Course Description
Hands-on experience in instrument development, especially in the affective domain. Scaling methods will be considered in addition to actual item and reliability analyses. Techniques such as Likert, Thurstone, and Osgood's semantic differential method.
Athena Title
Constr of Educ Measur Instrum
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in ERSH 7600
Non-Traditional Format
This course will be taught 95% or more online.
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course is an applied measurement course. Students will gain hands-on experience developing scales within the affective domain. By the end of this course, students will be able to: • Develop draft scales under various historical measurement perspectives • Apply item writing guidelines • Perform response analyses and evaluate indices (dimensionality and reliability) • Describe various types of validity evidence • Demonstrate a foundational understanding of Rasch measurement
Topical Outline
I. Historical Overview and General Item Writing Guidelines a) How/why did the measurement theories advance? Where we are now draws on the lessons of the past b) General item writing foundations: concepts applicable to all approaches II. Thurstone Scales a) Items represent the scale points; task sorting b) Thurstone pilot analyses c) Problems/constraints of the approach III. Likert Scales a) Each item response contributes to the scale position b) Additional Item Writing Guidance c) Likert pilot anayses IV. Likert-Like a) Popular modifications to the original theory c) Modifications based on research versus convenience/lack of evidence V. Principal Components Analysis a) Critical differences between PCA, EFA, and CFA b) Using PCA as a data reduction/item analysis technique VI. Traditional Reliability Analysis a) Coefficient alpha with item deleted b) Common misconceptions regarding coefficient alpha VII. Developing a Validity Argument via Evidence VIII. Other Measurement Approaches a) Semantic Differential b) Guttman Scaling c) Introduction to the Rasch Model IX. Convening Expert Panels and Standard Setting
Syllabus
Public CV