Urgent need to adapt to innovation in examinations and testing

GD&TĐ - The first high school graduation exam of the 2018 General Education Program with the important highlight of innovative assessment methods has had an impact on teaching and learning activities in schools.

Teaching and learning to apply and link book knowledge with real life is no longer just a slogan but an urgent requirement to adapt to innovation in exams and tests in the direction of developing capacity.

Face the facts

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thao Phuong - Head of the Math group, Natural Science group, Continuing Education Center No. 2 Da Nang (Thanh Khe, Da Nang City) commented: "Many schools still use traditional assessment methods, mainly focusing on testing theoretical knowledge and problem-solving ability. This can limit students' ability to develop logical and creative thinking.

Exams are often formal and do not fully reflect the ability to apply knowledge in practice. Some exams are still heavy on theory and lack practical problems, making it difficult for students to relate knowledge to life.

Regarding students, Ms. Thao Phuong said that they are often under great pressure to achieve high scores in exams, leading to lopsided learning, focusing only on memorizing formulas and doing exercises without paying attention to understanding knowledge in depth.

Meanwhile, some teachers still lack modern teaching methods and do not have many diverse forms of testing, such as group testing, presentations or projects. This leads to not fully exploiting the potential of students in this subject.

According to Ms. Thao Phuong's experience, teachers need to consider the curriculum framework and program objectives as the basis for teaching and testing activities.

“Avoid considering sample questions as a guideline and measure for teaching, learning and testing; because doing so will make teaching and learning become stereotyped, mechanical, lose initiative and creativity, and make it difficult for students to adapt to future exams; distorting the viewpoint and goals of the 2018 General Education Program.

Teachers need to teach students how to do exercises to understand the nature and know how to apply knowledge to solve problems, they cannot teach tricks. At the same time, there needs to be a question bank system in 3 forms of illustrative questions to teach and review for students according to each unit of knowledge," Ms. Phuong shared.

Accordingly, with multiple choice questions, according to Ms. Thao Phuong's comments, most of them are quick answer questions, at the recognition level, so they should be used in formula and concept recognition questions, and properties should be used in old lesson testing activities, forming knowledge. With true/false questions, most of them are at the comprehension level, so they should be applied in practice activities. With short answer questions, they can be used in application activities.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Hang - Math teacher, Ly Nhan Tong High School (Tan Minh, Ninh Binh ) shared: "I think that the 2025 high school graduation exam not only changes the technique of making questions, but also reorients the way of teaching and learning in schools. When the exam aims to assess the learners' abilities, teachers are forced to innovate their methods, no longer teaching in a one-way way of imparting knowledge".

Students need to practice thinking, know how to apply, analyze, and solve problems. This is a fundamental change. Periodic, mid-term, and final exams need to have open-ended questions, high application, and linked to reality. This will help students get familiar with the orientation of the national exam.

Students of Ngo Quyen High School (Son Tra Ward, Da Nang City) practice Physics in a STEM educational experience activity at the University of Technical Education, Da Nang University. Photo: NTCC

“Movement” from the teacher

Ms. Pham Thi Nhu Hoa - Literature teacher, Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted (Ninh Binh) said that this year's Literature exam received great attention and expectations from the public. The exam and marking instructions closely followed the program requirements, had reasonable differentiation and clearly demonstrated topicality and practicality. The score distribution was stable, but there were not many excellent scores and no 10 points, showing the level of actual assessment of ability.

“I see a positive side when the pressure of exams no longer focuses on memorization, students will learn more proactively. They begin to care about understanding deeply, knowing how to apply, knowing how to relate to reality. Teachers are also forced to be more creative in building situations, finding learning materials, and organizing learning activities to inspire students. In addition, teachers need to be flexible in applying the exam structure and reference questions of the Ministry,” Ms. Hoa expressed.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha - Literature teacher, Continuing Education Center No. 2, Da Nang, said that to keep up with the new innovations in the Literature exam, students are forced to read more books. "Teachers make a list of suggested books in the library for students to read for reference. Learning through reading, students will have the opportunity to expand their knowledge, expand their vocabulary, learn how to write, and have more useful materials in the process of creating texts.

Teachers therefore have to guide and teach students how to read in addition to teaching how to write, appreciate, and analyze works. In addition, Ms. Ha guides students to follow and update more current and social information so that during the learning process, they can handle open questions, make connections, and apply them well. During class hours, students are encouraged to ask questions and interact with friends and teachers to have truly effective learning hours.

Meanwhile, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc - Head of the Foreign Language Group, Duc Pho High School No. 2 (Khanh Cuong, Quang Ngai) commented that with the English exam in the 2025 High School Graduation Exam, students need to practice reading and expand their academic vocabulary.

In addition to listening - speaking - reading - writing skills, teachers need to guide and train students to analyze information, process text and choose appropriate language for communication. Thus, in the teaching - learning process, teachers must create situations for students to practice listening - speaking reflexes. Written exercises are mainly for students to do at home, teachers grade and correct each student.

The system of questions and exercises must be built at many levels, suitable for the receptive capacity of student groups. By doing so, good and excellent students will have the motivation to study; on the other hand, average and below average students will still have the ability to improve their scores, without feeling abandoned in class.

Students of Phan Chau Trinh High School (Hai Chau Ward, Da Nang City) watch a performance of excerpts from the program Bringing Tuong to Schools, a Literature education activity. Photo: NTCC

Orientation towards real teaching, real learning, and capacity development

According to Mr. Bui Nhu Toan - Principal of Ly Nhan Tong High School (Ninh Binh), the 2025 High School Graduation Exam with fundamental innovations in structure and exam orientation has created an important shift, promoting the school to comprehensively change teaching and learning. The exam not only tests knowledge but also evaluates students' thinking ability, practical application and qualities, forcing teaching and learning to shift from imparting knowledge to developing comprehensive abilities.

In response to that requirement, the school has proactively reviewed and adjusted the curriculum and teaching plan towards integration and interdisciplinary, while innovating teaching methods, encouraging teachers to apply project-based learning, experience and digital technology to create a lively learning environment, suitable for development trends.

Meanwhile, Mr. Thach Canh Be - Principal of Duc Pho High School No. 2 (Khanh Cuong, Quang Ngai) said that for all subjects, teachers need to equip students with the ability to read - understand quickly, analyze and select information to identify keywords in questions. For Physics, Chemistry and Biology, there are many questions related to practical and experimental skills, so in teaching activities, teachers cannot teach without teaching but need to increase practice and experiments.

“On the school side, we will improve the physical facilities and maximize the effectiveness of the subject rooms. However, teachers also need to fully exploit the strengths of technology, and can show students virtual experiments, experimental demonstration videos... from reliable sources so that they can understand the process and apply knowledge to life,” Mr. Be suggested.

With a median score of 52.92 points and an average subject score of 6.52 points, for the first time, Nghe An Education Department rose to the first position among 34 provinces and cities nationwide. According to Mr. Thai Van Thanh - Director of Nghe An Department of Education and Training, the High School Graduation Exam is the final step in assessing the quality of education, playing the role of both a "steering wheel" and a "motivation" for teachers and students.

This year is the first exam based on competency assessment. In addition to the two compulsory subjects, students choose the remaining two subjects based on their aptitude and strengths to promote autonomy, creating a confident and comfortable mindset for them. The exam is guaranteed to be scientifically constructed, suitable for the program and aptitudes and strengths that students are studying.

The Education sector will also strengthen the direction of units and schools to focus on teaching in line with the orientation of developing students' capacity. On the part of schools, it is necessary to continue to change teaching methods, gradually eliminating the way of teaching presentations and imparting knowledge in a one-way manner and shifting to active, proactive and creative teaching. Encourage students to discover and seek new knowledge. That is also one of the creative entrepreneurial spirit in schools.

According to the Director of the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An, in the coming time, key subject cadres of localities need to continue to accumulate and practice to perfect their exam design and teaching design skills in the direction of promoting students' abilities. Organizing teaching and learning helps students meet the requirements of the new General Education Program. At that time, students participating in exams will no longer be under pressure, but will be confident because they are in line with their qualities, abilities and spirit of comprehensive development.

Mr. Thai Van Thanh - Director of Nghe An Department of Education and Training: "The implementation of the 2018 General Education Program has now completed a 5-year cycle. The Ministry of Education and Training needs to soon direct and review the program to suit the requirements of national development in the new era, suit the characteristics of Vietnamese students' ages and take into account regional factors."

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/yeu-cau-buc-thiet-thich-ung-voi-doi-moi-thi-kiem-tra-post740896.html