Four undergraduate summer interns learn the fundamentals of assessment

During Summer 2024, the Assessment and Measurement Doctoral Program, the Quantitative concentration of the Psychological Sciences MA program and the Center for Assessment and Research Studies welcomed four summer undergraduate interns to study assessment, quantitative psychology and measurement. This year, the interns joined us from four distinct undergraduate institutions: Zach Baron (James Madison University), Alexis Downey (Southern Utah University), Morgan McDaniel (Hampton University), and Nicholas Palmer (West Virginia University). The program was able to support this larger cohort thanks to the generous financial contributions from the Center for Measurement Justice and the Berry Family at Washington State University.

Over the course of seven weeks, the interns participated in a week-long “Assessment 101” workshop to learn the fundamentals of assessment, followed by six weeks dedicated to completing a research project. During these six weeks, the interns also engaged in three learning series. In the “Let’s Learn About …” series, interns met with faculty and other representatives involved in James Madison University’s assessment procedures to learn about Assessment Day, student affairs assessment, program assessment, and the role of graduate education in supporting these operations. Interns also had weekly meetings with graduate students from the two academic programs (Assessment and Measurement PhD Program and Quantitative Concentration of the Psychological Sciences MA program) to learn about graduate school and student life. Additionally, the interns attended six educational workshops covering topics such as the history of testing, item writing, the general linear model, quasi-experimental design and causal inference, effective presentation skills, and integrating equity throughout the outcomes assessment cycle — a particular favorite among the interns.

Regarding these series and the overall internship experience, interns noted:

“Having these direct conversations with the faculty and students gave me a very clear idea of what I should look for in a graduate program. I’m planning on applying to graduate schools this fall, and I was honestly lost on what I should want in a program. However, after this internship, there are some specific qualities of a graduate program I know I need if I’m going to succeed. I feel so much more prepared for applications and interviews, which I’m beyond grateful for!”

“My favorite experience has been the meetings with faculty and graduate students. I don’t have a particular series, as each has been very informative and good experience.”

“Overall, great internship that has exceeded my expectations. Everyone at JMU has gone out of their way to make sure the other interns and I had a good experience.”

While participating in these structured learning experiences, each intern also completed a unique research project under the guidance of a mentor or team of mentors. Zach Baron studied “Using Logistic Regression as Supervised Machine Learning to Predict Rapid Guessing” under the mentorship of Yu Bao. Alexis Downey researched “Behavioral Health Barriers in Washington State Schools” under the guidance of Laura Pires Gifford, Sarah Ullrich-French, and Brian French. Morgan McDaniel investigated “Bilingualism and Math Performance: An Analysis of Results from the 2022 PISA” under the mentorship of Brian Leventhal. Finally, Nicholas Palmer studied “Enhancing Test Effort: Introductory Videos and Response Time Effort” under the guidance of Autumn Wild.