Details for Week 7
Agenda

Item#

Tonight's session unfolds in two parts. (Note: All the links in this week's Agenda open as HTML pages.)

Note: You only need to read the material in the link titled "sectioned handout" and "handout" below. You can just scan the material in the remainder of the links.

PART 1:

First, we'll chat about measuring learning/performance ... primarily via tests. Because testing can be quite complex, we're providing a sectioned handout for review and reflection. Some of these ideas are derived from a Fastback on testing published by Phi Delta Kappa--the premier professional association for educators (pre-school, K-12, higher ed).

We've also linked you to ERIC Digests (new and older) that address some thought-provoking questions -- especially in our schools. How does one distinguish between norm- and criterion-referenced tests? What are "accepted" test preparation or test-taking strategies? How does testing reflect current thinking about accountability? At a minimum, what basic principles should teachers and administrators understand about testing? What are factors to consider in developing performance based assessment -- and what are some techniques for implementing it in the classroom?

But schools aren't the only instructional setting in which testing plays an important role; if you browse the ASTD online bookstore, you'll see that testing is an important issue in nearly all other settings in which EdTec graduates tend to work: industry, the military, and government.

During our class session we'll consider ...

-- the "corporate" side of testing (see, for example, the Kaplan, ETS, and the Sylvan Learning Centers websites)

We'll also compose a test ... hopefully, one that moves well beyond Levels 1 and 2 (of Bloom's Taxonomy). As we do so, I'll be challenging you to think about ways to validate the test. How can we ensure that we're accurately measuring our constructs (item clusters)?

PART 2:

The second part of tonight's session attends to interviews and focus groups ... a more qualitative, naturalistic way to gather data.

Prior to class, you'll want to review the brief handout we've prepared ... that covers planning for interviews or focus groups including instrument design and implementation.