NAU-Yuma branch campus
The mission of NAU-Yuma is to meet the evolving higher educational needs of the diverse
population in the Lower Colorado River Region.
Vision Statement
We develop leaders who create tomorrow’s opportunities in a globally-engaged society.
Mission Statement
Our mission is to prepare competent and committed professionals who will make positive
differences for children, young adults and others in a diverse and environmentally
sustainable global environment. The mission of NAU-YUMA is to meet the unique
higher educational needs of the diverse and growing communities of the Lower Colorado
River Region by preparing citizens who understand and value diversity, environmental
sustainability and global engagement.
To this end, our students will, based on their education, demonstrate the following:
A positive approach toward cultural differences
Empathy and understanding of people with various cultural identities, including
their own
Recognition of the interconnectedness and interdependence of nations, peoples,
environments and cultures
A willingness to see differences as opportunities for constructive,
respectful, and peaceful collaborations
A commitment to basic equality and rights of all persons
An interest in developing knowledge of world history, geography, climate
change and environmental issues, economics, politics and
international relations
Willingness to think flexibly and creatively
NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY-YUMA
EPS 664 Tests and Measurements
Spring, 2014
3 credit hours
Instructor: Sherri N. McCarthy, Ph.D.
Office hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 2 - 5 PM or by appointment.
Office: AC219
Phone: 317-6411
e-mail: sherri.mccarthy@nau.edu
Class Time: Wednesdays, PM
Homepage: www.nau.edu/nauyuma/ and click on the link to the right of my name in the
education faculty and staff directory Place: AC280
Course prerequisites, description and objectives/outcomes: This course has EPS525
as a pre-requisite; an understanding of basic research & statistics and knowledge of APA
style is required. You are responsible for this information; it will not be covered in class,
but you will need to know it in order to succeed. EPS 664 is designed to provide you
with an overview of how tests are developed used, administered, scored and evaluated.
We will examine a variety of intelligence, achievement, personality, aptitude, interest and
special ability tests. The focus will be on developing an understanding of the strengths,
purposes, uses and limitations of tests in applied settings relevant to students’ personal
career goals. Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
(a) describe and differentiate among various types of tests available;
(b) locate, analyze and critique tests appropriate to your needs;
(c) develop a personal philosophy regarding the guidelines, ethics, morality and need for
testing in your field of interest;
(d) analyze how well a variety of tests function;
(e) understand current applications of testing in a variety of settings, and
(f) evaluate current tests, suggesting improvements for future development.
Teaching techniques utilized to help you meet these goals will include reading
assignments, cooperative group work, class discussions, lectures, multi-media
presentations, projects and written assignments. It is my hope that we will have an
enjoyable and beneficial semester together as we learn.
Course policies, structure and approach: I expect each of you to complete
assignments on time and attend every class (barring major emergencies, which you will
inform me of). We will utilize discussion as the primary tool for learning in this graduate
seminar. You will each be responsible to read about and/or research different aspects of
testing each week and summarize what you have found. There will also be individual and
group assignments in which you will demonstrate the knowledge you are acquiring. I
utilize cooperative grouping, class meetings, lecture and discovery learning as tools to
help you master the rather extensive content of this course during the time we have
together. We will also use class forums as a technique to refine and improve each other's
papers and projects. Your input is welcome and encouraged. Please feel free to discuss
questions or concerns you may have with me throughout our class. It is my hope that we
will have a rewarding, enjoyable course together which will provide you with useful
information to apply in your careers for years to come. University policies, as noted in
the student handbook available on the university web page, will be adhered to.
Textbook (choose 1 for use in your discussion group assignments):
Anastasi, A. & Urbana, K. (6th edition or later). Psychological testing. Upper Saddle
River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. (ISBN: 0-02-303085-2.) This is the “bible” of psychological
testing in terms of summarizing what is currently available in terms of researched,
commercially-published tests used by psychologists. It also includes a good general
overview of the history of testing, and of key considerations in creating tests and
understanding the information from tests provided on psychological evaluations.
Boyle, J. & Fisher, S. (2007 or later). Educational testing. London: Blackwell.
(ISBN: -13: 978-1-4051-4659-3). This is an excellent overview explaining how tests are
used appropriately in public schools. If you work in special education or have a future
goal of becoming a school psychologist, it will provide you with an excellent overview.
Cohen, R.J. and Swerdlick, M.E. (2005 or later). Psychological testing and assessment.
Mayfield Publishing Co., Mountain View, CA. The focus is on statistical components of
how to evaluate the data you get from test scores and on the quality of the tests
themselves, with additional information about how tests are created, normed and
developed. Basic information; the book most of your peers in Flagstaff use in this class.
Furr, R. M. & Bacharach, V.R. (2008). Psychometrics: An introduction. Los Angeles,
CA: Sage Publications. (ISBN 978-1-4129-2760-4). Like the book above, this is often
used in web classes from Flagstaff and at other universities as the basic text for this class.
It covers the essentials of how tests are created, with focus on statistical components and
scientific theory of psychometrics. If you plan on working in test development, teaching
tests and measurements at the university level and/or creating your own tests for a
dissertation research project, it is very valuable and I recommend you have a copy.
Geisinger, K. (2013). APA Handbook of Testing and Assessment in Psychology Volume
1: Test Theory, Testing and Assessment in Industrial and Organizational Psychology.
Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. (ISBN 978-1-4338-1227-9-1).
This book is a must if you are interested in organizational psychology. Current,
comprehensive, comprehensible—and available at a substantial discount if you are a
student member of APA by calling 800-374-2721.
Geisinger, K. (2013). APA Handbook of Testing and Assessment in Psychology Volume
2: Testing and Assessment in Clinical and Counseling Psychology. Washington, D.C.:
American Psychological Association. (ISBN 978-1-4338-1227-9-2).
This book is essential if you are interested in becoming a clinical or counseling
psychologist. Everything you need to know to get started doing evaluations after you are
trained and licensed is included and it is also very helpful if you are required to read
evaluations by psychologists in your workplace. Available at a discount to APA members
by calling 800-374-2721.
Geisinger, K. (2013). APA Handbook of Testing and Assessment in Psychology Volume
3: Testing and Assessment in School Psychology and Education. Washington, D.C.:
American Psychological Association. (ISBN 978-1-4338-1227-9-3).
This book is a must if you plan to become a school psychologist or if you work in special
education. It covers much of what you need to know to evaluate students in public school
settings. It is available at a discount to APA members by calling 800-374-2721.
Janda, L. (1998). Psychological testing: Theory and application. Needham, MA: Allyn &
Bacon. This book, like the ones by Cohen and Furr, covers basics of understanding the
scientific aspects of test creation. It is not as current so includes less on IRT,
computerized testing and more recent developments in continuous norming, but is clearly
written and less statistically-oriented.
Suskie, L. (2004) .Assessing student learning: A common sense guide. If your long range
plans include educational leadership roles, especially at community colleges or a
university, this is a good book to be familiar with. It gives examples of how content tests
in various disciplines can be a used to assess educational quality in evaluations to support
accreditation. Rating scales, student satisfaction surveys, portfolio assessment,
reflections, use of focus groups and interviews and several other strategies are described.
It is written from an educational point of view and does not include an in-depth
presentation of psychometrics, but it is a good overview for someone without background
in psychology. I also try to get all faculty members in all disciplines to read it at some
point because it has useful information about how student learning can be assessed
effectively.
___________________________________________________________________
Recommended texts:
American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association. (6th Edition). Washington, D.C.: Author. ISBN 10: 1-43380561-8.
American Psychological Association, American Educational Research Association and
National Council on Measurement in Education (1999). Standards for educational and
psychological testing. Washington, D.C.: Author. ISBN: 0-935302-25-5.
Assignments and Grading
I utilize a point scale for grading. Up to 500 points may be earned by completing the
following assignments. Your grade is based on the percentage of the total points you earn.
Class discussion participation and activities:
300 points
Class points cannot be made up. Students are expected to be present for all classes and
participate in a constructive and collegial manner. In order to earn full points (20 per
class), you must be adequately prepared and adequately involved in all of the evening
activities and discussion. This means, if required, you will have read a chapter in your
particular textbook to summarize for the class, and present this with thoughtful questions
for explanation and discussion. It also means you will appropriately participate in the
discussions of the material others present from their chapter or I provide in lectures. Once
you have selected your textbook, you will decide with me which chapters you will
summarize on each of our 9 designated class discussion nights. It is recommended you
read, ask me questions and prepare ahead of discussions as your own schedule allows.
Philosophy and Ethics of Testing
25 points
You will need to turn in a formal, APA-style paper in which you reflect upon and analyze
the ethics of testing, and of using test data to make important decisions that effect others
in areas such as employability/job selection, academic potential/program selection,
mental health/diagnosis, service provision in counseling or special education, fitness to
stand trial/treatment or related areas—choose those of most relevance to your own present
and/or future career interests.. Explain the ethical principles by which you plan to abide
in the setting(s) where you will utilize tests to make decisions. Give this assignment
serious thought and reflection. Refer to the Standards for Educational and Psychological
Testing and other documents from psychology, counseling, educational, legal and/or other
professional associations. Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education, the American
Psychological Association Code of Ethics, the American Counseling Association Code of
Ethics and the Test-Taker’s Bill of Rights are examples of guidelines you can refer to.
Address professional, ethical and legal issues. Indicate when testing is and is not
appropriate in academic, psychological, employment-related and/or settings, especially
tailoring it to your own workplace or career choice. When is it appropriate to use test
data to inform decisions? How and why should it be used? Who should be allowed to
administer and score various types of tests? What training should they receive? Use
examples, personal experience, references and any other information necessary to clearly
present your personal philosophy of testing. This paper should follow APA style
guidelines, including appropriate headings and references. The draft of your paper worth
5 points, will be due on 02/04. The final paper is due on 02/11. It is worth 20 points —5
for APA style,; 5 for clarity and appropriate explanations; 5 for comprehensive content
and justification and 5 for appropriate references.
Journal Article Review
25 points
We will visit the library as a class and select appropriate articles related to test
development to read and review. I recommend you find an article related to the specific
test you choose to review for this assignment—either research that used it as one of the
instruments to test a hypothesis or an evaluation of its psychometric properties with a
particular sample or for a population of interest to you. The article you review must come
from a peer-reviewed science journal (preferably an APA psychology journal). After I
approve your article you will read it and prepare a brief oral summary for class the
following week. Then you will write an APA-style review of the article, including a
summary, critique and application section. That draft will be edited in class and then
finalized. This will be an experience to help you improve your writing in the style of the
discipline, as well as to better understand psychometrics and test development and learn
where to find research information about psychological tests of interest. The draft, worth
5 points, is due on 3/12. The paper is due on 03/26. It is worth 20 points—5 for APA
style; 5 for a thorough and accurate summary; 5 for establishing relevance to your own
test; and 5 for appropriate comments, critique and application to your life/career.
Test Critique Project
100 points
You will be responsible for selecting a test to critique from our library, your workplace or
from a commercial test publisher. The test may belong to any of the following categories:
ability test; test for special populations; aptitude test; personality test; interest inventory;
intelligence test, attitude inventory, achievement test, projective test, situational test, or
clinical test. Refer to your text for more information about the type of test you choose.
You may select a group test or an individual test. Once you have selected a test, you will
need to obtain a copy (along with any administration manuals, technical manuals and
reports, scoring guidelines, pilot studies and/or reliability and validity data available) and
complete a literature search to find studies conducted on this test in other settings. Learn
how to administer the test, and use it to test each member of our class. Based on your
understanding of these materials, report the scores and results to each individual you test
and give them a copy of their results. Then, address the following questions as you
prepare a brief oral critique of the test for class: What is the test designed for? How was it
created and normed? Would you use it? Why or why not? If so, for what purpose(s)?
Does it appear to be adequately constructed? Does it appear to be adequately normed? Is
reliability and validity established? Finally, in a formal APA-style paper, you will need to
summarize the theoretical framework upon which the test you selected is based. Provide
information on the history of test development in the particular area that led to its
creation. Indicate the population(s) for which it is designed to be used. Discuss how
effective it is, in your opinion and how it might be improved. Would you use it? How?
Could it be improved? If you were a test developer, what might you do to improve it?
Your paper should follow the basic pattern of a critique. Begin with an extensive, lowinference background section describing and summarizing the test, how it was developed,
what types of evidence for its validity and reliability exist and how it is currently used in
your particular interest area(s) within psychology (organizational, school, clinical,
counseling, educational, occupational, forensic, health and/or social). Reference the
manuals, texts and other relevant sources in this section. The next section should give
your own supported opinion of the test. How useful do you think it is to psychologists,
educators, individuals who take it, employers, etc..? How valid are the results it provides?
Is it reliable and/or psychometrically sound? How easy to administer is it? What research
is there to support its effectiveness? What are some of the ways it is currently used in
research and/or practice? How else could it be used? Who would you recommend it to?
This section should include several references to support your opinions. The final section
should address ways you think the test could be improved and/or modified for various
applications of interest to you. What additional norms should be developed? Would
shortened versions tailored to specific purposes be appropriate? There is no specific
length requirement or minimum number of references, but as a guideline, aim for at least
10 to 15 pages and 10-15 references.
Pilot data collected, analyzed & reported (02/18-02/25)
30 points
Oral summary/presentation (04/02)
20 points
Paper (draft on 04/23; final paper on 4/30)
50 points
It is suggested that you identify and locate the test you plan to use for this project as soon
as possible and learn how to administer it so you can begin testing your classmates.
Class Presentation
25 points
With a partner or on your own, you will prepare a PowerPoint presentation and handouts
about the history and current uses of a particular category of test and/or type of
assessment process. Categories you may choose from are: Intelligence and Achievement
Tests—Assessment of children for gifted and/or special education; Personality and
Projective Tests—use in clinical and/or counseling settings; Aptitude and Interest Tests—
uses in student services and higher education; Test use in Organizational Psychology—
Intelligence, aptitude, interest, personality, performance data to improve the workplace.
These will be given in class on 04/09.
Individual Test Portfolio and Reflections Notebook
25 points
As part of the class you will experience taking tests provided by your classmates. All of
the tests you take need to be collected, in an organized manner, in a notebook. You
should divide this notebook by sections for each of the types of tests we discuss. It
should include your notes and general observations on each particular type of test, and
summarize relevant research and information about how each of the tests was developed
and scored. It should also include your reflections on how well the results of each test
seemed to “match” your own self-perceptions of the area(s) indicated. What parts seemed
especially accurate? Did anything seem inaccurate? How would you explain this? How
useful do you think this particular test could be in your own life? Due on 04/16.
Extra Credit Options
You may also earn up to 50 points extra credit. Points may be earned by working to revise
and rewrite a research article about using Western standardized tests with an indigenous
population in Aceh to assess trauma/PTSD as a result of the tsunami there. It will require
assessing and understanding the instruments used and rewriting the article to discuss
whether or not the tests used were appropriate measures for the study. The article will
eventually be submitted to (and probably published by) a well-known journal, and you
will be listed as an author. You may also earn points by attending & orally summarizing
conferences, meetings and events related to course content such as WPA. More
information on these opportunities will be provided in class. Thus, there are 400 points
possible for this course, with the option of earning an additional 35 points as extra credit.
The percentage you earn of the total possible points will determine your grade-- 92%+ =
A; 80% + = B; 70%+ = C; 60%+ = D; <60%= F.
Tentative Class Schedule
(This schedule may be modified according to class needs)
01/15
Orientation and course overview
Assignments:
Choose a test to become our “resident expert” on;
Complete in-class tests and surveys;
Consider ethical issues in testing
01/22
Library Orientation, including:
Overview of available tests;
How to find tests--On-line catalogs and other sources;
Using Mental Measurements Yearbooks
Using databases to find appropriate journal research articles about tests
Sources for information on ethical guidelines for test use
Assignments:
Identify and obtain the test you will analyze
Choose and obtain textbook for class discussion
Find and read information about ethics of testing
01/29
Ethics of testing
Assignments:
Complete draft for paper explaining your ethics of testing
02/04
Class forum to share and edit drafts of ethics papers
Overview of types and uses of testing
Assignments:
Complete ethics paper--due next week.
Choose topic for class presentation
Read textbook to prepare for class discussion
02/11
History of testing
Chapter summaries and discussion
Assignments:
Learn how to administer your test; prepare for class testing
Read textbook to prepare for class discussion
02/18
Test administration guidelines: Accuracy, security and confidentiality
Class testing session
Assignments:
Score your tests
Locate journal article for review- approval by next class
Read textbook to prepare for class discussion
02/25
Explaining and using test results and profiles & giving effective feedback
Testing as a part of assessment and evaluation
Chapter summaries and discussion
Assignments:
Prepare feedback sheets on scores for classmates
Read journal article and prepare summary for class
Read textbook to prepare for class discussion
03/05
Journal article summaries
Give scores and feedback to classmates
Assignments:
Write draft of article review paper
Begin work on test reflection notebook
Read textbook to prepare for class discussion
03/12
Class forum to edit drafts of article review
Testing children and special populations: Group vs. individual testing
Assignments:
Complete article review paper
Work on test critique, portfolio and presentation
Read textbook and prepare for class discussion
03/19
SPRING BREAK NO CLASS
03/26
Test development
Using tests in research
Chapter summaries and discussion
Assignments:
Prepare class summary of your test
Work on test critique, portfolio and presentation
Read textbook and prepare for class discussion
04/02
Oral test summaries
Chapter summaries and discussion
Assignments:
Prepare class presentation
Work on test critique and portfolio notebook
Read textbook and prepare for class discussion
04/09
Class presentations
Chapter summaries and discussion
Assignments:
Complete portfolio notebook
Work on test critique paper
Read textbook and prepare for class discussion
04/16
Computerized testing and IRT
Chapter summaries and discussion
Assignments:
Complete draft of test critique paper
Read textbook and prepare for class discussion
04/23
Class forum to edit test critique papers
Chapter summaries and discussion
Assignments:
Complete test critique papers
Read textbook and prepare for class discussion
ALL WORK MUST BE TURNED IN BY NEXT CLASS!
04/30
Chapter summaries and discussion
Assignments:
Read textbook and prepare for final discussion
05/07
Final discussion and pre-graduation “epiphany party” at Dr. M’s house