onSET for Refugees · Design of the onSET onSET-Deutsch (formerly onDaF) onSET-English onSET-…...

onSET for Refugees

Design and Implementation of an

Online Placement Test for

Immigration Purposes

Hannah Lepping,

Thomas Eckes

02/06/2017

14th EALTA Conference, Sèvres

1 to 3 June, 2017

Overview

Design of the onSET

The onSET for Refugees

Implementation

Administration

Findings

Conclusions

Design of the onSET

onSET-Deutsch

(formerly onDaF)onSET-English onSET-…

Since 2006 Since 2015 Under developm.

German English French, Italian,…

onSET

General language proficiency

C-test-principle

Rasch measurement

Calibrated item bank

Design of the onSET (cont'd)

onSET for

Refugees

Since April 2016

German English

…

onSET

General language proficiency

C-test-principle

Rasch measurement

Calibrated item bank

onSET for Refugees

Prof. Dr. Johanna Wanka, Federal Minister of

Education and Research: „Without integration,

education doesn‘t work“

(Sep 2015)

Increasing number of refugees „We can do it!“ (A. Merkel) University

Language learning

Placement testing

https://www.bmbf.de/de/fluechtlinge-durch-bildung-integrieren-1615.html

onSET for Refugees

Since April 5, 2016

Project duration: 2016 – 2019

Funded by the German Academic

Exchange Service (DAAD) through means of the

Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Free of charge for refugees

Placement according to the CEFR levels (A2 to B2)

Registration online: refugees.onset.de

onSET for Refugees Website: refugees.onset.de

onSET for Refugees Website: refugees.onset.de

onSET for Refugees Website: refugees.onset.de

Implementation

Test purpose

Course assignment

University language centers

Adult education centers

Language schools

Feedback for learners of German / English, e.g. for

Freshmen

Apprentices

Preparation for the TestDaF (Test of German as a Foreign

Language) or related high-stakes admission tests

Implementation

Many institutions have been using the onSET, e.g.

Ruhr University Bochum: 592 participants

Kiron Open Higher Education: 431 participants

University of Koblenz · Landau: 111 participants

Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of Baden-

Wuerttemberg: 21 participants

As of 04/05/17

Marketing activitiesVideo and brochure with

use cases in preparation

onSET for Refugees The testing process

SAMPLE

TESTREGISTER

ONLINETAKE

THE TEST

PRINT THE

CERTIFICATE1 2 3

onSET for Refugees Registration

onSET for Refugees Registration

Administration

Administration

6 texts, 5 minutes per text

Texts follow on each other automatically

Increasing difficulty level

Different test forms (varied across test administrations)

Test can be taken only once within 6 months

Administration Instructions

Administration Sample test

Administration Immediate feedback

of test results

Administration onSET Certificate

Findings Growth of

candidature

3,867 registrations

3,196 completed tests

84 86

202

266295

346

418

249 247

528

414

364 368

65 68

170

223247 255 257

181 180

410

298 293 287

408 17 17 7 8 12

32 3316

4517 10

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Registrations onSET-Deutsch onSET-English

Findings Participants: Gender and language version

German 92,0%

English 8,0%

Language versions

male 83,2%

female 16,8%

Gender

Findings Countries of origin – Top 10

Findings Countries of origin

Syria71,3%

Afghanistan5,6%

Iran 3,9%

Iraq 2,7%

Pakistan 1,3%

Eritrea 1,0%

Palestine 0,7%

Somalia 0,7%

Egypt 0,6%Nigeria0,6%

Others 11,6%

Findings CEFR-levels Test results

37,6%

31,5%

20,5%

10,4%

23,0% 22,2%

28,5%

26,3%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

below A2 A2 B1 B2 or higher

onSET-Deutsch onSET-English

Conclusion

Since its introduction (April 2016), the onSET for

Refugees has been well received

Yet, less participants overall than expected

Large number of available placement tests for refugees

Institutions offer their own placement tests

Volunteers are not used to administer (online-)tests to refugees

Refugees do not think about an academic career yet

onSET for Refugees contributes to integration of refugees in the

German educational system…

“I have been in Germany as a refugee for 14 months now. For a couple of months already I have been interested in the TestDaF. I thus wanted to assess myself to find out whether I am ready to take it. After a long search I found the cost-free onSET.

I finished it within only 15 minutes. To my mind the number of tasks was sufficient, my language skills could be concretely evaluated.

I was quite satisfied with my result: I could directly start preparing for the TestDaF without taking an additional course.”

Mohamad (27) from Syria

Thank you for your attention!

hannah.lepping@testdaf.de

refugees.onset.de