This book will help undergraduate psychology faculty and administrators address three types of assessment pressures--individual, institutional, international--that they face when designing courses and curricula around student learning goals.

In an age where the quality of teacher education programs has been called into question, it is more important than ever that teachers have a fundamental understanding of the principles of human learning, motivation, and development. Theory to Practice: Educational Psychology for Teachers and Teaching is a series for those who teach educational psychology in teacher education programs. At a time when educational psychology is at risk of becoming marginalized, it is imperative that we, as educators, “walk our talk” in serving as models of what effective instruction looks like. Each volume in the series draws upon the latest research to help instructors model fundamental principles of learning, motivation, and development to best prepare their students for the diverse, multidimensional, uncertain, and socially-embedded environments in which these future educators will teach. The inaugural volume, Teaching on Assessment, is centered on the role of assessment in teaching and learning. Each chapter translates current research on critical topics in assessment for educational psychology instructors and teacher educators to consider in their teaching of future teachers. Written for practitioners, the aim is to present contemporary issues and ideas that would help teachers engage in meaningful assessment practice. This volume is important not only because of the dwindling presence of assessment-related instructional content in teacher preparation programs, but also because the policy changes in the last two decades have transformed the meaning and use of assessment in K-12 classrooms. Praise for Teaching on Assessment "This thought-provoking book brings together perspectives from educational psychology and teacher education to examine how assessment can best support student motivation, engagement, and learning. In the volume, editors Nichols and Varier present a set of chapters written by leaders in the field to examine critical questions about how to best prepare teachers to make instructional decisions, understand assessment within the context of learning and motivation theory, and draw on assessment in ways which can meet the needs of diverse learners. Written in a highly accessible language and style, each chapter contains clear takeaway messages designed for educational psychologists, teacher educators, teachers, and pre-service teachers. This book is essential reading for anyone involved in teaching or developing our future teaching professionals." Lois R. Harris, Australian Catholic University "This impressive book provides a wealth of contemporary and engaging resources, ideas and perspectives that educational psychology instructors will find relevant for helping students understand the complexity of assessment decision-making as an essential component of instruction. Traditional assessment principles are integrated with contemporary educational psychology research that will enhance prospective teachers’ decision-making about classroom assessments that promote all students’ learning and motivation. It is unique in showing how to best leverage both formative and summative assessment to boost student engagement and achievement, enabling students to understand how to integrate practical classroom constraints and realities with current knowledge about self-regulation, intrinsic motivation, and other psychological constructs that assessment needs to consider. The chapters are written by established experts who are able to effectively balance presentation of research and theory with practical applications. Notably, the volume includes very important topics rarely emphasized in other assessment texts, including assessment literacy frameworks, diversity, equity, assessment strategies for students with special needs, and data-driven decision making. The book will be an excellent supplement for educational psychology classes or for assessment courses, introducing students to current thinking about how to effectively integrate assessment with instruction." James McMillan, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Examines what our students need to know to be psychologically literate citizens of the contemporary world, caring family members, and productive workers who can meet challenges. This work creates a fresh model for educating psychologically literate citizens.

The Handbook of Psychoeducational Assessment is a practical guide for educational and psychological professionals using norm-referenced tests in the ability, achievement, and behavioral assessment of children. Written by key individuals involved in the construction and evolution of the most widely used tests, this book provides critical information on the nature and scope of commonly used tests, their reliability and validity, administration, scoring and interpretation, and on how the tests may differ and complement each other in their utility with specific populations. Part 1 of the Handbook of Psychoeducational Assessment focuses on ability assessment and the use of full battery intelligence tests as well as brief scales and short forms. Part 2 discusses achievement and the expanded role of psychologists in consultation with educators. Part 3 covers behavior assessment with special attention given to discussion of which tests are most suitable for assessing specific behavioral problems such as ADHD, anxiety, and depression. The final section recognizes the importance of context and person sensitive assessment practices, discussing cross-cultural assessment, neuropsychological assessment, and the usefulness of dynamic assessment for program planning and intervention delivery. Key Features: - Covers the most commonly used and newest assessment instruments - Describes the nature, scope, reliability, and validity of each test - Discusses the administration, scoring, and interpretation of tests - Provides empirical findings on patterns of performance with tested populations - Includes case studies to highlight the utility of specific tests for specific populations - Illustrates new developments in instrumentation and unique features - Covers the most commonly used and newest assessment instruments - Describes the nature, scope, reliability, and validity of each test - Discusses the administration, scoring, and interpretation of tests - Provides empirical findings on patterns of performance with tested populations - Includes case studies to highlight the utility of specific tests for specific populations - Illustrates new developments in instrumentation and unique features

This book presents recommendations for teaching the introductory psychology course, developed by the Introductory Psychology Initiative (IPI) task force appointed by APA's Board of Educational Affairs (BEA). Case studies illustrate the application of recommendations to learning goals and outcomes, course design, teacher training, and student transformation.

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A guide to an evidence-based approach for teaching college-level psychology courses Teaching Psychology offers an evidence-based, student-centered approach that is filled with suggestions, ideas, and practices for teaching college-level courses in ways that contribute to student success. The authors draw on current scientific studies of learning, memory, and development, with specific emphasis on classroom studies. The authors offer practical advice for applying scholarly research to teaching in ways that maximize student learning and personal growth. The authors endorse the use of backward course design, emphasizing the importance of identifying learning goals (encompassing skills and knowledge) and how to assess them, before developing the appropriate curriculum for achieving these goals. Recognizing the diversity of today's student population, this book offers guidance for culturally responsive, ethical teaching. The text explores techniques for teaching critical thinking, qualitative and quantitative reasoning, written and oral communication, information and technology literacy, and collaboration and teamwork. The authors explain how to envision the learning objectives teachers want their students to achieve and advise how to select assessments to evaluate if the learning objectives are being met. This important resource: Offers an evidence-based approach designed to help graduate students and new instructors embrace a student-centered approach to teaching; Contains a wealth of examples of effective student-centered teaching techniques; Surveys current findings from the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning; Draws on the American Psychological Association's five broad goals for the undergraduate Psychology major and shows how to help students build life-long skills; and, Introduces Universal Design for Learning as a framework to support diverse learners. Teaching Psychology offers an essential guide to evidence-based teaching and provides practical advice for becoming an effective teacher. This book is designed to help graduate students, new instructors, and those wanting to update their teaching methods. It is likely to be particularly useful for instructors in psychology and other social science disciplines.

The Oxford Handbook of Undergraduate Psychology Education is dedicated to providing comprehensive coverage of teaching, pedagogy, and professional issues in psychology. The Handbook is designed to help psychology educators at each stage of their careers, from teaching their first courses and developing their careers to serving as department or program administrators. The goal of the Handbook is to provide teachers, educators, researchers, scholars, and administrators in psychology with current, practical advice on course creation, best practices in psychology pedagogy, course content recommendations, teaching methods and classroom management strategies, advice on student advising, and administrative and professional issues, such as managing one's career, chairing the department, organizing the curriculum, and conducting assessment, among other topics. The primary audience for this Handbook is college and university-level psychology teachers (at both two and four-year institutions) at the assistant, associate, and full professor levels, as well as department chairs and other psychology program administrators, who want to improve teaching and learning within their departments. Faculty members in other social science disciplines (e.g., sociology, education, political science) will find material in the Handbook to be applicable or adaptable to their own programs and courses.

This instructional resource presents a framework from which to approach undergraduate psychology curricula that permits maximum flexibility in relation to faculty, student, and institutional differences.

"Psychological Testing by Theresa J. B. Kline is an accessible, easy-to-read book that effectively communicates the current concepts, trends, and controversies in the field of psychological testing. Readers are provided with an in-depth analysis of psychometrics in a format that will keep their attention and that they will be able to relate to the significance of psychological testing across numerous areas such as schools, businesses, clinical settings, military, or government." -Todd L. Chmielewski, PsycCRITIQUES, December 7, 2005 VOL. 50, NO. 49, ARTICLE 12 Psychological Testing: A Practical Approach to Design and Evaluation offers a fresh and innovative approach to students and faculty in the fields of testing, measurement, psychometrics, research design, and related areas of study. Author Theresa J.B. Kline guides readers through the process of designing and evaluating a test, while ensuring that the test meets the highest professional standards. The author uses simple, clear examples throughout and fully details the required statistical analyses. Topics include—but are not limited to—design of item stems and responses; sampling strategies; classical and modern test theory; IRT program examples; reliability of tests and raters; validation using content, criterion-related, and factor analytic approaches; test and item bias; and professional and ethical issues in testing. With the student in mind, Kline has created features that ease them into more difficult ideas, always stressing the practical use of theoretical concepts. Features include A step-by-step approach to designing a test, including construct identification, construct operationalization, collecting data, item assessment, and reliability and validity techniques Examples of data analyses with printouts and interpretation Up-to-date coverage of psychometric topics, such as difference scores, change scores, translation, computer adaptive testing, reliability and validity generalization, professional and ethical guidelines, and references IRT program outputs (dichotomous and multiple response) Coverage of traditional topics in the context of how they would be used, such as standard errors and confidence intervals Sampling approaches and their strengths and weaknesses, as well as response rates and missing data management Psychological Testing is perfectly suited as a main text for upper-level undergraduate and graduate Testing or Psychometrics courses in departments of Psychology, Education, Sociology, Management, and in the Human Services disciplines. Professional researchers, educators, and consultants will also want to add this to their libraries for up-to-date coverage of test design and evaluation techniques. "Professor Kline′s attempts to de-mystify complex measurement concepts are beautifully simplified and illustrated in her countless illustrations of practical and relevant problems for the mathematically-challenged student. This book is also a must-have for those who simply do not have the desire for the theoretical jargon used in similar textbooks but are interested in the important conceptual and practical aspects of measurement as they apply in their disciplines." —Arturo Olivarez, Jr., Texas Tech University "Kline′s Psychological Testing provides a well-written treatment of the critical issues in designing and evaluating psychometric instruments. This book will be very useful to advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers." —Richard Block, Montana State University