Syllabus
CNSL 5305 Psychoeducational Testing and Appraisal
Wayland Baptist University Hawaii Campus
School of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Summer Session: July 1-September 8, 2013
Wayland Baptist University exists to educate students in an academically challenging,learning-focused, and
distinctively Christian environment for professional success and service to God and humankind.
MEETING DATES & TIMES:
Face-to-face classes:
Saturday 7/6@ 9am-3pm
Saturday 7/13 @ 9am-3pm
Saturday 8/24@ 1:30pm-4pm
Saturday 9/7@ 9am-3pm
Note: This is a hybrid class. A significant amount of additional class time is spent completing assignments,
activities and discussions online via Blackboard and email.
Instructor:
Leilani Ahina, PsyD
email: leilani.ahina@wayland.wbu.edu
phone: (808) 220-0141
office hours: Before and after class, other times by appointment
Course Credit: 3 hours
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Survey of the various principles, applications, and issues in psycho-educational testing and appraisal. Test
development, validity and reliability issues and basic statistics; interviewing techniques, intelligence,
personality, career, projective and behavior tests and assessments; current laws and regulations regarding
special education, academic interventions, and Individualized Education Programs.
TEXTBOOK: Psychological Testing: Principles, Applications, and Issues
7th edition by Kaplan & Saccuzzo (Wadsworth Publishing)
SUGGESTED: Clinician's Thesaurus: The Guidebook for Writing Psychological Reports by Edward L.
Zuckerman. ANY EDITION IS FINE. Available for less than a dollar on amazon.com.
Textbooks are an information source and a means of explaining and stimulating interest in the material. It
does not contain all the information students need to know, however. Additional information, interpretations,
and analyses will be given in class.
COURSE OBJECTIVES: By the conclusion of the course, successful students will be able to:
1. Know major psychological tests and assessments.
2. Know the various aspects of test development including basic statistical concepts and reliability and
validity.
3. Have a basic understanding of the major types of psychological tests and assessments including
personality, intelligence, and career testing.
4. Learn effective means of interpreting, integrating, and communicating assessment information, both
orally and in written reports, to other professionals and parents.
5. Be familiar with relevant psychological testing issues such as bias, tests and the law, and the future
of testing.
6. Learn basic tips on test administration and interviewing as well as scoring and interpretation.
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Attendance and Absences
Campus Attendance Policy: Students enrolled at one of the University’s external campuses should make every
effort to attend all class meetings. All absences must be explained to the instructor, who will then determine
whether the omitted work may be made up. When a student reaches that number of absences considered by
the instructor to be excessive, the instructor will so advise the student and file an unsatisfactory progress report
with the campus dean. Any student who misses 25 percent or more of the regularly scheduled class meetings
will receive a grade of F in the course. Additional attendance policies for each course, as defined by the
instructor in the course syllabus are considered a part of the University’s attendance policy (WBU Catalog,
2005-2006, p. 77).
Instructors Additional Attendance Policies: Attendance is very important to the outcome of your success in this
class. If you are unable to attend a class, it is your responsibility to notify the instructor immediately and to
acquire the notes from another student for the class missed. Attendance will be taken and will be factored into
students' grade. If you miss class, you should notify the instructor (preferably via e-mail) of your status and
reason for missing class.
Notice to Students Experiencing Disabilities:
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), it is the policy of Wayland Baptist
University that no otherwise qualified person with a disability be excluded from participation in, be denied the
benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any educational program or activity in the university. The
Coordinator of Counseling Services serves as the coordinator of students with a disability and should be
contacted concerning accommodation requests at (806) 291- 3765. Documentation of a disability must
accompany any request for accommodations.
Academic Honesty
Wayland Baptist University’s policy on academic honesty and/or plagiarism will be strictly adhered to in this
class. Any plagiarized work will be referred to the Dean and may result in an automatic No Pass grade. Please
refer to the Academic Catalog for further information.
Reading: Students will be expected to read the assigned readings prior to the day they are discussed in class.
Attendance & Participation: Students will be expected to be present and to participate and contribute
thoughtfully to the classroom discussions. This requires you to be prepared for class by completing the
reading prior to the day it is discussed in class. You are expected to be attentive and to respect your
classmates’ opinions
Ethical and Professional Conduct. Counselors-in-training are expected to behave in accordance with the
ACA Ethical Standards and other standards of accepted professional conduct, including attire appropriate to
professional counseling. Special attention is called to standards of confidentiality. Specific Ethical and
Professional Guidelines for School Counselors are also included in the (a) TEA Code of Ethics and (b)
American School Counselor Association Ethical Standards.
Grading
The following grading system will be used throughout the course:
A 100-90%
B 89-80%
C 79-70%
D 69-60%
F below 60%
I incomplete*
W withdrawal
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*An incomplete may be given within the last two weeks of a long term or within the last two days of a microterm
to a student who is passing, but has not completed a term paper, examination, or other required work for
reasons beyond the student’s control. A grade of “incomplete” is changed if the work required is completed
prior to the last day of the next long (10 to 15 weeks) term, unless the instructor designates an earlier date for
completion. If the work is not completed by the appropriate date, the I is converted to an F.
Evaluation of student performance:
Exams: (a total of 40% of your final grade) Four exams (3 unit exams at 10% each and a final exam at
10%) will be administered throughout the course of the semester. The exams may consist of objective
questions such as multiple choice or “fill-in-the-blank” questions, or may also include “expressive” questions
such as short answer or essay questions which will allow you to write your own responses and will allow
students the maximum opportunity to demonstrate what they know and that they can analyze information and
reach defensible conclusions. The tests may consists of items from either the textbook(s) or from material
discussed in class as well as from handouts given out in class.
Homework Assignments: (60% total of final grade) You will be required to complete several assignments
over the course of the semester. More information will be provided in class regarding each individual
assignment. You will be graded on grammatical correctness and organization of your paper as well as ability
to follow instructions and understand concepts. If you know that you will be absent in class on the day that an
assignment is due, turn it in early. You will lose 10% of the possible points for each day your
assignment is turned in late.
Listed below are the details and the grade breakdown of the homework assignments:
 Assignment #1 and #2 (Case History #1 and #2): (10 points each, 20 points total) Conduct a
thorough case history interview including demographics, presenting problem, reason for referral,
behavioral observations, developmental issues, family history (current and family of origin),
interpersonal relationships (friendships, romantic relationships, etc.), work history, academic history,
medical history, substance abuse issues, psychiatric history, legal issues, leisure/hobby activities,
religious involvement, and any other major life events that may hold significance in their current level of
functioning. This paper should be at least 4 pages in length and double-spaced.
You will also be editing and providing feedback to assigned classmate’s assignment #1 and
assignment #2. Grading will be based on the usefulness, merit and helpfulness of your feedback. (5
points each, 10 points total)
 Assignment #3 (Journal Articles): (10 points) Pick only one, Part A or Part B.
Part A—Read 3 journal articles related to a specific test and write a one page summary for each of the
3 articles on what the articles were about and what you learned from these articles. In your summary,
mention any psychometric properties discussed in the articles that pertain to that test (ie. Reliability,
validity, standardization, etc.). Prepare a short PowerPoint presentation summarizing this information
to share with the class.
Part B—Read 3 journal articles pertaining to 3 different tests for a specific population (i.e., toddlers) or
diagnosis (i.e., autism). One test must be an intelligence test and one must be a personality test.
Write a one page summary for each of the 3 articles on what the articles were about and what you
learned from these articles. Prepare a short PowerPoint presentation summarizing this information to
share with the class.
 Assignment #4 (Test Profile)—(20 points) You will be given a battery of test results to interpret. Your
report should be at least 4 pages in length and follow a format similar to the Case History assignments.
You may discuss general concepts and ideas with your classmates’, but may not share nor collaborate
on the written portions of this assignment.
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Date & Time
Sat. 7/6
CLASS
MEETS
9am-3pm
Content
Introduction of the Course/ Overview of the Syllabus/ Test Administration
Demonstration
Sat. 7/13
CLASS
MEETS
9am-3pm
Read:
Ch. 7 Test Administration
Ch. 8 Interviewing Techniques
Read:
Ch. 1 Introduction
Ch. 2 Norms and Basic Statistics for Testing
Ch. 3 Correlation and Regression
Ch. 4 Reliability
Ch. 5 Validity
Ch. 6 Writing & Evaluating Test Items
Review of Report Writing Formats
Sat. 7/20
Via
Blackboard
Sat 7/27
Via
Blackboard
Sat. 8/3
Via
Blackboard
Exam#1 (on Chapters 1-4) Completed by midnight
Sat. 8/10
Via
Blackboard
Sat. 8/17
Via
Blackboard
Assignment #2 (Case History #1) due by midnight
Sat. 8/24
CLASS
MEETS
1:30pm-4pm
Sat. 8/31
Via
Blackboard
Assignment #1 (Case History #1) due by midnight
Exam#2 (on Chapters 5-8) Completed by midnight
Feedback to assigned classmate’s assignment #1 due by midnight
Feedback to assigned classmate’s assignment #2 due by midnight
Ch. 9 Theories of Intelligence & The Binet Scales
Ch. 10 Wechsler Intelligence Scales: WAIS-III, WISC-IV, and WPPSI-III
Ch. 11 Other Individual Tests of Ability in Education and Special Education Ch. 12
Standardized Tests in Education, Civil Service, and the Military
Ch. 13 Applications in Clinical and Counseling Settings
Ch. 14 Projective Personality Tests
Ch. 15 Computers and Basic Psychological Science in Testing
Ch. 16 Tests in Counseling Psychology
Exam#3 (on Chapters 9-16) Completed by midnight
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Sat. 9/7
CLASS
MEETS
9am-3pm
Assignment #3 due (Journal Articles PowerPoint Presentations)
Assignment #4 due (Test Profile)
Ch. 17 Testing in Health Psychology & Health Care
Ch. 19 Test Bias
Ch. 20 Testing and the Law
Ch. 21 Ethics and the Future of Psychological Testing
Final Exam (Comprehensive, all chapters) completed by midnight
Professor reserves the right to modify syllabus as needed. Please consult catalog for important deadlines
such as add/drop, withdrawal, etc.
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