Excel-online digital tools for training and assessing chemistry knowledge of foreign students of pre-university department

The results of developing and testing digital elements of a distant computer system for assessment of chemistry knowledge to control the training level of foreign students of the pre-university department are provided. The Excel-online table kit is designed to support the training of foreign citizens for selection testing and continuous and midterm assessment tests. It is supposed to rely on BYOD technology, provide online access to tests and simulators via students’ mobile devices. The system is focused primarily on assessing knowledge of the subject. The wordings of the questions do not require fluent Russian language and do not contain complicated speech patterns. Answers also consist of the simplest phrases. The technology of using Excel-online tables as an environment for the development and performance of simulators and tests is described. Students are offered the opportunity to pass training on model sets of two-type test questions. The effectiveness of digital technology of automated transformation of the Russian version of the table test into any other language is shown. The described approach with regard to the level of students’ knowledge of the Russian language, multi-lingual test and the opportunity of preliminary training can lift language, technological and other barriers and assess exactly the knowledge of chemistry, but not the Russian language or information technology. The publication has been prepared under the support of the “People’s Friendship University of Russia Program No. 5-100”. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.