First of all, having students write test critiques is an outstanding way for
them to learn to apply the knowledge they have acquired during a course like
this. Your first question was whether it is necessary for students to have
access to the test manuals. Your message did not specify whether this was a
graduate or undergraduate level course. In a graduate level course, having
access to the testing materials is essential for an assignment like this.
The test manual will contain almost everything they will need to know in
order to evaluate the psychometric properties of the instrument. When I have
used this assignment in a graduate course on testing, I typically require
students to read the test manual and examine the test material, consult the
Mental Measurements Yearbook, and read at least 2 research articles on the
test. For an undergraduate course, there may be some ways to work around
problems with availability. I suspect that students could get most of what
they needed from the Mental Measurements Yearbook and review articles.
However, the quality of the assignment would necessarily be transformed from
what the student thinks about the test to what the "experts" think about the
test because the students would not actually see the test.
Your second question dealt with access to test materials. Since most
psychological tests are restricted in the since that a person has to have
some level of qualification to obtain them, it would not be possible to
leave students on their own to obtain test materials. The University
Counseling Center sounds like a good place to start. If your program has
doctoral-level training programs in Clinical, School, or Counseling
psychology, you should be able to find several tests in-house.
My advice: If you do not have easy access to a variety of tests, I would
change the assignment into more of a review paper than a test critique.
Rather than asking students to critique a test they had never seen, the
assignment would become to write a brief literature review on the test.
Eric R. Dahlen, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
University of Southern Mississippi
Southern Station Box 5025
Hattiesburg, MS 39406-5025
Phone: (601) 266-4608
Fax: (413) 643-5521
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On
Behalf Of G. Marc Turner
Sent: Wednesday, March 08, 2000 12:33 AM
To: TIPS
Subject: Test Critiques
I'm getting ready to give my measurement class an assignment that involves
writing a test critique. We've already covered the basics of norms,
reliability, validity, etc. as well as an introduction to locating existing
test reviews. My problem is that I would really like them to have a chance
to look at test manuals, booklets, etc. However, since this is my first
time teaching the course, I don't have a test file for them to use as a
resource. I was wondering how other people who teach measurement/assessment
courses handle this.
I've already tried contacting the head of the counseling center (who used
to teach this course, and in fact gave me this same assignment a few years
back) but I haven't heard back from him yet.
So, the big questions are: Do you have students look at test manuals,
booklets, etc when writing test critiques? If so, where do they get access
to these materials or are they on their own to locate them? Any help is
greatly appreciated.
Struggling with obstacles I should have seen coming...
- Marc
G. Marc Turner, MEd
Lecturer & Head of Computer Operations
Department of Psychology
Southwest Texas State University
San Marcos, TX 78666
phone: (512)245-2526
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
