaquith CEPA Supervisor

C E P A -Maths will be held on April 17, 2010.

CEPA-Maths

The CEPAThe CEPA--Maths Maths exam lasts for 90 exam lasts for 90 minutes and con-minutes and con-sists of 50 multi-sists of 50 multi-pleple -- choice ques-choice ques-tions in four major tions in four major a rea s o f maths a rea s o f maths knowledge: Num-knowledge: Num-ber sense, patterns ber sense, patterns and relationships; and relationships; G e o m e t r y a n d G e o m e t r y a n d m e a s u r e m e n t ; m e a s u r e m e n t ; Data analysis and Data analysis and probabil ity; and probabil ity; and Algebra. Algebra.

With in each o f With in each o f these knowledge these knowledge areas there are areas there are t h r e e l e v e l s o f t h r e e l e v e l s o f questions: basic, questions: basic, proficient and ad-proficient and ad-vanced. vanced.

All questions are in All questions are in English and Arabic. English and Arabic. No calculators are No calculators are allowed. allowed.

For more informa-For more informa-tion, please visit: tion, please visit: www.napo.ae/cepa/cepamaths.html.

Show Rate Registered Test Center

93% 150 UAE University Men’s Campus

92% 50 Al Ain Men’s College

93% 100 Abu Dhabi Men’s College

93% 40 Dubai Men’s College

99% 80 Fujairah Men’s College

97% 60 Ras Al Khaimah Men’s College

88% 100 Sharjah Men’s College

93% 580 Subtotal

Male

Show Rate Registered Test Center

98% 300 UAE University Women’s Campus

98% 100 Al Ain Women’s College

98% 80 Abu Dhabi Women’s College

100% 160 Fujairah Women’s College

100% 200 Ras Al Khaimah Women’s College

98% 150 Sharjah Women’s College

99% 990 Subtotal

≈96% 1570 Total

Female

A n Arabic exam designed to assess the literacy skills of

university students who are Arabic native speakers was pi-

loted at UAE Uni-versity in Novem-ber 2009. A total of 432 first-year stu-dents took the pilot version of the test, 313 females and 119 males.

The test was designed by a committee comprised of Arabic language and assessment spe-cialists representing UAEU, HCT, ZU and NAPO. The committee was chaired by Dr. Annie Brown. Assessment specialist and Arabic speaker, Professor Micheline Chalhoub-Deville of The University of

North Carolina, acted as a con-sultant to the project. The Arabic exam lasts for two hours and consists of four sec-tions: Grammar, Vocabulary, Reading and Writing. The first three sections contain multiple-choice questions, and scores are reported on a scale similar to that used in CEPA-English and CEPA-Maths. The writing was scored on-line by raters drawn from the Arabic program at UAE University. The analysis of the pilot test showed that it provided a good picture of the range of student ability. The internal consistency of the exam was acceptable (0.85) for a pilot version, and the test was pitched appropri-

ately to the level of the stu-dents. The student with the highest scaled score of 207 an-swered 94% of questions cor-rectly and the student with the lowest scaled score of 90 an-swered 25% correctly. The writing section was assessed using a rating scale designed by the test development commit-tee. Work will continue in 2010 on a second version of the test, and the test will be migrated to a computer-based testing format, with computer-mediated writ-ing. It is not anticipated at the present that the test will be used to assess all NAPO applicants; rather each institution will de-termine its own need for the test.

4 Edited by Yulia Kolpakova. If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]

S tarting with the April 2010 a d min i s t r a t i on o f t h e

CEPA-Math exam, students will not be allowed to use cal-culators during the test. This procedural change was decided upon by the CEPA-Math com-mittee, made up of representa-tives from UAEU, HCT and ZU, after more than two years of discussion. “Since the CEPA-Math exam is used primarily for placement and diagnostic purposes, we felt that the tertiary institutions could get a better feel for the abilities and needs of incoming students if we tested their math skills sans calculators,” said Ryan Gjovig, a CEPA supervi-sor and the chair of the CEPA-Math committee. “There is an-ecdotal evidence from several sources that some Emirati stu-dents have difficulty with arith-metic in general, and long divi-sion and multiplication specifi-cally, but we have been unable to confirm or disprove this with the CEPA-Math exam, since the students have historically been provided with calcula-tors.”

According to Gjovig, the deci-sion to remove the calculators has been a long time coming. “Originally, the idea was pro-posed in CEPA-Math commit-tee meetings in 2007, and we had planned to go calculator-less for the 2009 exam, but there were some concerns that the students did not have appro-priate prior notice regarding the change, so we delayed it until this year.” Since none of the three sister institutions use the CEPA-Math exam for admissions decisions (i.e., there is no established cut score, as in the case of CEPA-English), the removal of calcu-lators from the exam should not adversely affect students in any way, but rather provide a clearer diagnostic picture for the country’s universities, col-leges, and even secondary schools. “Ideally, you want incoming university students to be nu-merate and mentally agile enough to perform basic calcu-lations in their head or with penci l and paper ,” added

Gjovig. “If any student strug-gles with their times tables or with dividing two- and three-digit numbers, we need to know that, and to place them accord-ingly in an appropriate level of instruction where they can get the help that they need to suc-ceed in higher education. In addition, if we see systemic issues with students’ arithmetic skills across the whole popula-tion, we can provide this data to the secondary schools, and they can hopefully adjust their cur-riculum accordingly.”

CEPA-Math 2010: Farewell to Calculators by CEPA staff

A m e m o r a b l e event that recently took place was a trip to Al Samaliya Island arranged by the Office for their staff.

T h e i s l a n d i s unique in many ways. It is a pro-tected marine and coastal sanctuary and an excellent example of the conservation of Abu Dhabi’s cul-tural and natural heritage.

It is rich in bio-diversity, including saline plants, man-groves and other marine plants, fish, turtles and sea birds. The island has successfully protected its land environment, in-cluding old build-ings and roads.

It was a family event and the staff went with their spouses, kids and siblings. Everyone enjoyed horse and camel riding, bird-watching and kay-aking.

Arabic Test Piloted at UAEU by Dr. Annie Brown Associate Director, Assessment and Professional Development

Did You Know?

NAPO has developed a uni-fied student application form to the three federal institu-tions and scholarships. Any student who wishes to apply must fill out this form. The f o r m i s a v a i l a b l e a t www.napo.ae. A student can get information regarding the application form and the required documents from their school administration or NAPO.


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