Challenge

The Schweizerische Dienstleistungszentrum für Berufsbildung sowie Berufs-, Studien- und Laufbahnberatung (SDBB ? Swiss Service Centre for vocational training and career, educational and occupational advice) is an institution of the Schweizerische Konferenz der kantonalen Erziehungsdirektoren (EDK – Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education).

In this capacity, the centre?s work includes coordinating inter-cantonal collaboration in the field of career advice. Specifically, this also means that career advice diagnostic tests are held, further developed and are made available on a national scale.

Until the Online Test Platform (OTP) was developed, this was no easy task. Most of the tests only existed in paper-form. The result of this both for those seeking advice and the advisors themselves was a large number of paper and handwritten evaluations, which for the SDBB entailed high levels of production expense, no centralised collection of data for analysis and further development of procedures, and no straightforward method of calculating the use of tests at advice centres and cantons, etc.

Given this background, it is easy to understand the desire for a central administration platform with the option of integrating any number of test procedures via a uniform interface.

Process

The solution for the Online Test Platform was produced in collaboration with the software company netcetera. Netcetera was responsible for the development of a central administration platform and an interface. At the same time, Bright Answer worked on the digitalisation of the first 15 diagnostic test procedures, and linked these to the central platform via the aforementioned interface. Every test procedure has its own specific requirements. In collaboration with the SDBB, different committees as well as the authors of the relevant procedures, the best solution for each test procedure regarding the digital data collection, the automatic evaluation and the presentation of  the data was developed. The spectrum of the implemented procedures ranges from more basic interest tests to comprehensive intelligence tests involving browser based time measurement. All test procedures have been implemented based on SurveyLab.

Solution

With the Online Test Platform (OTP), the SDBB is providing Switzerland’s cantonal occupational, educational and career guidance services with a series of relevant, scientifically substantiated tools online for the first time.

The OTP digitalises and centralises the execution, evaluation and graphical results response of aptitude-diagnostic tests in three different languages. Digital tests result in qualitatively better data than conventional paper methods.

The OTP simplifies the advisory process for all participants, advisors can assign clients with any number of tests which can be filled out online regardless of user location. The data is automatically evaluated and made available to the advisors, thus providing them with reliable material for the continued provision of advisory services. Extensive manual evaluation is no longer necessary. The centralised storage of data means that the procedure is continuously improved and standardised. The cantons are continuously up to date with their advice-related figures and costs.

The OTP is designed for optimum information safety and high data protection requirements. All the data is stored centrally on SDBB?s own servers. Personal test results can only be viewed by the relevant specialist advisors. Test authors are only able to export the anonymous raw data from their procedures.