Ministry of Education

Test Blueprint for National Exit Examination to be held in

2015 E.C

Band: One

Program: - Bachelor of Education Degree in Information Technology

Compiled By: Kasanesh Meshesha | Bahir Dar University

Tamir Anteneh | Bahir Dar University

January, 2023
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia

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 1. Introduction
Graduates performance and overall understanding of Information Technology education
profession needs to be assessed to assure that students meet graduate profiles and the program
learning outcomes. All the universities in Ethiopia have a series of fixed exams as graduation
requirements for their students.
Exit exams at the end of a bachelor academic track are recently being implemented by some
programs by their own initiation. Currently, ministry of education intends to set and
implement exit examinations for all undergraduate programs at national level.
Furthermore, exit exams are intended to assist students to prepare themselves to pursue their
postgraduate studies in more challenging programs successfully. In this context, the need of
exit examination is inevitable in assessing of student’s skill, attitude and knowledge
attainments in Information Technology program just after completing education program
requirements.
Exit examination is not intended only for the sake of graduation fulfillment, rather it also
changes students mind setup for better academic achievement, to secure more industrial jobs,
reduce the differences among different programs at different universities, and set standards in
the evaluation systems. Consequently, quality education will be ensured and common
getaway for the professional license and equal market opportunity will be created for all
graduates from different universities.
An exit exam is also known as end of course test which may help a college or university
make pertinent decisions to improve the quality of institution-wide education and, in some
cases, can help assess the standard of education in specific courses or departments. The main
idea behind an exit exam is the need to check whether students have attained the intended
learning outcomes of the programs they have attended or not. In fact, exit exams can offer
several potential benefits if designed as a reliable measure of student learning.
The aim of this document is to set the blueprint of the exit exam which assists the preparation
of the exam items from the identified courses which are matched to the competencies and
learning outcomes of the program.

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 2. Significance of Test Blueprint Preparation
Preparing the exit exam blueprint for Information Technology in Education program is aimed
to assist the preparation of the exam that is representative, broadly sampled, and consisting of
complete knowledge domain expected from IT Education students on completion of their
study program. Specifically, the exit exam blueprint helps to:

 Facilitate the construction of a representative and balanced exam items for the
selected courses in accordance with the competencies identified.

 Guide the experts who develop/prepare the exam to set appropriate exam items
with proper share among the identified courses, course themes, learning
outcomes, and competencies.

3. Expected Profile of the Graduates

A graduate's profile is the general description of the desirable qualities of graduates in real-
world work. Graduates' profile helps to determine the students’ conceptual knowledge, skills,
and attitude that they possess. A graduate profile can be advanced through experience in the
real world. It is known that Information Technology graduates have the necessary
understanding of theoretical, analytical tools, and practical implementation of current
information. Similarly, they should have knowledge and skills in order to be competent
around market area.

Accordingly, graduates in Information Technology in Education are expected to have the

following professional qualities after completing their education: -
Use and apply current technical concepts and practice of information technologies
into education.
Analyze, identify and define the IT requirements that must be satisfied to address
problems or opportunities faced by their students and devise the solutions
Design effective and usable IT-based solutions and integrate them into the user work
place environment
Identify and evaluate current and emerging technologies and assess their applicability
to learning and teaching.
Analyze the impact of technology on individual, organization and society
Assist in the creation of an effective project plan
Analyze, adopt and demonstrate IT in Education best practices, standards and their
application to education
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 Demonstrate independent critical thinking and problem solving skill of IT Education
Collaborate in teams to accomplish a common goal by integrating personal initiatives
and group cooperation
Communicate effectively and efficiently with clients, users and peers both verbally
and in writing, using appropriate terminology
Implement, maintain and manage information technologies and services of IT
Education
Implement, maintain and manage Web based systems and services in the area of
education
Implement, maintain and manage data and database systems in the area of education
Implement, maintain and manage data communication and networks in the area of
education.
Recognize the need for continued learning throughout their career.

4. General objective of the program

The general objective of the Ethiopian concurrent secondary school teacher education
program is to produce competent teachers with the desired knowledge, skills, and attitudes as
they stand to be teachers in the schools. The main objectives of the program include:

1. Provide students with a high quality education that will enable them to adapt to a
rapidly changing technical environment.

2. Produce graduates who will be productive throughout their careers in a wide range of
industrial, professional, and academic environments.

3. Develop graduates with strong sense of ethics, professionalism, and the ability to
succeed as both individual and team contributors.

4. To produce qualified IT professionals who are instrumental in the development of the

industrial sector of the country.

5. To carry out research in line with the development needs of the country.

6. To provide consultancy and technical services to the industrial sector and other
socioeconomic sectors of the country.

7. To produce technically sound and practically competent professionals of global

standard.

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 8. To train professionals equipped with relevant knowledge and skills, who would
contribute to the development of the country.

5. Specific Objectives

The specific objectives are very specific statements that describe exactly what a student will
be able to do in some measurable way. There may be more than one measurable specific
objectives defined for a given competency. The specific objectives identified for Information
Technology in Education are presented below:

Equip trainees with the knowledge, skills and dispositions required to become
effective secondary school teachers;
Enable trainees to become reflective practitioners who are able to analyze, evaluate
and act to improve their own practice and develop further professional knowledge and
skills;
Develop understanding of the nature of teacher professionalism, the responsibilities of
teachers and the professional values and ethical practice expected of them;
Create awareness that a central characteristic of teaching as a career is engagement in
a lifelong process of professional learning and development;
Develop trainees' capacity to engage in research to inform and develop their practice
Institutionalize equity in the teaching force and reach under privileged areas in the
provision of quality secondary education.
Provide teacher trainees with the theoretical and practical experience they need to
achieve all the standards and competencies set by the Ministry of Education;

6. Themes and List of Courses

The courses’ themes are done based on the relatedness and similarity of courses. Course of
the program is categorized in to seven. From these themes the course themes and courses
selected are mentioned in the Table 1. According to this, seven themes are selected for exit
exam. The total themes of the program are categorized as follows.
1. Computer System
2. System/Software Development
3. Database System and Information Management
4. Mobile and Web application Development

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 5. Networking
6. Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)
7. General education and learning
Table 1. Course theme and list
SN Course Theme Course Title ECTS/
Cr.hr.
1 Computer system 1. Computer Maintenance and Technical 5/3
Support
2. Operating System 5/3
1. Object Oriented Programing 5/3
2 System/Software Development 2. Object Oriented System Analysis and 5/3
Design
Database System and Information 1. Fundamentals of Database System 5/3
3 Management 2. Fundamentals of Database System 5/3
4 Mobile and Web application 1. Fundamentals of Internet Programing 5/3
Development 2. Advanced Internet Programing 5/3
5 Networking 1. Data communications and Computer 5/3
Networks
6 Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) 1. Subject area methods II (major) 5/3
1. General Methods of Teaching 3/2
7 General education and learning 2. Curriculum Studies 5/3
3. Foundations of Education 5/3
4. Teachers as Reflective Practitioners 3/2
5. Assessment and Evaluation of Learning 5/3
6. Educational Organization and Management

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 Ministry of Education (Table 1)
Higher Education Sub-Sector
Test Blueprint (Table Specification) for BED in Information Technology
Learning outcomes
Weight of Number Cognitive
Share of course or of test
Themes Name of Credit the proportion items
Courses hour themes from General objective Learning Outcome

Understanding
Remembering

Psychomotor

No. of items
in % each

Application

Evaluation

Creation/

Affective
course

Analysis
Computer system Computer 3 4% 7 Understand concepts of Analyze the role of support --- 2 2 1 1
_ --- ---
Maintena 0.5 maintenance and services within various types of 1
Theme 1 share =13 nce and troubleshooting as well
items from the total Technical technical organizations.
diagnose and solve  Analyze the need for and
Support
computer problems fundamentals of tier support
services based on
 Assist in the construction of a
Service Level Agreement

Operating 3 0.5 7 Explain, and Describe the Explain the objectives and - - - -
System 2 2 2 1 -
objectives and functions functions of modern operating
of modern operating systems
systems Describe the functions of a
contemporary operating system
with respect to
Explain the different states that a
task may pass through and the
data structures needed to
support the management of
many tasks

Theme 1 Total Credit 6

System/software OOP 4% 0.5 7 Provide basics of class,  Explain the basic object 2 1 2 2 - - - - -
development 3 data member and member oriented concepts
functions static members,  Successfully code, debug and
Theme 2 share
overloading; inheritance run programs with appropriate
=13 items from
the total
& composition; Database development environment
connectivity; Java  Work on more advanced
Collection Framework;
programs written in Java
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 File handling; object-
oriented design concepts.
0.5 7 Provide students the  Describe the major alternative 1 2 - 2 - 2 - - -
OOSAD 3 concepts and skills methodologies used in
needed to analyze and developing information
design information systems
systems  Analyze a business need for
information
 Prepare and use various
information gathering
techniques for eliciting user
information requirements and
system expectations
6 X
Theme 2 Total
Credit
Database Fundament 3 4% 0.5 7 provide students  Describe the basic principles of 1 2 2 2 - - - -
System and als of the basic the relational model of data
Information Database competencies of  Learn how to manipulate
Management System relations and specify queries
database
using SQL
management and  Demonstrate how to transform
Theme 3 share
=13 items from introduce a design from one normal form
the total conceptual to another form
frameworks of  Apply step-by-step
database and one or methodology for conceptual
database design, logical
more database database design, and physical
management database design for relational
systems. systems
Advanced 3 0.5 7 Provide students in  Understand how 1 2 2 2 - - - -
database depth information transactions are processed
system about system in a database.
implementation  Discuss/explain the
techniques, data concepts of Distributed
storage, Databases and Data
representing, Warehousing.
database system  Discuss/explain some
architecture, the database security issues.
system catalog,  Discuss/explain the

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 query processing and different techniques in
optimization, Concurrency Control
transaction  Tune and Optimize some
processing concepts, Database Applications.
concurrency control  Carefully explain the
techniques, database concepts of Object-
recovery techniques, Oriented database
database security
and authorization,
enhanced data
models for advanced
application
Theme 3 Total Credit 6
Mobile and Fundament 3 4% 0.5 7 To understand web  Provide fundamental - 2 2 1 - 2 - -
Web als of protocols, Design and concepts and skills for the
application Internet development of static understanding and
Development
Programmi and dynamic pages development of web-
Theme 4 share ng based applications.
=13 items from To become familiar  Construct Web sites using
the total
with the common HTML and Server Side
tools and techniques Scripting Languages
for developing Web-  Implement client-side
based applications, interactivity
both client-side and  use CSS to manage Web
server-side. site presentation and
maintenance
To develop an  Select and customize
understanding of the existing technologies to
technology and set up and maintain web
protocols underlying servers
World Wide Web.

Advanced 3 0.5 7 The students aren’t taken

Internet this course in our case
Program
ming

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Theme 4 Total Credit 6
Networki Data 3 2% 1 7 Provide students  Understand the concepts 1 3 - - 1 2 - -
ng communication conceptual knowledge and principles of data
Theme 5 & Computer and practical skills
share =7 communications and
items from
Networks about computer computer networks,
the total networks and data
data transmission and
communication
transmission media,
among networked
devices Protocols and various
networking
components, TCP/IP &
OSI Reference Model
hardware and software
resources in LAN and
WAN, networks
 Build small to medium
level Computer
networks
Theme 5 Total Credit 3
Pedagogi Subject Area 3 2% 1 7 Discuss the nature of  Identify the nature of ICT 2 1 2 2 - - - -
cal Methods ICT and its role in as secondary and
content II(Major) human life preparatory school
knowled Identify the nature subject
ge (PCK)
of ICT as secondary  Internalize how the
and preparatory nature of ICT as
Theme 6 school subject discipline influences
share =7
items from
Plan ICT teaching teaching and learning
the total Internalize how the method
nature of ICT as  Select appropriate
discipline influences teaching methods for
teaching and teaching major concepts
learning methods. of ICT.
Identify the need for
implementing
alternative methods

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 of ICT teaching.
Select appropriate
teaching methods
for teaching major
concepts of ICT.
Identify the various
assessment
techniques in
theoretical teaching
of ICT

Theme 6 Total Credit 3

General General 2 0.133 4
Educatio Methods Of
n& Teaching
Learning 10%
Curriculum 3 0.2 6 Explain the concepts  Define the term 1 2 - 2 1 - - -
Theme 7 studies of curriculum and its curriculum in their
share =33 development own words
items from
the total Analyze various  Analyze different
types of curriculum definitions of
development curriculum given by
models different scholars
understand how  Identify basic elements
curriculum planning of curriculum
process is going on  Analyze how the
Analyze concepts, foundations of
functions, elements, curriculum influence
and principles its components
related to  Compare and contrast
curriculum different thoughts in
philosophy of

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 education
 Explain the
relationships between
curriculum and school
teacher
Foundations of 3 0.2 6  Explain the  Define the term 1 2 1 2 - - - -
education concepts of curriculum in their own
curriculum and words
its development  Analyze different
 Analyze various definitions of curriculum
types of given by different
curriculum scholars
development  Identify basic elements
models of curriculum
 understand how  Analyze how the
curriculum foundations of
planning process curriculum influence its
is going on components.
 Analyze  Explain the relationships
concepts, between curriculum and
functions, school teacher
elements, and
principles
related to
curriculum
development
processes
Teachers as a 2 0.133 4
reflective
practitioners
Assessment & 3 0.2 6 Understand  Understand concepts 1 2 1 2 - - - -
Evaluation of concepts related to related to student’s
Learning student’s learning learning assessment
assessment  Know techniques for

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 Know techniques assessing the
for assessing the performance of
performance of students based on
students based on sound principles and
sound principles and educational objectives
educational  Analyze items to
objectives increase the quality of
Analyze items to classroom assessment
increase the quality tools
of classroom  Appreciate
assessment tools. assessment results to
Appreciate understand the
assessment results implications and
to understand the thereby make
implications and appropriate decisions.
thereby make  Discuss concepts of
appropriate validity and reliability
decisions.
Conduct self-
assessment of their
teaching in
classrooms in view
of student learning
and standards of
teacher
professionalism.
Educational 2 0.133 4 Understand the  Understand the defining 1 1 1 1 - - - -
Organization basic concepts, features of educational
and theories, and organizations
Management techniques of  Tell the difference
organization and between organization
management in and management
general and that of  Distinguish the
education in difference management
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 particular. skills and levels
Utilize the major  Discus the unique
conceptual nature of education
approaches and organization and
techniques for management
solving g problems
in educational
organization
Appreciate the
importance of
working with groups
in educational
organization,
Understand the
unique nature of
educational
organization and
management,
Theme 7 Total credit of 15
Total for the program = 45 100
Key: In the cells/boxes there are numbers that indicate the number of items that correspond to the levels of domains.

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7. Conclusions
If implemented effectively, exit examinations can have a vital role in improving academic programs quality
and effectiveness. Furthermore, it can create the platform for cooperation among academic programs at
different universities to work jointly to improve the program quality.

In view of this, this document is produced to assist the preparation of the exit exam items for IT Education
program which are illustrative, broadly sampled, and consisting of complete knowledge domain of the
program. It helps to set exam items which are balanced based on the graduate profiles, competencies
identified and major learning outcomes of the program from the selected courses with appropriate shares
based on their weighting. The shares of the course themes, the weight of each course in each theme, and the
number of exam items from each course have been determined.

Appendix

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Table 2: Example for the calculation ofshare of themes, courses and items from a course from a total
of 120 test items for one program
Themes Course Credit Weight of Numberof Cognitive
Name hour course or testitems from

Psychomotor
Understand
proportion each course

Remember
outcomes

Affective
Learning

Evaluate
Analyze

Create
Apply

Total
Theme One 1 3 3/12 = 0.25 0.25*34 = 9 - 2 2 1 2 1 - 1 9
2 4 4/12 = 0.333 0.333*34 = 11 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 11
Share = 34 3 2 2/12 = 0.167 0.167*34 = 6 - 1 - 2 2 1 - - 6
items from 4 3 3/12 = 0.25 0.25*34 = 8 - 1 1 2 1 2 - 1 8
the total Theme one 12
total credit
Theme Two 1 3 3/17 = 0.18 0.18*49 = 9 - 1 2 2 2 1 1 - 9
2 3 3/17 = 0.18 0.18*49 = 9 - 1 2 1 2 1 - 2 9
3 4 4/17 = 0.24 0.24*49 = 11 - 2 2 3 2 1 - 1 11
Share = 49 4 4 4/17 = 0.24 0.24*49 = 11 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 11
items from 5 3 3/17 = 0.18 0.18*49 = 9 - 2 2 1 2 1 - 1 9
the total Theme two 17
total credit
Theme Three 1 3 3/13 = 0.23 0.23*37 = 9 - 1 2 1 2 1 - 2 9
2 3 3/13 = 0.23 0.23*37 = 9 - 1 2 2 2 1 - 1 9
Share = 37 3 4 4/13 = 0.31 0.31*37 = 10 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 - 10
items from 4 3 3/13 = 0.23 0.31*37 = 9 - 1 2 1 3 1 - 1 9
the total Theme three 13
total credit
Total for the program 42 3 19 21 21 24 16 4 12 120

Note: The number of items assigned in the levels of domains is based on the nature oflearning
outcomes/objectives.

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