LT 449/549: Testing and Assessment CRN: 33386

Spring 2017

Instructor: Thomas Delaney

Lectures: Monday and Wednesday; 1000-1150; 106 Friendly Hall
Office hours: Thursday, 1:30PM-3:30PM in 205 Agate Hall, or by appointment
Email: tdelaney@uoregon.edu

Course Description:
The focus of the course is classroom assessment in context. Areas to be covered include: issues
in and types of classroom assessment; assessment concepts, terminology, and techniques; the
assessment development cycle; the assessment of specific language skills; choosing appropriate
assessments for a given purpose, age group, and situation; alternative assessment; and a basic
introduction to the statistical analysis of assessment data.

Course Goals:

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

Articulate the role of assessment in a language curriculum
Articulate the desirable qualities of a test or assessment in terms of reliability, validity,
practicality, and beneficial washback
Construct classroom tests and assessments for specific audiences, purposes, and skill
areas
Demonstrate an understanding of the statistical analysis of test data in the literature
Identify relevant resources for future reference and professional development in the area
of testing and assessment

Resources:
Primary text:

Hughes, A. (2003). Testing for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Other texts:
Excerpts from other texts will also be required reading. These will be posted in Canvas and are
denoted by a * in the Reading Assignments column of the course outline (see below).

Requirements:
A basic philosophy of this class is LEARNING BY DOING. To better understand the challenges
and issues that arise in trying to create good assessments, it is important that you get your hands
dirty. Therefore, in addition to lectures and class discussions, the class format will include test
construction and analysis tasks, including some in-class workshopping. There may be mini-
quizzes if I feel they are necessary. In addition to these tasks, there will be two mid-term exams,
and a portfolio assignment. The portfolio will include a selection of the terms classwork and
other assessment resources.

Evaluation:
1. Participation, Canvas discussions, minor quizzes 20%
2. Assessment creation assignments (ACA) 30%
3. Mid-term exams (x2) 20%
5. Portfolio 30%
 Proposed course outline:
Reading assignments
Week Topics *indicates reading on Canvas Assignments
1 Course orientation; needs Hughes: Ch. 1-3 Draft of goals statement for portfolio
(4/03 & assessment; types & uses of (due 4/12)
*J.D. Brown: Types and uses of
4/05) assessment; contrasting
language tests
concepts
(before 4/05)
2 Desirable qualities of Hughes: Ch. 4-6 Canvas discussion #1:
(4/10 & assessment: usefulness, Applying assessment concepts (4/12-
*Coombe, Folse, Hubley:
4/12) reliability, authenticity, validity, 4/17)
Cornerstones of testing
impact, practicality
3 Common assessment Hughes: Ch. 8 ***MID-TERM #1: 4/19***
(4/17 & techniques; things to be aware (Covers weeks 1-2)
4/19) and wary of *Carr: TasksThe building
blocks of tests ACA #1: Creating specs for a reading
test (Draft by 4/27, Final due 5/3)
(before 4/19)
4 Planning and designing Hughes: Ch. 7 ACA #2: Create, pilot, & revise a final
(4/24 & assessments; creating useful reading assessment for your (revised)
4/26) specifications *Carr: Planning and designing ACA #1 specs (due 5/10)
the test

5 Assessing receptive skills: Hughes: Ch. 11 & 12 ACA #3: Create, pilot, & revise
(5/1 & 5/3) reading & listening listening assessment (due 5/19)

6 Assessing your assessments Hughes: Appendix 1

(5/8 & (1): statistical analysis of test
5/10) data, item analysis *Bailey: Multiple choice tests
and item analyses

7 Assessing productive skills: Hughes: Ch. 9 & 10 ACA #4: Create, pilot, & revise an
(5/15 & writing & speaking assessment of productive language
5/17) *Carr: Rating scales for skills (i.e. writing or speaking) (due
Rating (scoring) writing and extended production tasks 5/26)
speaking

8 Assessing your assessments Hughes: Appendix 1 (review) ***MID-TERM #2: 5/31***

(5/22 & (2): uses of correlation (Covers weeks 6-8 topics about using
5/24) *Bailey: The correlation statistics)
family

(before 5/24)
9 Assessing grammar, Hughes: Ch. 13 & 14
(5/31) vocabulary, & overall ability
No class
5/29
Memorial
Day
10 Alternative assessment; *Bailey: Ch. 13 *Portfolio due Monday, June 12,
(6/5 & 6/7) class wrap up 12:00 noon
*OMalley & Valdez Pierce:
Portfolio assessment
 University Policies

University Schedule:
For information regarding Registration, Tuition, Course Fee Refunds, Grade Options,
Withdrawals, etc., please go to http://registrar.uoregon.edu/current_students

Academic Integrity:
Work submitted in this course must be your own (except for group assignments). Students guilty
of any form of academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, etc.) may receive a grade
of F for the course. Violations are taken seriously and are noted on UO student disciplinary
records. Further information is available on the Student Conduct Code website:
http://uodos.uoregon.edu/StudentConductandCommunityStandards/StudentConductCode/tabid/6
9/Default.aspx
Plagiarism, using another persons idea and presenting it as your own, is considered an act of
academic dishonesty. This means you cannot copy from any source -- a book, an article, an
internet source, another students work, etc. without acknowledging the source and quoting
correctly or paraphrasing the content. Plagiarism may result in your failing the class. In this
course, we will address the issue of plagiarism and work with guidelines for avoiding plagiarism.
UO page on avoiding plagiarism: http://researchguides.uoregon.edu/citing-plagiarism

Reasonable Accommodation Statement:

Every student should have an equal opportunity to participate in class. The University of Oregon
is working to create inclusive learning environments. If there are aspects of the instruction or
design of this course that result in disability related barriers to your participation, please notify
me as soon as possible. You may also wish to contact the Accessible Education Center in 164
Oregon Hall at 346-1155 or aec@uoregon.edu. https://aec.uoregon.edu/

Inclement Weather Policy:

When the university closes for the day, or part of the day, due to bad weather, an announcement
of the university's schedule will be posted on the UO main homepage at http://www.uoregon.edu.
When there is bad weather and the university does not close, members of the campus
community are expected to use their best judgment in assessing the risk of coming to campus and
returning home, based on individual circumstances. More detailed information:
http://hr.uoregon.edu/policy/weather.html If I am unable to get to campus for our class, I will
post an announcement on our Blackboard site and send out an email to students.