The Ministry of Education of Ethiopia has announced the implementation of exit exam
for all undergraduate program students (public and private), beginning with the
2022/2023 academic year, in order to improve the quality of graduates produced by
higher learning institutions. The exit exam aimed at checking whether students have
acquired the required knowledge, skills and attitudes or not. To implement this, it
requires determining competency areas for a specific program, which is already
completed. Based on the competency areas prepared, it needs to plan the construction of
tests.
Planning of a test is a first and vital step in the construction of an achievement test. An
achievement test demands very systematic and careful planning, as a fact that good
planning is a symbol of success. Tests are the tools that provide scores that measure level
of student learning and study program learning outcomes. In order to achieve the valid
and reliable measurement of student learning and program learning outcomes, the
development of valid and reliable test is the mandatory. Test should be able to measure
student performance in all dimensions of knowledge, skill and attitude. The carefully
planned test construction contributes to improve the overall quality of the test in terms of
test content validity, difficulty level, discrimination power and test reliability. Test
preparation is not an easy task; it requires a careful planning and guideline to make the
task simple. Test construction needs the preparation of test blue print. Test blueprint is
defined as a complete plan that explains how to develop a test. The term refers to a map
or specification of assessment to ensure that all aspects of the curriculum and educational
domains are covered by the assessment programs over a specified period of time. It helps
curriculum developers/test constructors to match various competencies with the course
content and the appropriate modality of assessment.
Generally, test blueprint will help to ensure tests: 1) Appropriately assess the achievement
of instructional objectives of the course; 2) Appropriately reflect key course goals,
objectives and the material learned or covered during the instruction period; and 3)
Include the appropriate item formats along with the knowledge and skills being assessed.
Keeping this in mind, the team has prepared this test blueprint document in order to help
the test developers or content specialists in their process of valid and reliable test
construction. The major points considered in the process of preparing this test blue print
guideline were the core competencies that have been already identified for the themes of
courses, the course contents, course credit hours, and the learning outcomes with their
corresponding levels of achievement by learning domains. In line with these, the number
of test items that should adequately assess the performance of students in all the content
topics will be determined through discussion with the content specialists who construct
the blueprint and test for their corresponding study program.
The tourism and hotel industry is a blossoming field of study/business that includes many
themes. The sector plays a key role in economic development, foreign currency generation
and job creation. The orientation toward green hotels and sustainable tourism requires new
knowledge, skills and attitude. Since tourism and hotel management graduates must be
equipped with the desired knowledge, skills, and positive attitude, the program combines
theoretical aspects with practical training and industry experience. The new tourism and hotel
management curriculum implemented in many Ethiopian universities has been designed to
ensure graduates are knowledgeable, skillful and competitive in the tourism and hotel
industry areas. At the same time, they are expected to be technologically friendly and socially
responsible. These graduates expected to better understand and manage the countries’ tourism
potentials, operate the industry efficiently and effectively, and provide quality customer
service.
Therefore, the main purpose of this manual is to assist the preparation of a test that is
representative, broadly sampled, and consisting of complete knowledge domain expected of
the Ethiopian higher education students on completion of Bachelor Degree in Tourism and
Hotel Management.
- Objective of test blueprint
Test blueprint preparation is generally opted to assist the preparation of a test that is
representative, broadly sampled, and consisting of complete knowledge domain expected
of the Ethiopian higher education students on completion of Bachelor Degree in Tourism
and Hotel Management. The specific objectives of test blueprint are to
Facilitate the construction of a representative and balanced test items for the
selected courses in accordance with the competencies identified.
Guide test developers or writers to write or set appropriate test items.
- Expected profile of the Graduates
Graduates of Bachelor of Arts in Tourism and Hotel Management will get adequate
competency (knowledge, attitude and skills) in the area of Tourism and Hotel Management.
Generally, this degree program provides students with the opportunity to pursue a career in
Hotel and Tourism industry, and upon completion of the program, graduates will be able to:
Plan, develop and market tourism and hotel sector products and services;
Provide operational as well as managerial services in areas such as hotel and tourism
marketing, heritage conservation, heritage administration and utilization, hotel
management, front office management, housekeeping management, travel facilitation,
tour
Guide and operate at the national, regional and local tourism offices;
Work in the trade and industry sector as a tourism and hotel investment expert and
perform public relations tasks in different tourism and hotel organizations;
Deal with key issues in finance, marketing, management and other functions within
the tourism and hotel industry in innovative ways;
Undertake micro, small and medium enterprises’ entrepreneurial activities in the
tourism and hotel sector;
Support the development and implementation of appropriate international, national
and regional policies and regulations in the sector;
Undertake relevant operational and marketing research and implement the results of
these studies for the advancement of the sector and the country’s development;
Provide short and long-term training in the areas related to tourism, travel, hotel, and
customer services;
Acquire knowledge in travel and tourism industries like Travel agencies, Tour
operators, Event management organizations, Airlines, Cruise lines, Cargo operators,
Shipping lines and other sectors of the tourism industry; and
Acquire practical and theoretical knowledge, attitude and skills in community
organization and empowerment
Work in travel and transportation areas
4 - General objective
To produce qualified manpower that can effectively contribute in the
development and running of the tourism and hotel industry in Ethiopia by making
use of the vast potential of the country in the sector. - Specific objectives
To produce competent and well qualified graduates to meet the growing demand
of trained personnel in the sector,
To produce graduates who can conduct research in the field and provide advisory
services to improve the tourism and hotel sector.
To provide appropriate training that helps graduates acquire the skills required to
serve within the context of international standards of service industry.
To help students develop and promote a coherent personal and public attitude that
includes cultural and natural resource protection as an integrated and significant
element.
To produce entrepreneurs who can be able to create and manage small businesses
of their own within the tourism and hotel industry.
To instill an understanding of the legal and ethical responsibilities associated with
the care and management of cultural and natural heritage on the part of the
trainees;
To prepare future professionals to strategically manage and make sustainable and
effective decisions in placements of high responsibility in tourism institutions.
To provide future professionals with an integrated knowledge of the dynamics of
tourism development, principles of sustainable management, environmental
issues, role of cultural diversity and creativity for innovation and product
development, the governance of tourism networks and the quality management of
hotel and customer service.