Teaching Internship – Week 7

Moving right along. We finished covering chapter 5 this week, revisiting validity and then focusing on reliability. Dr. M emphasized the fact that reliability is concerned with scores, not tests, and it’s all about error. How much error exists in scores, and how does it affect research in general? Validity and reliability are areas that seem to cause confusion among students, so I think it was good to keep reminding them about the big picture.

We then moved into chapter 6. We covered types of test pretty thoroughly, but the rest of the chapter got only cursory coverage. Since the midterm exam would be given the next week, we spent the remainder of the class going over the study guide. The study guide gave a list of the topics that would be covered and the number or questions that would be asked in each topic area. The test included 96 multiple choice items and several short answer questions. Students appeared nervous, so I reminded them that I was available to answer questions via phone or email or in person if they wanted help before the test. They expressed their appreciation, but no one took me up on my offer!