Semester 1, 2022 Online | |
Units : | 1 |
Faculty or Section : | Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts |
School or Department : | School of Education |
Grading basis : | Graded |
Course fee schedule : | /current-students/administration/fees/fee-schedules |
Staffing
Examiner:
Overview
Assessment and testing is widely employed for educational decision making about individuals. It is therefore essential that professional educators are knowledgeable about assessment and testing concepts, principles and methods. The emphasis in this course is on developing an understanding of individual assessment as a hypothesis driven problem-solving process, underpinned by a sound theoretical knowledge of measurement principles and data collection skills applied to a range of educational domains. This course is designed to meet the needs of teachers in regular and special education, and those in or aspiring to various support roles, including guidance officers and learning support teachers.
Initial topics build the foundational frameworks of the course by establishing individual assessment and testing as a systematic process for generating valid information to support sound educational decision making, while examining the ethical-legal context of assessment and testing practices. Students will develop an understanding of measurement concepts such as validity and reliability as well as processes underlying test construction such as standardization and norms. Subsequent topics address the data collection practices of observation, interviewing and formal testing, and the processes of assessment accommodations and oral and written reporting. Specific approaches to the assessment of academic achievement, social and emotional functioning and intelligence will also be explored.
Course learning outcomes
The course objectives define the student learning outcomes for a course. The assessment item(s) that may be used to assess student achievement of an objective are shown in parenthesis. On successful completion of this course students should be able to:
- demonstrate knowledge and understanding of basic measurement concepts and the principles underlying test construction (Assignments 1 and 2);
- demonstrate an ability to evaluate tests with regards to purpose and psychometric adequacy (Assignment 1);
- demonstrate knowledge and understanding of sound data collection practices for observation, interviewing and formal testing approaches (Assignments 1 and 2);
- demonstrate basic knowledge and understanding of appropriate methods and tests for assessing academic achievement, social and emotional functioning and intelligence (Assignments 1 and 2);
- demonstrate an ability to analyse assessment practices and issues with regards to ethical-legal frameworks (Assignment 2);
- produce an appropriately styled written assessment report which demonstrates an ability to utilise an hypothesis driven problem solving approach and synthesize available data to make appropriate educational recommendations (Assignment 2);
- demonstrate competence in and appropriate use of language and literacy, including spelling, grammar, punctuation and bibliographic referencing (Assignments 1 and 2).
Topics
Description | Weighting(%) | |
---|---|---|
1. | Decision making and ethics | 10.00 |
2. | Measurement theory and psychometrics | 10.00 |
3. | Formal measures and tests | 10.00 |
4. | Behavioural observation | 10.00 |
5. | Interviewing | 10.00 |
6. | Reporting | 10.00 |
7. | Assessment of academic achievement | 10.00 |
8. | Assessment of social and emotional functioning | 10.00 |
9. | Assessment of intelligence | 10.00 |
10. | Assessment accommodations and adaptations | 10.00 |
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
Student workload expectations
To do well in this subject, students are expected to commit approximately 10 hours per week including class contact hours, independent study, and all assessment tasks. If you are undertaking additional activities, which may include placements and residential schools, the weekly workload hours may vary.
Assessment details
Description | Weighting (%) |
---|---|
ASSIGNMENT 1 | 50 |
ASSIGNMENT 2 | 50 |