Spring Term 2003

Psychology W 3295y

Thursday 2:10-4, 420 Schermerhorn Hall

Seminar on Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Diagnostics

Prof. Eugene Galanter

I. Course Description

The history, science, and application of tests and other methods of assessing educational aptitude and achievement in children, and the psychological principles that support these measures.

Prerequisite: Intro Psych, Statistics, Child Development, or instructor's permission.

II. Rationale

Parents, teachers, legislators, and research scientists in education require instruments of high reliability and convincing validity that can inform teachers about each child's educational needs. There is a parallel need to offer statistics of the performance of classrooms, schools, school districts, and higher levels of political oversight. The history and technology of testing and assessment conflates these issues. This seminar--designed particularly for undergraduates who may be considering careers in education--will unpack the core components of behavioral evaluation, and will also examine the role of psychophysical and physiological bounds on cognitive development.

III. Contents of the Seminar

This seminar will address psychological measurement and the interpretation of such measurement for human aptitudes, achievements, and limitations. The focus will extend from early metrics of psychophysical limits, as represented by Francis Galton, through the assessment of "intelligence" as provided by Binet and Simon, and the introduction of the concept of "mental factors" by Charles Spearman. After consideration of the ramifications of Yerkes' and Woodworth's extension of testing from individual to group technology (the US Army Alpha Tests), we will explore the refinements of the mathematical issues of factor analysis by L. L. Thurstone. At that point the commercialization of educational testing, and its ramifications on early education will be compared with the conceptual nature of human mental development as conceived by Piaget, Vygotsky, and subsequently modern cognitive-developmental psychologists. During the interval between the more clinically conceived bases of intellectual growth and development and the information processing and cognitive revolution, we will examine the role of academic theories of learning, and whether such models of response acquisition offer insights into important aspects of a child's education. Finally we will return to Galton, and examine whether non-cognitive factors (from visual and hearing deficits to emotional and psychosocial issues) play a role in educational evaluation.

IV Requirements and grading

Students will be required to take a mid-term examination, and to write a paper (10-15 pages) on a topic selected in consultation with the instructor. The grade will be based on the midterm, the paper and seminar participation. Weighting will be 35% on the midterm, 50% on the paper, and 15% on seminar participation, or private conferences.

V. Seminar Outline (tentative)

*"Research papers" above refer to recent publications (or segments thereof) that represent current thinking on the topic of the week.

Example reading assignments

Spearman, C., "General intelligence," objectively determined and measured, American Journal of Psychology, 15, 201-292 (assignment pp. 265-285.) [week 2]

Inhelder, B., and Piaget, J., The growth of logical thinking from childhood to adolescence, New York:Basic Books, 1958, (assignment pp.130-140) [week 7]

Bloom, P. How children learn the meaning of words, Cambridge:MIT Press, 2000, (assignment pp 97-101, 221-232) [week 9]

Pinker, S. and Prince, A, The nature of human concepts, Chapter 10 in Language, logic, and concepts, Jackendoff, R., Bloom, P., and Wynn, K. Cambridge:MIT Press, 1999, (assignment pp. 221-246.) [week 13]