Psychological Tests and Measurement - PSY 341
Spring 2014
Instructor - Dr. Margaret Anderson
Office - Old Main 135
Office hours – M-R 2.30-4 or by appointment or chance
Phone - 2048
E-mail – Margaret.Anderson@cortland.edu
Course internet address - http://web.cortland.edu/andersmd/psy341/341home.html
Required text: Cohen, R.J., Swerdlik, M. E. & Sturman, E. D. (2013). Psychological Testing and Assessment, 8th edition. McGraw-Hill.
Course Description: Theory of test construction including evaluation, standardization, interpretation; representative survey of psychological tests and measures.
Goals of the course: This course will introduce you to a variety of issues surrounding the creation, administration and interpretation of psychological tests. You will examine the appropriate development and standardization of tests in a wide range of psychological domains. In addition to exploring the psychometric properties of tests, you will also review a number of psychological tests from the areas of learning style, intelligence, personality, and vocational interests to determine their appropriate use and applied value.
Structure of the course: The required text has been selected for its thorough coverage of the material in this field. While I will not lecture the same material that is covered in the text, I will lecture about topics which I have found students have difficulty with. In addition I will lecture about topics which may not be thoroughly covered by the text but that I feel are critical and of current interest in this field. You will be expected to have read the assigned material and come to class ready to apply and discuss the material. Throughout the course you will be asked to apply the material you are studying to your chosen area of interest within psychology. The nature of the material covered during the course of the semester will vary. The first half of the course deals mainly with applying the psychometric principles to a variety of tests and measures. During the second half of the course we will apply these psychometric principles to tests from the various sub specialties within psychology. For this reason it is imperative that you are fully conversant with the topics covered early in the course as you will need to understand them so that you can apply them later in the course.
Attendance: While I do not require class attendance, I highly recommend it. Material may be presented in class that you may not have access to in other ways. In addition many examples will be presented and activities conducted in class to assure your comprehension of the topics covered in the text. Without this class experience you may find some of the material somewhat difficult to comprehend and apply. You will also be taking various psychological tests during the semester. These tests will be administered during class time and it is not possible to administer them at a later time, so you will miss that opportunity. If you miss a class it is your responsibility to get the material from a classmate, you are still responsible for all material covered during that class period. Assignments are due in class for the day they are assigned. If you know you will miss a class try to get the work in early. There will be a 10% per day penalty for any work that is submitted after the assigned class period. This means that if an assignment is worth 10 points and is assigned for Tuesday and you turn it in after class on Tuesday, but before 8.30 on Wednesday it will be worth at most 9 points. No out of class assignment that is handwritten will be accepted. If any assignment is submitted handwritten, it will be returned, and you may resubmit it with the late penalty. You are responsible for retaining all work related to this course, in particular returned, graded assignments.
Cell phones and other electronic devices must be turned off and out of sight during classes. If for some reason you must have your phone on, please check with me prior to class.
Electronic communication: I encourage students to contact me using e-mail. However I consider all electronoic communication to be a form of formal academic communication and I expect that students will follow appropriate protocols [i.e. all messages must come from a professional sounding and identifiable address, there must be a topic in the subject line, there should be a salutation (Dr. Anderson), the content should be grammatical (not necessarily essays, but not texting slang), you should identify the course you are in, and there should be a signature (your name)]. When I send out mailings to the entire class I will use the distribution list on the My Red Dragon system so be sure you check that e-mail frequently. If you send me an individual message from an alternate e-mail address, I will respond to the address from which the message was sent.
Exams are to be taken as scheduled. Make-up exams will be given only with a College excused absence. An excused absence consists of a documented (Dean's excuse) medical or legal emergency or absence due to participation in a school-sponsored activity. Should such an event occur, you must contact me within 24 hours prior to the test. Student athletes are expected to follow the college policy for excused absences as given in the College Handbook. All make-up exams will consist of different questions than are on the regular exam and will be scheduled at my discretion. Head wear (hats and hoods) may not be worn during exams.
Class web site: I have created a web site specifically for this class. It can be accessed directly from the address provided above. This web site will contain copies of the course syllabus and any other information that is handed out during the semester regarding completion of assignments. In addition it will contain various homework assignments, messages and other information. I will also post copies of slides used in class on the web site after the class is completed. Any changes that need to be made to the syllabus or the class assignments will be posted on the web site and you are responsible for content on that site.
Class activities: There will be three types of grade bearing
activities during the semester.
1 - There will be computerized mastery quizzes for chapters 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8.
These quizzes will each be worth up to 10 points and consist of multiple choice
questions. Mastery for each test means that you have earned 70%. You must reach
mastery for the test by the start of class on the date assigned in the syllabus.
If you do not have 70% by the assigned class that quiz score will not count.
You may take each chapter quiz as many times as you like to achieve mastery.
Once you have reached mastery, you may continue testing until you have achieved
the maximum score possible for that quiz. Final grades for the mastery quizzes
must be achieved prior to the unit test for those chapters. Therefore, you must
master the quiz (receive at least 70%) by the designated date, but can continue
testing to improve your grade until the related test. These quizzes are
available from the link on the class web site.
2 - There will be four unit tests. Each test will be worth 50 points. The tests will be a mix of factual and application questions. Due to the nature of the material covered in this course the first two tests will have more objective questions (multiple choice, fill in the blanks etc) than the final two tests. The third and fourth tests will consist mostly of application questions in which you will be asked to use the material from the first two sections and apply it to the material covered in the third and fourth sections.
3 - There will be two major projects. More information concerning this activity will be provided in class. Each project will be worth 50 points.
Grading: Your final course grade will be based on a compilation of
the points you earn from each of the activities described above in the
following manner:
5 mastery quizzes each worth up to ten points = 50 points
4 Tests each worth 50 points = 200 points
2 project worth 50 points = 100 points
total possible points = 350
Therefore, your course grade will be based on a possible total of 350 points. Your letter grade will be based on a percentage of your grade relative to the possible total in the following manner:
Letter grade conversion
97% - 100% = A+
94% - 96% = A
90% - 93% = A-
87% - 89% = B+
84% - 86% = B
80% - 83% = B-
77% - 79% = C+
74% - 76% = C
70% - 73% = C-
67% - 69% = D+
64% - 66% = D
60% - 63% = D-
BELOW 60% = E
If you are a student with a disability and wish to request accommodations, please contact the Office of Student Disability Services. Information regarding your disability will be treated in a confidential manner. Because many accommodations require early planning, requests for accommodations should be made as early as possible.
PLAGIARISM:
If there is evidence that a student has plagiarized work, this will be reported to the appropriate administrative offices and if the student is found guilty, will be penalized according to college policy.