Non-motoring > Thinking skills	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Crankcase	Replies: 22

New Thu 5 Apr 12 08:30   Thinking skills - Crankcase

Cambridge and Oxford Universities have a "thinking skills assessment", that some prospective students do. If your brain is sharper than mine has become (oh, that's everyone then), you might like to have a bash, if you've not done one before somewhere. There's a short ten question version of the Cambridge one (or for the really keen the full 50 question version) available online if you fancy a crack at it. Here's the Cambridge short one. You're up against the clock on these wretched things, I should say. www.admissionstests.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/adt/tsacambridge/practicetest/short_test You don't get a place or not based on your score, incidentally, it's just one more indicator. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 5 Apr 12 09:15   Thinking skills - hjd

I got 8/10. Always have difficulty with those cube things - my mind's not wired that way! Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 5 Apr 12 09:20   Thinking skills - MD

4 at the first attempt. Cube thing...............no chance. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 5 Apr 12 09:28   Thinking skills - Zero

8 out of ten here, I am always good with cube things. Not sure I want to joint the Lemming society tho, it will be a big club in a few years time. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 5 Apr 12 10:44   Thinking skills - Number_Cruncher

8 / 10 Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 5 Apr 12 11:38   Thinking skills - crocks

9/10 Although I had to think very hard for the full 20 minutes. Let down by the Hep B question. Going for a lie down soon. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 5 Apr 12 11:48   Thinking skills - Number_Cruncher

As an aside, what do those who have done the test think about multiple choice questions? A case of academic dumbing down?, or a valid way to assess students? Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 5 Apr 12 11:53   Thinking skills - R.P.

(b). Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 5 Apr 12 11:56   Thinking skills - sherlock47

I would suggest that since this is a 'Thinking Test' it is not the answers that matter, but the way that the candidate approaches the problem that is important. Multiple choice is a way of dumbing down the assessment process. When using anything that makes the selection process more mechanical there is a danger of losing the genuinely intelligent 'off the wall' thinkers? The problem is that then you need high level interviewers with the attended risk potential for bias in the selection process. Last edited by: pmh on Thu 5 Apr 12 at 11:59 Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 5 Apr 12 12:03   Thinking skills - AnotherJohnH

7/10 lacks application, could do better. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 5 Apr 12 12:14   Thinking skills - R.P.

8/10 - Had to crank the brain into life trying to fist a handlebar mount to the bike before doing it though ! Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 5 Apr 12 12:52   Thinking skills - devonite

Stupid test! - nearly as daft and ambiguous as the last one we did on here! |Translated from Cumbrian: me didn`t do very well at all = thicko! ;-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 5 Apr 12 13:51   Thinking skills - zookeeper

>> 8/10 - Had to crank the brain into life trying to fist a handlebar mount >> to the bike before doing it though ! I hope you meant fit? as for bike the mind boggles Last edited by: zookeeper on Thu 5 Apr 12 at 13:53 Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 5 Apr 12 14:38   Thinking skills - R.P.

:-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 5 Apr 12 12:36   Thinking skills - Zero

>> As an aside, what do those who have done the test think about multiple choice >> questions? >> >> A case of academic dumbing down?, or a valid way to assess students? >> Several answers actually. 1/ Its the only practical way to check answers on a web page based exam. 2/ It says more about the markers subject matter ability than that of the assessed. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 5 Apr 12 13:19   Thinking skills - Cliff Pope

I dispute the answer to question 3. "There should be a mass vaccination programme to eradicate this disease." is not the conclusion of the report, it is an unsubstantiated unreasoned statement near the beginning. PS. I did go to Cambridge. I don't remember doing any questions like these. I had an interview, and took the university entrance exams. Reply to this message | Report message       1

New Thu 5 Apr 12 14:54   Thinking skills - DP

>> I dispute the answer to question 3. >> >> "There should be a mass vaccination programme to eradicate this disease." is not the conclusion >> of the report, it is an unsubstantiated unreasoned statement near the beginning. I agree. I got this one wrong, and thought the same thing. Thought there was ambiguity in many of the answers, personally. 4/10. Got the cube right though :-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 5 Apr 12 15:43   Thinking skills - Crankcase

I think Cambridge has only been doing this since 2004 or some such - that's about when they popped into my consciousness anyway. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 6 Apr 12 09:44   Thinking skills - L'escargot

A popup kept appearing telling me whether I had made a correct choice or not. If it was incorrect I just had to keep changing my choice until I found the right one. Strange sort of test. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 6 Apr 12 10:14   Thinking skills - Zero

You failed then, the pop up was telling you what your score was. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 6 Apr 12 10:17   Thinking skills - R.P.

My niece passed her Medical finals yesterday, her exams were mostly multiple choice as well. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 6 Apr 12 10:17   Thinking skills - movilogo

Most academic tests have only one correct answer. But in real life, problems have no single correct anser - just different consequences based on which answer you choose. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 6 Apr 12 10:19   Thinking skills - Zero

>>. But in real life, problems have no >> single correct anser - just different consequences based on which answer you choose. Most times, choosing to do nothing is a valid answer - sometimes the best course of inaction! Reply to this message | Report message