CAP Test

4 WAYS TO SUCCEED AT STUDENT SUPPORT

1. INFORM CAREER CHOICE

2. ASSESS COMPETENCY

3. GUIDE PLACEMENT

4. FOCUS ACADEMIC SUPPORT

 

1. INFORM CAREER CHOICE
TVET students are required to make a career choice at an early age. An unsuitable choice based on misconceptions and lack of understanding of what the career typically entails can have a demoralising effect and contribute to academic failure. A positive choice, based on an understanding of the chosen career, coupled with a strong personal interest, is a great start and dramatically increases the likelihood of academic success. A solution has been to perform psychometric assessments on students, a service that typically requires a considerable investment in time and costs, and requires specialised qualifications and skill-sets.
CAP’s Interest Activity Test uses simplified visual techniques to streamline the entire process, allowing almost anyone to effectively support students in making a better career choice.
	The test informs and educates students on a variety of career options underlying all fields of study included in the NC(V). At the same time it gauges their personal interest in the different careers on offer. Once captured into CAP’s Test Management software, the results of the Interest Activity Test provide an averaged, weighted recommendation that assists students in making better career choices. The Interest Activity Test compliments other career guidance methods already in use and becomes an invaluable tool in helping students understand the options available to them.
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2. ASSESS COMPETENCY
Students who have completed a GET grade 9 or equivalent are eligible to enroll at an TVET College. An increasingly larger number of these students have learning gaps in critical learning areas which must successfully be bridged for them to complete their studies and gain qualifications. More specifically, each student has a unique profile of competencies and learning gaps which also directly impact the scope of career choices available to them. Identifying these learning gaps with the view to understanding how much support the student will require for their preferred career choice is therefore vitally important in placement decision-making.
CAP’s English and Mathematics Competency Tests allow TVET Colleges to accurately determine the specific learning outcomes not yet mastered by individual students in these critical learning areas.
Compiled by TVET experts and specifically designed for this purpose, these tests are a quick and efficient way of getting the information that your College needs to make the right decisions. Primarily delivered as a paper based test, the assessment is also available on computer. Once captured into CAP’s Test Management software, a detailed profile of competencies and gaps is created and stored for each individual student. This benchmark assessment then supports further decision making in areas such as : · Student placement · Targeted remedial academic support · Academic progress measurement
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3. GUIDE PLACEMENT
	Until recently, TVET Colleges have followed a simple placement procedure that did not involve assessment and placement testing. The problem with this approach is that proper consideration is not given to: · Confirm that students have based their choice of career on a clear understanding of the field they chose · Verify that students have the required competencies in critical learning areas to be able to cope with level 2 NC(V) courses · Determine the specific level of academic support the students would require to succeed The result is that students often find themselves enrolled in unsuitable courses and drop out, or are unprepared for the demands that are placed on them and struggle to succeed. TVET Colleges are burdened with demotivated students and dwindling pass rates.
CAP’s Interest Activity Test, English and Mathematics Competency Tests and Test Management System offers students and TVET Colleges the information they need to make better placement decisions for students and then support them on their chosen learning paths.
CAP offers a simple, integrated testing solution, coupled with a powerful software management reporting tool that allows FET Colleges to manage everything from a single point. It provides detailed and summarised reports on student learning gap profiles, career interest data, and biographic information to ensure that TVET Colleges are able to guide placement and maximize student support resources.
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4. FOCUS ACADEMIC SUPPORT
Academic support is currently a hit or miss affair in TVET Colleges throughout South Africa. Students are provided with standardised academic resources, and are then expected to use these successfully, without real awareness of their own learning gaps or how these will impact their academic performance. The task of determining learning gaps and providing remedial strategies for each individual student is therefore deferred to lecturers, whom are already tasked with NC(V) curriculum delivery, and are often unable to find time or resources to provide the academic support required to bring the student in line with curriculum expectations. The result is often overwhelmed lecturers and struggling students.
CAP’s strategy is to gain a clear, upfront understanding of each student’s learning gaps, and then deliver focused, individualised, remedial academic support directly to students without impacting curriculum delivery.
CAP’s approach to closing these learning gaps is straightforward. · Profile learning gaps using competency assessment · Support lecturers and students with computer based learning content matching the profiled learning gaps CAP’s computer based learning content is published in South Africa and specifically focused towards assisting students in closing skills gaps up to GET grade 9 level in English and Mathematics. Now both the student and lecturer are able to invest time in the correct areas and have the benefit of being supported by ready-to-use remedial learning content.
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