Opinion Attitude And Interest Survey Handbook

Opinion, Attitude and Interest Survey Handbook

Handbook of Creativity

The motivation underlying our development of a "handbook" of creativity was different from what usually is described by editors of other such volumes. Our sense that a handbook was needed sprang not from a deluge of highly erudite studies calling out for organization, nor did it stem from a belief that the field had become so fully articulated that such a book was necessary to provide summation and reference. Instead, this handbook was conceptualized as an attempt to provide structure and organization for a field of study that, from our perspective, had come to be a large-scale example of a "degenerating" research program (see Brown, Chapter 1). The handbook grew out of a series of discussions that spanned several years. At the heart of most of our interactions was a profound unhappiness with the state of research on creativity. Our consensus was that the number of "good" works published on creativity each year was small and growing smaller. Further, we could not point to a journal, text, or professional organization that was providing leadership for the field in shaping a scientifically sound framework for the development of research programs in creativity. At the same time, we were casting about for a means of honoring a dear friend, E. Paul Torrance. Our decision was that we might best be able to honor Paul and influence research on creativity by developing a handbook designed to challenge traditional perspectives while offering research agendas based on contemporary psychological views.

A Teacher's Guide to Educational Assessment

This book is a natural step beyond our earlier text A Teacher’s Guide to Assessment, which was published almost six years ago. The purpose of this book is to offer a straightforward guide to educational assessment for teachers at all levels of education, including trainers and instructors. The scope of this book is wider, however, and the targeted audience is broader than the first edition. It is designed to address the needs not only of those taking a first course in educational assessment and measurement but it can also usefully serve students at the post-graduate level, as well as experienced teachers, trainers and instructors who would like to update their knowledge and acquire practical skills using relevant quantitative methods. The book is appropriate for an international audience. In this revised edition we have added new and important material which covers the assessment arrangements necessary for people with special needs and the use of technology for assessment purposes. We have elaborated on the dangers of differential item functioning; we have extended the Rasch measurement material; and enriched the book with practical examples using Microsoft Excel. The main message of the book is that assessment is not based on commonsense but on a huge body of international research and application over many years. Testing is a powerful, vital and large part of a teacher’s assessment arsenal because it can be practical, structured and very informative. The correct use of testing, either in its traditional paper-and-pencil form or in its modern technology-based style can be a formidable ally for every teacher who aspires to practise evidence-based teaching and learning.