Test default pass rate is 80%
The 80% came from a variety of studies around standardized testing. Someone mentioned that it was because in school, 80% is considered a “B” and that is true. Let’s start with the “C”, or 70% score. This is the average learner and may be fine for some situations. And, while we all would like everyone to get an “A”, there are learners that are very smart and have a great deal of test taking anxiety and thus fail it. That leaves “B”. This is the above average score and best fit for most situations (I said most as there are exceptions). Keep in mind that the questions should also be well written. Another aspect to consider is that the GED and ACT (and others) typically have a 75% passing score–which is a “C”.
You can update the pass percentage in Adobe Captivate by following the instructions in this pdf document. Hope this helps. I imagine that 80% was chosen as a default value because in most learning institutions 80% is a B. That is above average. If you need a higher percentage, just follow those instructions to set your quiz pass/fail percentage.
Thanks for responding. I definitely know how to change it and do very fancy stuff in Captivate. I had a client specifically ask me why most people choose 80% and I didn’t know, so I was hoping someone here might. Thank you for your help!
Cool. Glad I could be of help!
They have to put a number, why 80% is irrelevant. I doubt very much that there is a real data-based reason for that. All depends on what you want to achieve and the type of project, and how ‘good’ the questions have been set up. When using penalties and partial scoring where possible, 80% may prove to be too high as I experienced often. But a bunch of T/F questions may require 90 or even 100%.
Good point Lieve. You can adjust the percentage based on your needs. If the questions are clear and have definite answers, a higher percentage is acceptable. I would definitely recommend user testing among several users so that you get a feel for how the intended audience will do on the exams. If you’re dealing with mission-critical knowledge that requires 100% don’t be afraid to adjust that percentage but understand that if the questions aren’t given careful consideration you could frustrate your users demanding 100% accuracy.
100% is sometimes required by clients for some courses. It would be a lot better if they were more vigilant at the creation of relevant questions. The default question types seldom are sufficient for real testing, depending on the type of course. Pure textual questions without images tend to privilege people with good language skills. This comment is based on my long career as professor. I have never relied an assessment purely on the type of online questions we often see.
That’s more or less what I’m seeing- people say they think it’s because of “passing” school grades, but no one can give me an definitive reason why all the authoring tools default at 80%.
I generally have the conversation with clients about the purposes of assessment and weighting the questions to get to the actual results they want. Curious if anyone knew of a research base.
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