Unit 4 educational psychology:

1). Mr. Phillips wants his students to develop the ability to separate and control variables in scientific experimentation. Which one of the following instructional methods is most likely to help his students achieve this goal? 
a. individualized assignments using computer spreadsheets
 b. unstructured discovery-learning activities

c. small-group reciprocal-teaching activities 
d. scaffolded inquiry-learning activities

 2). Which one of the following conditions is recommended for effective learning in a discovery- learning activity? 
a. having a lesson that has been broken down into small, discrete pieces
 b. having freedom to explore one's environment without any structure or restraint
 c. having some prior knowledge about the material being explored 
d. having an advance organizer for the lesson

 
3). Which one of the following is the best example of an authentic in-class activity?
 a. discussing reasons why World War I occurred
 b. putting definitions of new terms in your own words 
c. listing four different kinds of sedimentary rocks 
d. designing a bridge using principles of physics

4). Which one of the following uses of a computer in instruction is most similar to an authentic activity? 
a. a computer-based instructional program that teaches the various parts of the human digestive system
 b. a computer-based instructional program that teaches the basics of first aid
 c. a computer simulation that allows students to conduct an experiment 
d. a computer game that promotes automaticity for basic math facts

5). The four teachers below are assigning homework to their students. Which teacher is giving an assignment that's inconsistent with general recommendations regarding the appropriate use of homework?
 a. Mr. Needham asks his first graders to bring something from home that begins with the letter B.
 b. Ms. Wong asks her sixth graders to make up sentences using each of their new spelling words.
 c. Ms. Powell asks her high school algebra students to read the next two chapters in their textbook and then do the problems at the end of each chapter. 
d. Mr. Rhodes asks his eighth graders to write the answers to a series of questions based on material they've been studying over the past week.

6.) Three of the following are purposes that asking questions in class can serve. Which one is not a typical use of asking questions? a. to decrease the extent to which students need to cognitively process classroom material b. to encourage students to elaborate on classroom material c. to help students monitor their own comprehension of classroom material d. to determine whether students understand classroom material

7). Ms. Girardi, a sixth-grade teacher, is explaining an assignment. She notices two students passing notes to one another. While continuing to discuss the assignment, she moves toward the students and confiscates the written notes. Then she walks back to the front of the class, still continuing her explanation, and asks Mark, who is daydreaming, to answer a question. This scenario best illustrates which one of the following classroom management skills? a. planning for transitions b. withitness c. negative reinforcement d. scaffolding

8). Many students in Ms. Janklow's class seem to have little intrinsic motivation for learning math, science or social studies. Their minds are more apt to be on peer relationships (who the "popular kids" are, who bullies whom on the playground, etc.) than on their studies. Without knowing anything else about Ms. Janklow's students, your best guess would be that they are:

a. kindergartners.

 b. seventh graders.

c. fourth graders.

 d. second graders.

9). From the textbook's perspective, which one of the following classroom management strategies is probably most important for students from diverse ethnic backgrounds?

 a. setting limits

b. planning effectively for transitions

c. creating a supportive climate

d. demonstrating withitness

 10). Three of the following describe recommendations that the textbook offers for helping students with special needs. Which statement is inconsistent with the textbook's recommendations?
 a. Give students with physical disabilities any additional time they may need to complete assigned tasks. 
b. When students have significant general delays in cognitive development, give them explicit feedback about their behavior.
 c. When students have specific cognitive or academic difficulties, teach them strategies for organizing their time more effectively. 
d. When students have social or behavioral problems, vary the classroom routine considerably from one day to the next.

11). Which one of the following best illustrates collective self-efficacy of teachers?

a. A third-grade teacher and a fourth-grade teacher at North Elementary School have combined their two classes into a single, larger class. Sometimes they team-teach the entire group. At other times they divide the class into two smaller groups, one of which is ready for more advanced work than the other.

 b. The teachers at South Elementary School have coordinated what they do at each grade level so that at any particular grade, students master the knowledge and skills they will need in the following grade.

c. The English teachers at East High School have agreed on how they will teach the required freshman English class. That way, students will have a similar classroom experience no matter which teacher they have for the course.

d. The teachers at West Middle School confer weekly about students who they believe are at risk for academic failure, and they are confident that by working together, they can help these students be successful at school.

12). Three of the following strategies are recommended for conducting effective parent-teacher conferences. Which strategy is not necessarily recommended? 
a. Minimize your use of educational jargon. 
b. Prepare ahead of time by reviewing what you know about the student. 
c. Emphasize that the student's education is ultimately your responsibility rather than that of parents.
 d. Encourage parents to share their perspectives and ideas

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13. Which one of the following is a drawback of using essay questions on a paper-pencil assessment?

 a. Lengthy essay questions can limit sampling of the content domain being assessed.

b. Guessing is likely to inflate students' scores considerably.

 c. Reliability tends to be lower than that for recognition tasks.

d. The administration of essay questions is difficult to standardize.

14). From the textbook's perspective, which one of the following is the primary advantage of allowing students to use reference materials during a paper-pencil assessment?

a. Students are more likely to learn material meaningfully if they know they are going to have an open-book test rather than a closed-book test.

 b. Such a procedure is less likely to lead to test anxiety than would otherwise be true.

 c. Students don't have to study the material ahead of time; they can simply learn it during the assessment session.

d. Such a procedure better assesses students' ability to apply material that they don't necessarily need to commit to memory.

15). When we give high school students instructions about a summative classroom assessment, we should:

a. assume that they have had experience with such standard item types as true-false and multiple-choice.

b. always deduct points for any grammatical or spelling errors.

c. give them considerable freedom about how to respond.

 d. communicate clear guidelines about how they should respond.

 16). Three of the following are accurate statements about cheating in the classroom. Which one is not necessarily accurate? 
a. Students are more likely to cheat if they think their teacher is a "softie" who grades leniently. 
b. Students are more likely to cheat if they have performance goals rather than mastery goals. 
c. Students are more likely to cheat if they think their teacher's expectations for them are unreasonably high. 
d. Students are more likely to cheat if they think an assessment instrument doesn't reflect classroom objectives.

17) Which one of the following illustrates the use of a rubric in a classroom assessment? a. In a swimming test, students are asked to swim one lap each of the breaststroke, backstroke and crawl.

b. A math assignment presents a complex problem with several parts and asks students to break it down into at least five simpler problems.

c. Responses to a 10-point essay in a history class are given 5 points for describing historical events accurately, 4 points for explaining how the events are interrelated, and 1 point for using complete sentences throughout the essay.

d. A science test has 30 multiple-choice questions, 10 alternative-response questions, 3 short-answer questions and one essay.

18). The four students below have just received feedback about their test performance. With the textbook's discussion of assessment and feedback in mind, choose the student who is most likely to benefit from the feedback he or she has received.

a. Garry got his multiple-choice science test back with the errors circled in red and the comment, "You need to study harder for the next test" written at the top of the page.

b. Kerrie received her math test with any incorrect answers corrected in red and with the comment, "You have learned how to 'carry' in addition but are having trouble with 'borrowing' in subtraction."

c. Jerry could not see his geography test after it was scored as his teacher plans to use the test again with next year's class. However, he's gotten the feedback, "You need to work more on the characteristics of the countries we're studying."

 d. Harry received his history essay test with the comment, "You have a thorough knowledge of history, but your discussion is vague and disorganized.

19). The textbook author suggests that it is not a good idea to incorporate more than a few extra- credit points into students' grades. Why?

a. Incorporating extra-credit work into classroom grades typically affects only the grades of high-achieving students, so it is not worth the time and trouble.

 b. The time spent on extra-credit assignments is better spent planning classroom activities.

c. Scores on extra-credit projects frequently suffer from low reliability.

d. Too many opportunities for extra-credit points allow students who have not met instructional objectives to get good grades.

20). Which one of the following statements best reflects the textbook's recommendation with regard to assigning criterion-referenced or norm-referenced grades?

 a. Assign criterion-referenced grades in the lower elementary grades and in all low-ability classes; assign norm-referenced grades in high-ability classes in the middle school and high school grades.

 b. Assign norm-referenced grades at all grade levels to the extent that such is possible.

c. Assign criterion-referenced grades at all grade levels to the extent that such is possible. d. Assign criterion-referenced grades at the elementary level, but assign norm-referenced grades at the high school level.

21). Three of the following statements are accurate with regard to the advantages of portfolios. Which statement is false? 
a. Portfolios are useful for fostering students' self-evaluation skills. 
b. Portfolios provide a means through which instruction and assessment can be easily interrelated. 
c. As a means of summarizing students' achievement, portfolios have greater practicality than final grades. 
d. Portfolios can reflect the complex nature of students' achievement.

 
22). For which one of the following classes would it be most helpful to create an electronic portfolio rather than a paper portfolio?
 a. a high school creative writing class
 b. a high school debating class 
c. a middle school geography class 
d. a middle school math class.

23). Three of the teachers below are using strategies consistent with the textbook's recommendations regarding the use of portfolios. Which one is not consistent?

 a. Ms. Gaudet lists the criteria that she will use to evaluate students' portfolios.

b. Ms. James tells each of her students which specific artifacts they should include in their class portfolios.

 c. Ms. Salih asks students to include at least four writing samples written at various times during the school year in order to show how they have improved over time.

d. Ms. Shaklee asks her students to include a brief statement about each of the entries they include in their portfolios.

24). How can teachers most accurately assess the content validity of a standardized achievement test? 
a. Calculate the correlation between the scores of the norm group and the scores of the students in the classroom. 
b. Consult the test manual regarding content validity data for the norm group. 
c. Compare the school curriculum to a table of specifications for the test. 
d. Calculate the correlation between the students' scores on the test and their scores on a similar achievement test.

25). Which one of the following questions is more likely to be found on a scholastic aptitude test than on an achievement test? 
a. Of what two elements does water consist?
 b. What's missing in this picture of a chair?
 c. How is the circumference of a circle calculated? 
d. What significant historical event happened at Waterloo, Belgiu