science

ICFES examination

ICFES examination is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand ICFES examination rather than just read about it. In short: The ICFES examination, or Saber 11, is a high school exit examination administered annually in grade 11 in Colombian high schools. The exam is standardized, similar to the SAT and ACT examinations taken by high school students in the United States.

Key takeaways

ICFES examination belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect ICFES examination to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of ICFES examination from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The ICFES examination, or Saber 11, is a high school exit examination administered annually in grade 11 in Colombian high schools. The exam is standardized, similar to the SAT and ACT examinations taken by high school students in the United States. The purpose of the exam is to evaluate students' aptitude in five subjects: critical reading, mathematics, social studies, science, and English. Each exam question has four multiple-choice answers, except for the English section which provides between three and eight possible answers for each question. Although the ICFES provides several tests for different academic purposes, the Saber 11 is nationally recognized as the most important test because it evaluates students' academic readiness for admission into institutions of higher learning.

Purpose

The exam is usually taken by high school seniors, but students who have already obtained their diplomas and want to improve their scores can also take it. The examination is intended to measure basic academic skills that are needed for college success, such as critical reading, quantitative reasoning, civic skills, scientific reasoning, and proficiency in a second language. ICFES, which stands for the Colombian Institute for the Evaluation of Education, is the institution in charge of the nationwide administration of the exam. The institute also uses the results for research purposes and public policy design for the improvement of secondary education throughout Colombia. Both private and public universities in Colombia use the exam score as the main criterion for admissions. More competitive programs of study, such as medicine, require a higher score.

Structure

The exam has five sections:

Critical reading (41 questions) Mathematics (50 questions, equally distributed between two sessions) Social studies (50 questions, equally distributed between two sessions) Natural science (58 questions, equally distributed between two sessions) English (55 questions) Socioeconomic questionnaire (24 questions; does not generate a score)

Critical reading The critical reading section contains passages from different academic and literary sources. Answers to all of the questions are based on content explicitly stated or implied by the passage. This section of the test also includes questions that measure the philosophical knowledge of the student.

Mathematics A large portion of the math section is problem-solving, in which students are required to both analyze and draw conclusions from numerical data (like graphs and charts) or compute answers to a problem using previous mathematical knowledge. The other portion of the exam requires knowledge in advanced topics like calculus, algebra, trigonometry, probability, and conic sections.

Social studies The social studies questions include a context or sources like charts, graphs, pictures, newspapers, or academic essays that the student must analyze to propose a solution to a problem. The exam tests knowledge of the Colombian Constitution, economic principles, global history, national and international politics, and geography.

Natural science The natural science section evaluates biology, chemistry, and physics. Questions usually require the student to explain or predict a phenomenon stated on a diagram or a text using previous knowledge. A large portion of the test is experimental and requires the student to propose an experiment to evaluate different phenomena or to describe which variables are involved in the result and what would change if those variables were modified. For physics, topics evaluated include kinematics, electromagnetism, waves, and thermodynamics. For chemistry, inorganic and organic chemistry, mixtures, reactions, and stoichiometry are tested. For biology, concepts include cellular biology, DNA, genetics, ecosystems, evolution, and food webs.

English The English section is evaluated during the second examination session. It consists of seven parts with increasing complexity and is intended to evaluate text comprehension and use of English. The first part evaluated basic English comprehension through translations and transcriptions. The last part consists of four passages of increasing difficulty. For two of the passages, the student answers a series of questions based on the content stated or implied in the passages. For the other two passages, the student selects a word that correctly fits a sentence from a selection of grammatically correct words.

Normative The exam is intended to evaluate the student's academic skills on each subject. The internal structure of the exam is designed following evidence-centered design and states that skills (competencies) are defined by a series of affirmations. These affirmations are formulated using research-based evidence. Evidence is evaluated by tasks and items, which are composed of a context, a question, and four possible answers.

Scoring The ICFES exam qualifies students using percentiles and a global score that ranges between 1 and 500 points, while each subject score ranges between 1 and 100 points. Scores are computed based on the three-parameter logistic model.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with ICFES examination

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what ICFES examination claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to ICFES examination before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about ICFES examination ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of ICFES examination

In research: ICFES examination appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses ICFES examination in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: ICFES examination is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Education in Colombia, Standardized tests, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for ICFES examination outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study ICFES examination in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what ICFES examination means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain ICFES examination out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is ICFES examination in simple terms?

Why does ICFES examination matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study ICFES examination?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on ICFES examination.