Transcript Ch 9: Interests, Creativity, and Nontest Indicators

Chapters 9 & 12 “The time has come,” the
Walrus said, “To talk of many things . . . .”
As teachers, we tend to believe
that how we feel affects how we
think . . . of course, cognitive
psychology tells us it is the other
way around . . . so, let’s explore!
For purposes of discussion,
let’s use the passé phrase
“Affective Domain” for this
important sub-surface area
related to achievement.
In this chapter we explore
ways to attain and analyze
this type of useful information.
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“Affective Domain” Explorations . . .
 Interest Inventories / Attitude Surveys
 Ability and Aptitude Tests
 Creativity Tests
 Personality Tests
 Non-test Indicators & Unobtrusive Measures
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Let’s begin with a little attitude . . .
Satisfaction Surveys /
Self-Assessment Reports
 Could be used with individuals in your class,
grade level, building or school district.
 Organizing the survey:
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Whose is the target (students, parents, public)?
What questions will be asked (school climate, achievement)?
How will it be administered (in class, sent home, telephone)?
 Typical survey statements:
 I believe I am doing well in class.
 My child’s teacher really knows my child.
 Teachers teach me in a way that makes me want to learn.
 I feel my tax money is being well spent.
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Thoughts on include . . .
Student Self-Reports and Self-Assessment
 May encourage students to develop skills in self-
awareness and self-assessment.
 Like any self-report, honesty is an issue. Classroom needs
to have a positive atmosphere. Don’t use to determine a
student’s grade; anonymous data collection could ensure
this. Best used for your own feedback.
 In a nonthreatening environment, there is a positive
correlation better self-reports of achievement and actual
achievement measured on academic tests.
 Most of assessments of this nature use a Likert Scale . . .
let’s learn a bit about this scale.
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We’ve got class, some classroom ideas on using . . .
Inventories/Surveys, and the Likert Scale
 The Likert Scale is the most common method used in assessment for
the areas in the Affective Domain. It is both simple and flexible. A
Likert Scale can be created related to any topic on which you want to
assess students’ interests, attitudes, opinions, or feelings. Simply:
1.
Define an affective domain topic related to your classroom.
2.
Think of different facets about the topic.
3.
Generate a series of favorable and unfavorable statements
regarding the topic. These are sometimes called “survey items”
and the whole group is often called a “survey” or “inventory.”
4.
Develop the response scale for the survey.
5.
Administer the survey.
6.
Score the results.
7.
Identify and eliminate items that fail to function in accord with the
other items (i.e., look for bad items).
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Rensis Likert (1903–1981)
(pronounced 'Lick-urt')
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Likert, born and raised in Cheyenne, WY, was
training to be an engineer with the Union Pacific
Railroad when the Great Railroad Strike of 1922
occurred. The lack of communication between
the two parties made a profound impression on
him and may have led him to study conflict
management and organizational theory for most
of his life.
In 1926, he graduated from the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor. He returned there in 1946
as professor of psychology and sociology. In
addition to his famous “Likert Scale” he is noted
for his management dictum that “The greater
the loyalty of a group toward the group, the
greater is the motivation among the members to
achieve the goals of the group, and the greater
the probability that the group will achieve its
goals.”
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A Likert-type item may have many . . .
Response Label Variations
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Creating Scores for
Likert-type Items
 Provide number values to the scale; add them up to suggest an
individual’s overall attitude score. (See below).
 If you have many people’s opinions, you can also add the
numbers by opinion topic then divide by the number of
respondents to get an average attitude score (See President
Concerns, 2008).
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Reverse Wording Option when . . .
Creating and Scoring Likert-type Items
 To avoid having some students straight line their responses,
state some statements in a reverse direction. Be sure to
remember you did this when you total the points. (See Below)
 Also see Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale.
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Pitfalls to Avoid
. . . when creating a survey for your classroom or school.
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Be sure you and your students know the purpose of the survey and how the
information will be used. (e.g., Will individual responses be confidential?)
Keep it short (e.g., generally one page is sufficient).
Beware of lingo or jargon terms (e.g., Do you favor inclusion?).
Watch out for ambiguous meaning (e.g., Which class is best?).
Do not ask more than one question at a time (e.g., Do you favor more
homework and more library assignments?).
Avoid loaded or leading questions (e.g., Do you believe that it is important to
treat your fellow students fairly?).
Make sure that fixed-response questions have a place for every possible answer
(e.g., Would you prefer to study history or economics?).
Place the more sensitive questions at the end of the survey.
Run the survey by other professionals before you distribute it. If necessary,
obtain clearance from your principal or school district.
Don't reward or punish students based on their responses.
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Interests, Attitudes and Opinion Assessment:
. . . some closing questions
 What about student faking?
May choose “socially desirable” response.
 May try to please or shock the teacher.
 Main remedy is non-threatening environment.
 How stable are students’ interests, attitudes and opinions?
 May depend on the topic and person.
 We do expect to change them . . . (or do you?).
 What about using constructed or free-response measures?
 Can be used.
 Not often used in practice.

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And a closing example . . .
Career Interest Inventories
 These tests attempt to match a person’s personality and interests with
a specific work environment and/or career.
 Problems:
 Honesty 1 . . . “Would you rather compute wages for payroll records
or read to a blind person?” Which is more socially acceptable?
 Honesty 2 . . . Knowing where the questions are leading . . . I want
Special Education so I know I should choose “read to blind person.”
 Is there a connection between what one would like to do and what
one would really be good at doing?
 What about the idea of “learning to like” on the job and/or in
developing new interests?
 Widely used inventories (taking more than one is recommended)
 Strong
 Kuder
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Mental Ability Tests
. . . usual purpose of ability testing is prediction
 Mental ability (also called intelligence,
aptitude, learning ability, academic potential,
cognitive ability, ad infinitum). We have
already discussed the IQ as a normed score .
. . Let’s look a little deeper.
 Theories about Mental Ability
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Unitary theory; “g”
Multiple, independent abilities (about 7)
 e.g., verbal, numerical, spatial, perceptual
Hierarchical theory – currently dominant [See next slide]
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Hierarchical Theory of Mental Ability
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Individually Administered
Mental Ability Tests
 General features
 One-on-one administration
 Requires advanced training for administration
 Usually about 1 hour
 Mixture of items
 Examples
 WISC-IV
 Stanford-Binet
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Group Administered
Mental Ability Tests
 General Features
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Administered to any size group
Types of items; content similar to individually
administered but in multiple-choice format
 Examples
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Elementary/secondary
Others (e.g.. SAT, ACT, GRE)
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Learning Disabilities
 The basic definition is simple, to wit, there is a discrepancy between measured
intelligence and measured achievement. But enter the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) The DSM-IV organizes
each psychiatric diagnosis into five levels (axes) relating to different aspects of
disorder or disability. Located in the Axis 1 level are developmental and
learning disorders.
 Common Axis I disorders include phobias, depression, anxiety disorders,
bipolar disorders, and learning disabilities (like reading disorder, mathematics
disorder, disorder of written expression, ADHD) and communications
disorders (like stuttering).
 The DSM-IV manual states that this manual is produced for the completion of
Federal legislative mandates and its use by people without clinical training can
lead to inappropriate application of its contents. Appropriate use of the
diagnostic criteria is said to require extensive clinical training, and its contents
“cannot simply be applied in a cookbook fashion”.
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. . . Among Professionals
 The American Psychological Association (APA)
has stated clearly that its “diagnostic labels” are
primarily for use as a “convenient shorthand”
among professionals.
 Do you think the “among professionals” phrase as
used by the APA applies to high teachers whose
field is not Special Education? Implications?
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IDEA 2004 . . .
. . . children with learning disabilities in high school.
 The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a law ensuring
services to children with disabilities throughout the nation. Children and
youth (ages 3-21) receive special education and related services under
IDEA Part B.
 In updating the IDEA, Congress found that the education of children
with disabilities, including learning disabilities (LD), can be made more
effective by having high expectations for such children and ensuring
their access to the general education curriculum in the regular
classroom to the maximum extent possible.
 If students with LD are going to succeed in school, they must have
access to teachers who know the general curriculum, as well as
support from teachers trained in instructional strategies and techniques
that address their specific learning needs. Unfortunately, studies have
shown that students with LD are often the victims of watered down
curriculum and teaching approaches that are neither individualized nor
proven to be effective.
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Creativity (aka Creative Thinking)
 Definition? More than 60 different definitions of creativity can be
found in the psychological literature. Other terms one often
hears associated with creative thinking are: divergent thinking,
originality, ingenuity, unusualness.
 Creative thinking is generally considered to be involved with the
creation or generation of ideas, processes, experiences or
objects. Critical thinking is concerned with their evaluation.
 In measuring creativity, we typically use constructed response
items looking for one or more of the “creativity” characteristics.
The format is similar to that of an essay, the student is given a
prompt . . . except now we are looking for divergent thinking, not
convergent thinking.
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Example “Prompts” for creative thinking
 General
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All the uses for (a common object)
All the words beginning with (a letter)
Captions or titles for . . .
 Field specific (tailored to content)
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How would U.S. differ today if . . .
Different ending for a play or story
Diverse descriptions for a work of art
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Creativity: Scoring
. . . a menu of five primary ways to score responses.
1.
Count – sum the number of ideas or responses.
2.
Count with quality rating – each response has a quality rating
(e.g. 1-3); sum the ratings.
3.
Single best response – scan all responses, find the student’s
“best” response, rate only that response using a quality rating
scale (e.g. 1-3).
4.
Originality – the response(s) provided is/are infrequently seen
(you might need experience to determine this).
5.
Different perspectives – count opposing ideas the student
generates in responding to a prompt.
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Standardized Tests for Creativity
 Nationwide, many school districts use standardized creativity
tests for the purpose of screening and identifying gifted
students.
 One of the most often used is the Torrance Tests of Creative
Thinking (TTCT). It is produced in two forms: “Thinking
Creatively with Pictures” & “Thinking Creatively with Words.”
 Check it out at the “Scholastic Testing Service – Gifted” website.
http://www.ststesting.com/2005giftttct.html
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In the News . . Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 22, 2008, post on
Gifted Education in Ohio
“No federal law requires school districts to identify or serve gifted
students -- unlike special education for children with disabilities.
That leaves it up to the individual states, and only 31 of them
require districts to provide gifted services, according to the National
Association for Gifted Children. Ohio is not among them.”
In Ohio, “districts are only required to identify gifted students.
Roughly 16 percent of the state's public school enrollment is
classified as gifted. But last school year, only 26 percent of those
students received either full or partial services, according to data
filed with the Ohio Department of Education . . . . Research shows
that while some gifted students do well without special services, the
majority need more than the usual classroom experience.”
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As Paul Harvey might say,
And now, the rest of the story . . .
Teachers like to use “rest of” variations in
teaching. These tasks (aka tests) are often
called “projective techniques.” Students
are asked to be creative and think about
what came before, what might happen next,
or how a story might end.
Before leaving this area, let’s take a look
some “rest of” tests. To the top right is an
example of the Rorschach Ink Blot Test .
What do you think it measures?
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The Thematic Apperception Test
. . . what do you think this test measures?
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The “Draw a Person” Test
. . . What do you think this test measures?
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Behavior Rating Scales
Many professionals express the need to move away from norm-referenced
measures and recommend utilizing a more functional assessment approach.
Members of the counseling field also are advocating for behavioral assessment
alternatives to more formal procedures.
The following recommendations for educators are appropriate when considering
implementing a behavior rating scale:
(1) Have a variety of people who know the child complete the scale (e.g.,
caregivers, parents, teachers).
(2) Make sure ratings on the child’s behavior is being collected from a number of
different environments.
(3) Before using a particular rating scale, make sure it reflects overall goals of the
assessment process.
(4) Care should be taken so that information about the student is not skewed toward
the negative.
(5) Be aware that scales reflect perceptions about students and multiple informants
and inter-rater reliability checks can corroborate or contradict these perceptions.
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Areas often covered on a . . .
Behavior Rating Scale
Aggression
Anger
Anxiety
Depression
Hyperactivity
Inattention
Opposition
Withdrawal
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Example of a simple . . .
Behavior Rating Scale
This student . . .
1. Arrives late for class
2. Daydreams
3. Does sloppy work
4. Talks inappropriately
5. Disrespects authority
6. Completes work late
7. Seeks attention
8. Hits other students
0
1
2
3
Never Sometimes Often Always
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
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Non-test Indicators as
. . . important sources of data on student accomplishment.
 These indicators serve to remind us that schools are pursing goals
other than high test scores.
 The Ohio School Report Card includes both test and non-test indicators
 Examples of Data Collected:
 Routine Record Indexes
 Absentee rates; tardiness rates; graduation rates; discipline
rates; athletic, club, volunteer participation rates, teachers who
students took for class.
 Destination after high school – what are the connections among
grades, test scores, routine records to later “achievements”?
 College? Where (selective or open admission)? Scholarship?
Stay with it or drop out?
 Workforce? Type of Job? Pay? Fired (Why)?
 Other? (jail, unemployed, etc.) – Is school complicit? IF YOU
CAN’T READ THIS, THANK A TEACHER . . . .
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Non-test indicators include . . .
Unobtrusive measures
 Unobtrusive measures are those assessments that
occur in the normal environment and that the persons
involved are oblivious to the assessment.
 Examples:
 Student graffiti - desktops, lockers, restrooms . . .
 Library books checked out in Spanish . . .
 Winners at YSU History Day . . .
 Hits on class website . . .
 The best source of unobtrusive data is gathered
daily, in the classroom, by the teachers like you, as
they teach.
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How about . . .
An unobtrusive measure for yourself.
Stress & the Biodot . . .
Notice the scale differences
on the two cards displayed
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Practical Advice
1.
Include objectives related to interests and attitudes in your
objectives and in assessment.
2.
Identify and use a few non-test indicators of student
accomplishment.
3.
Practice making up simple scales for measuring interests and
attitudes using the Likert method. Apply concepts of reliability
and validity to all these tests.
4.
Gain experience in developing prompts calling for divergent
thinking and in scoring responses.
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Terms Concepts to Review and
Study on Your Own (1)
 cognitive outcomes
 non-cognitive outcomes
 convergent thinking
 divergent thinking
 faking
 Likert method
 non-test indicator
 unobtrusive measure
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Terms Concepts to Review and
Study on Your Own (2)
 behavior rating scale
 DSM-IV
 hierarchical model
 projective technique
 self-report inventory
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