Investigating a Model for Teaching Cognitive Assessment: Using GoReact as a Feedback Tool

Abstract

Psychological assessment is fundamental to school psychology practice. Research findings consistently document the incidence of examiner errors in standardized test administration and scoring made by graduate students in training, and in response, researchers have called for examinations of instructional methods and modifications to training procedures to ameliorate such errors. Research into effective training models is far less prevalent than studies of examiner errors, and trainers who wish to take a best-practice approach to teaching assessment courses face sparse and divergent literature on evidence-based teaching methodologies. There is some support for models that incorporate a sequential, incremental process of increasing expectations with practice and feedback. This paper describes a 2-course sequence grounded in such a model and incorporates ongoing feedback, formative assessment, and technology. Using a case study approach, the potential benefits of GoReact, a web-based video feedback program, in increasing students' ability to identify administration and scoring errors in video administrations of the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children, Fifth Edition, are presented. A small-scaled examination of students' self-identified administration and scoring errors found that those who used GoReact identified more errors in their video administrations than those who used a previous method that included Google Drive and Docs, suggesting GoReact may be a beneficial tool for assessment courses. A major aim of this case study is to present a training model that may serve as an exemplar of evidence-based instruction that may be useful for other trainers.