Higher Education Assessment Program Details

The Higher Education Assessment Certificate is 100% online and highly interactive. By the end of the program, you will be able to:

• Discuss policy issues in higher education and how policy affects assessment practice in colleges and universities.
• Develop professional assessment skills, including instrument design and consultation, through applied projects and experiences.
• Participate in all phases of the assessment process working on an assessment-related experience at his or her home institution.
• Develop, select, and critique higher education assessment instruments guided by modern validity theory.
• Identify the appropriate measurement tools and statistical analyses needed for common assessment situations.
• Develop communication skills necessary for assessment practice including: interpersonal, consultation, and professional etiquette.

The certificate consists of four courses. Students typically take one to two courses a semester. In order to earn your certificate, you must successfully pass all four courses:

PSYC 501, Workshop in Psychology: Public Policy Related to Assessment in Higher Education (3 credits): This course examines the role of assessment, accountability, and quality assurance in the governance, funding, and purposes of higher education. It briefly examines the history of relevant higher education accountability policy. The primary focus of the course is on current policy and its implications for assessment practice.

PSYC 501, Workshop in Psychology: Foundations of Measurement and Assessment Design (3 credits): This course provides a foundation for the more technical aspects of assessment including development/selection of methods, data collection, and analysis.

PSYC 601, Instrument Design for Higher Education Assessment (3 credits): This course covers issues in assessment instrument design in higher education. Reliability and validity issues associated with instrument development will be covered throughout the course. Students will examine the appropriateness of instrument selection, adaptation and development. The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing will be discussed from the perspective of both the test user and the test developer.

PSYC 601: Assessment Consultation in Higher Education (3 credits): This course provides guided opportunities, both online and as part of JMU's Assessment Institute, for supervised application of sets of assessment skills and competencies. The purpose is to develop one's professional self as an assessment practitioner. Students will engage in an assessment project at their home institution. Ethics will be emphasized throughout the assessment process.

Courses are offered during JMU's regular semester schedule. For the dates of upcoming semesters, click JMU's Academic Calendar.

Schedule

Students typically take one to two courses a semester. In order to earn your certificate, you must successfully pass all four courses.

The following classes are offered during the semester:

Fall
PSYC 501: Public Policy Related to Assessment in Higher Education
PSYC 601: Instrument Design for Higher Education Assessment

Spring
PSYC 501: Foundations of Measurement and Assessment Design
PSYC 601: Assessment Consultation in Higher Education