PSYC2170 Educational Psychology - Ch 1-5
Which one of the following individuals is in Kohlberg's law and order stage of moral reasoning?
Don obeys the teacher because school rules say he must obey her, and it is his duty to obey school rules
Anita's idea of how to interact with her classmates is to tease or insult them. Not surprisingly, she has few friends. Her teacher can best help her by:
explicitly teaching her more effective ways to interact with her peers.
Which one of the following conclusions could be drawn from a descriptive study? A)Concrete experiences help students understand abstract ideas better. B)Students are more likely to appreciate classical music if they are exposed to it on a regular basis. C)Approximately 80% of the students at Southside High School are planning to go to college. D)Students do better in school when they have warm, supportive relationships with their teachers.
C
Which teacher below seems to be using differentiated instruction in his/her classroom?
Ms. Moore prepares different worksheets for students based on how they are currently doing in her class.
If we consider Kohlberg's theory of moral development, we could best characterize children's moral development as a process of:
progressing through a series of stages from self-centeredness to increasing concern about the needs and rights of others.
Which one of the following behaviors is a kindergartner most likely to say is (morally) "bad" or "wrong"?
Pushing someone off top of a slide
Which one of the following statements is most accurate regarding psychological theories? A) Theories are continually modified as new data emerge. B)Theories will eventually be replaced by physiological (brain‐based) explanations of behavior. C)Theories have been proven to be true. D)Any single theory can be used to explain virtually every aspect of human behavior
A
Zack is a high school student with a speech disorder. Which one of the following characteristics is least likely to be associated with his disability?
Zack has difficulty with writing assignments.
A student says to you, "My momma she be singin' all da time." It is most likely that this student:
is using a dialect with some grammatical constructions different from those of Standard English.
Which one of the following strategies is most likely to help students with autism?
Keep the classroom environment stable and predictable. Don't rearrange classroom furniture, and keep the classroom schedule constant.
Marianna is a high school student. Considering what psychologists have learned about the effects of gender schemas, and without knowing anything else about Marianna, in which area would you expect her to have the highest motivation to achieve?
Poetry
Which type of aggression is best described as a behavior that is intended to produce mental anguish or reduce self esteem in another individual?
Psychological aggression
Which of the following pairs of students best illustrates the idea of student diversity with respect to different dialects?
Ralph speaks English as it is spoken in rural Mississippi; Kyle speaks the English of inner-city Chicago.
Which one of the following statements best illustrates a neo-Piagetian approach to cognitive development?
Rather than involving general stages of increasingly advanced reasoning processes, children's cognitive development may involve discrete stages in particular content domains.
When asked which students they would most like to do things with, most middle school students choose classmates who:
are cooperate and sensitive
Three of the following would be considered moral transgressions. Which one is an example of a conventional transgression?
Forgetting to say "Thank you" when receiving a gift
Three of the following are recommended strategies for addressing students' stereotypes about cultures and ethnic groups very different from their own. Which one is not recommended?
Gently discourage students from talking openly about racism in the local community.
Kevin tells himself, "even though Grandpa just died, i mustn't cry at school today, or the other kids will laugh at me." This situation illustrates:
Self-Socialization
Three of the following strategies are likely to help students at risk stay in school. Which one is not likely to do so?
Discourage students from participating in extracurricular activities so that they can focus on getting their grades up.
Three of the following strategies should promote students' moral development. Which one might be beneficial in other ways but would not necessarily promote students' moral development?
Describing how good boys and girls should behave
Which one of the following is most likely to indicate that a student has a possible emotional or behavioral disorder?
Jeff is usually somber and uncommunicative; the only time he speaks to other students is to insult them.
Which of the following, best describes, socialization as developmental psychologist use the term?
Molding children's behavior to enable effective functioning within their culture.
Which of the following statements is most accurate about the effects of peer groups?
Peer groups may encourage either desirable qualities or undesirable qualities.
Sam tells himself, "I'm really upset about my parents divorce, but i need to put on a 'tough guy' front so my friends don't think im a cry baby. This situation illustrates_____ as a factor contributing to gender differences.
Self-Socialization
LaWanda understands that a single sentence can sometimes be interpreted in two or more ways. For example, she realizes that the sentence "I know more beautiful women than Miss America" has two possible interpretations: "I know women who are more beautiful than Miss America is" or "I know more beautiful women than Miss America knows." LaWanda's appreciation for the double meanings of some sentences reflects:
metalinguistic awareness
Which one of the following best illustrates inclusion as it is defined by special educators?
Alex, who has mental retardation, is taught in a general education classroom, where his teacher and a specialist both design and deliver instruction.
Luanne's parents are in the process of getting a divorce. She is so distracted and upset by the situation that she sometimes has trouble paying attention in class, and her performance on assignments and quizzes has slipped a bit. She worries that her teachers might think she simply doesn't care about her schoolwork, when nothing could be further from the truth. Luanne is showing:
recursive thinking
Kiley is having trouble learning the steps involved in using a microscope correctly. If we consider Vygotsky's description of how children help themselves through difficult tasks, we should suggest that Kiley:
talk herself through the steps.
Which one of the following is most typical of the moral development of high school students?
Empathy for the victims of a widespread famine or epidemic
An authoritarian parenting style is seen in which one of the following examples involving junior high school students?
Molly's parents are very strict, letting her know their high expectations and imposing strong penalties for failing or breaking their rules.
Which one of the following teachers is using a strategy that reflects the concept of distributed intelligence?
Mr. Arvis encourages his students to use their calculators when solving algebraic word problems.
Which one of the following teachers is definitely keeping in mind Piaget's idea that assimilation and accommodation are both necessary for learning and cognitive development to occur?
Mr. Baretta shows students how a new topic is similar to the things they already know, but also different in certain ways.
Which example best illustrates the idea of least restrictive environment?
Sheila, who is visually impaired, attends a general education class but has special copies of the textbooks written in Braille.
Which one of the following teacher statements most clearly reflects a cultural lens as the textbook uses the term?
"Marie's parents are really irresponsible. They can never seem to get to parent-teacher conferences on time."
Which one of the following conclusions can be drawn only from an experimental study? A) Children grow taller as they get older. B)Drugs administered during childbirth affect a childʹs early development. C)Boys are more likely to show aggressive behavior than girls. D)Childrenʹs muscular coordination improves as they grow older
B
Mr. Sanders teaches in a school district where students are predominantly Native Americans. In this situation, which one of the following would best illustrate Culturally responsive teaching?
Conducting cooperative learning activities in which students work together to create maps of their local community.
Three of the following describe environmental factors that contribute to gender differences we see in school-age children. Which statement is not an accurate description of how the environment contributes to gender differences?
Parents have higher expectations for their daughters regarding acceptable levels of educational achievement.
Peer relationships, like parent-child relationships, are essential to a child's development. Which one of the following is not one of the ways that peer relationships influence the developing child?
Peers are the first individuals to whom a child becomes truly attached.
All of the following strategies are certainly beneficial, but only one is likely to foster resilience in students who live in difficult and challenging circumstances. Which strategy is known to foster resilience.
Take a personal interest in students welfare and show them that they can turn to you in times of need.
Which one of the following is the best example of qualitative research? A)Interviewing middle school students about cliques at their school B)Looking at school attendance records to identify potential school dropouts C)Comparing average achievement test scores for students at three different schools D) Finding out how long it takes 6‐year‐olds to assemble challenging picture puzzles
A
Considering the research findings described in the textbook, only one of the following is a true statement. Which one is true? A)Students are usually the best judges of what they do and do not know. B)Most experts discourage teachers from having children tutor one another. C)Mathematics is almost exclusively a left‐brain activity; music is largely a right‐brain activity. D)Students who see a classmate rewarded for doing something may engage in the same behavior themselves.
D
In educational psychology, a theory can best be characterized as: A)An objective measure of how a person behaves in a particular situation B)A statement that describes how a particular variable affects learning or development C)A description of the results of a particular research study D)An explanation of how and why learning or development occurs
D
In addition to low general intelligence and poor academic performance, what other characteristic must be present in order to classify a student as having an intellectual disability?
Difficulty functioning in age-appropriate ways in the social environment
Emily's mother is a doctor. According to bioecological systems theory, the hospital and the people she works with all have some influence on Emily's development and are part of Emily's:
Exosystem
Many of the students are Buchanan Junior High know that John and Sara have been "Going out", for the past 2 months. Given what we know about students early dating habits, it is mostly likely that john and sara:
Find each other attractive but dont know each other very well.
Three of the following tend to be fairly stable personality traits that children have to varying degrees. Which one would psychologists not characterize as a relatively stable personality trait?
How quickly children solve math problems
Three of the following teachers are using strategies that are appropriate for students with intellectual disabilities. Which teacher is not using an appropriate strategy?
Ms. Chang teaches basic math facts but refrains from teaching students how to use them in real-life situations.
Robert is a 15-year-old boy who has attended U.S. schools since he began kindergarten at age 5. With this fact in mind, identify the task that is most likely to require Robert's fluid intelligence rather than his crystallized intelligence.
Solving a new kind of puzzle
Which one of the following high school teachers clearly has high self‐efficacy about his or her teaching? A)Ms. Crosby insists that students complete their math homework using a particular format. B)Mr. Driver is confident that he can get even seemingly ʺunmotivatedʺ students excited about science. C)Mr. Abbot thinks that teaching is simply a matter of reading textbook passages aloud to his history class. D)Ms. Bouthot has a hypothesis about why some students in her English class rarely turn in their assignments
B
Which one of the following students is definitely working in his or her zone of proximal development?
Berta is beginning to learn basic woodworking techniques. She has trouble hammering a nail straight into a piece of wood unless her teacher stands beside her, helping her and reminding her of what to do.
Which one of the following best illustrates an analytic cognitive style?
Finding triangle shapes hidden within a complex picture
Authoritative parents can best be characterized as having which type of relationship with their children?
High expectations, loving support, and shared decision making
The teacher of a sixth-grade class is concerned about the poor academic performance of a 12-year-old student named Nancy. The teacher looks through Nancy's school records and discovers that Nancy got an IQ score of 80 when she took an intelligence test in preschool. Considering the textbook's discussion of IQ scores, the teacher should conclude that:
Nancy's IQ score in preschool is not necessarily a good reflection of her capability in sixth grade.
As a teacher, you learn that a student with Asperger syndrome will be joining your class. You should expect that the student will probably:
be able to handle most normal classroom assignments but have poor social skills.
In general, experimental studies have which one of the following advantages over descriptive and correlational studies? A)Only experimental studies allow us to identify the possible factors influencing behavior. B)Only experimental studies allow us to analyze data statistically and therefore arrive at precise results. C)Only experimental studies enable us to draw accurate conclusions. D)Only experimental studies allow us to be specific about our teaching objectives.
A
Which one of the following is the best example of a teacherʹs pedagogical content knowledge? A)Knowing several effective ways to teach students about negative numbers B)Making a reasonable guess as to why a particular student misbehaves just before lunch time every day C)Knowing what researchers have discovered about the effectiveness of discovery‐learning approaches to instruction D) Understanding why water expands when it freezes
A
Three of the following teaching practices are consistent with Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Which one is not?
A second grade teacher encourages students to speculate about possible explanations as to why kites can fly and then to test each explanation systematically.
Which of the following students is most likely experiencing stereotype threat?
A student knows that his or her group is expected to perform more poorly on standardized exams and worries that low performance on the exams will only confirm what he or she thinks are the beliefs of others.
As a beginning teacher, you may sometimes find yourself overwhelmed by the many decisions you will have to make on a daily basis. The situation will improve over time, however, because: A)Most students know that they should behave when they have an older and more experienced teacher B)As you gain experience, you will be able to make some classroom decisions more quickly and easily C)Children are typically more calm and cooperative during the winter months than they are in the fall D)Fellow teachers are usually more helpful and supportive later in the school year, after theyʹve gotten to know you better.
B
Considering the research findings described in the textbook, only one of the following is a true statement. Which one is true? A)Repeating something over and over is usually the most effective way to learn it. B)Students often study differently for different kinds of classroom assessments C)Girls have a noticeable advantage over boys on verbal tasks. D)For optimal performance, students should never feel the least bit anxious in the classroom.
B
Imagine you are an educational researcher who wants to learn about the type of psychological atmosphere in which middle school students feel most comfortable and best able to concentrate on their studies. You plan to look at a wide variety of factors that might contribute to such an atmosphere—both physical factors (e.g., cleanliness and colorfulness of the school building) and social factors (e.g., teacher-student relationships, general tolerance for diverse behaviors and beliefs). You realize that students might identify important factors that you yourself havenʹt even thought of. In this situation, your best choice would probably be: A) A descriptive, quantitative study B) A qualitative study C)An experimental study with one treatment group and one control group D)An experimental study with at least three treatment groups
B
Which one of the following is the best example of action research? A)A graduate student quietly observes adolescentsʹ behaviors in the school cafeteria. He plans to describe his observations in his masterʹs thesis. B)A teacher gives her students a questionnaire that asks them to describe how often they study and what kinds of strategies they use when they study. She will use the results to develop several lessons on effective study skills. C)A college professor recruits sixth graders to come to his lab, where she assesses their responses and reaction times in a variety of challenging problem‐solving tasks. Her results will help her refine the theory of problem solving she has been developing. D)All of the school districts in a particular state are instructed to give the same mathematics achievement test to their high school juniors. The average test scores for each district will be presented in a report that will be released to the general public.
B
Which one of the following factors is least likely to be considered in determining a family's socioeconomic status?
Children's achievement test scores
Matteo would love to play as soon as he gets home from school each day but he has developed a plan that requires him to do his homework before allowing himself some fun time outdoors. Matteo seems to have mastered:
Effortful control
Several parents who are making costumes for an elementary school play ask the young cast members to assist them with such tasks as cutting fabric, pinning pieces together, and sewing simple hems. Using the language of Vygotskian theorists, we can say that the parents are:
Engaging the students in guided participation
According to Erik Erikson, students ability to trust those around them initially stems from:
Experiences with adults during infancy.
Anneka tells her mother, "I don't think my teacher likes me very much this year. And you know, I am not sure I like myself so much, either." Anneka is most likely
In middle school
Dallas and his friends think that Billy is "grouchy" simply because Billy never says anything to them. They don't consider other possible reasons why Billy isn't more outgoing. If we take developmental trends in perspective taking into account, we would suspect that Dallas and his friends are at what grade level?
In middle school
Three of the following strategies are likely to promote moral development. Which one, although possibly appropriate in certain situations, is not likely to promote students' moral development?
Making sure that students know who is "boss" in the classroom
Which strategy is most likely to be effective in promoting students' vocabulary development?
Teaching students the meanings of words related to topics they are studying
Three of the following are likely to give you reasonable clues about a student's cultural background and/or ethnic group membership. Which one is probably least dependable as an indicator of a student's cultural background and ethnicity?
The color of a student's skin
Which one of the following illustrates developmental theorists' notion of the personal fable?
William feels he is invincible, immortal, and immune to the problems others face.
Knowledge about group differences enables us to:
form tentative hypotheses about instructional strategies that might be effective for different students.
When we say that different cultural and ethnic groups have different worldviews, we mean that:
their basic assumptions about how the world operates may be different.
Given what we know about children's language development, which one of the following problems is typical for the grade level?
A first grader pronounces the word rabbit as "wabbit."
Which one of the following statements is most accurate concerning research findings about technology and peer relationships?
Although it can occasionally cause significant psychological harm, appropriate use can enhance students' social connectedness and general sense of well-being.
The school principal tells you that Mary, a new student who just joined your classroom this morning, currently lives at a homeless shelter. Which one of the following strategies does the textbook not recommend for helping Mary succeed in your classroom?
Ask Mary's parents to meet with you in your classroom after school.
Which one of the following teaching practices is definitely an example of evidence‐based practice? A)A high school art teacher encourages students to choose a medium (e.g., clay, watercolor paints) that they can best use to express themselves. B)A fourth-grade teacher uses a reading program that research has shown to be effective for fourth graders. C)A kindergarten teacher asks students to bring something from home that begins with the letter B. D) A seventh-grade science teacher asks students to conduct experiments in which they must determine which one of several variables makes a pendulum swing fast or more slowly.
B
Which one of the following best describes how neurons transmit messages to one another?
By sending chemical substances across a tiny gap between them
Which one of the following statements best reflects most developmental theorists' current views about the relative impacts of heredity and environment on intellectual development?
Determining the relative effects of heredity versus environment may ultimately be impossible.
Three of the following are accurate statements about the limitations of intelligence tests. Which one is not an accurate statement?
The tests focus more on the kinds of things females are likely to know and so are biased against males.
A student with special needs is guaranteed an individualized education program. In the United States, an IEP must include all of the following EXCEPT:
detailed information about the student's disability.
Only one of the following statements is true about emotional and behavioral disorders. Which one is true?
It is possible to be genetically predisposed toward having an emotional or behavioral disorder yet not show signs of a disorder until adolescence
Lily is 10 years old. She gets a score of 97 on an IQ test. What does this tell us about her intellectual ability?
Lily's score is about average for her age-group.
Compared to their wealthier peers, students from low income families are less likely to attend and graduate from college. One reason is that many public schools in low-income neighborhoods are of poor quality. Three of the following characteristics are typical of schools in low income communities. Which characteristic is NOT typical?
Little or no discipline for serious behavior problems
Four high school teachers have just learned that Ralph, one of their students, has scored extremely well on an intelligence test. Which teacher appears to believe in Spearman's concept of g in intelligence?
Mr. Hudson says, "No wonder Ralph performs consistently well in all of his classes!"
Mr. McDonald is making accommodations for Emily, who has a visual impairment. Which one of the following strategies is consistent with the textbook's recommendations for students with visual impairments?
Mr. McDonald asks another student to paint country boundaries with nail polish on a map so that Emily can feel them.
Choose the statement below that most accurately reflects research findings concerning Piaget's theory of cognitive development.
The order in which various logical thinking capabilities emerge is consistent with the sequence that Piaget proposes.
Which one of the following statements best illustrates a universal in development as developmentalists define the term?
Young children show similar patterns in their language development regardless of the specific language that they learn.
If we want to promote perspective taking in our students, probably the best strategy is to:
engage them in discussions in which they express diverse points of view.
Kristen has large scars on her neck from surgeries she has received to correct a problem with her esophagus. In the past she has been fed with a tube, but now she is learning to eat through her mouth. Her doctor wants her to snack throughout the day to increase her calorie intake. According to the guidelines set forth by IDEA, the most appropriate school response would be to:
give Kristen frequent short breaks from classroom tasks so that she can eat her snacks.
Three of the following alternatives describe reasons why, for cultural reasons, children may be relatively quiet in class. Which alternative is false?
in some cultures, children rarely hear spoken language until age 3 or 4.
Which one of the following statements best captures the nature of cognitive academic language proficiency in describing English language learners?
An ability to learn as well as native English speakers in English-only classrooms
Judging from the textbookʹs discussion of assessment, we can best think of classroom assessment practices as mechanisms and procedures that: A)Give us hard, indisputable facts that we can use to assign grades B)Enable us to form tentative hypotheses about what students know and can do C)Allow us to draw conclusions about how studentsʹ motives and personality traits affect their classroom performance D)Are most likely to be accurate when they take the form of paper-pencil tests
B
Imagine you are a third-grade teacher. Considering Piaget's theory of cognitive development, you should expect most or all of your students to exhibit ________ thinking.
concrete operational
A research study finds that students who weigh more do better in school. Which one of the following is an appropriate deduction from this information? A)The school cafeteria should decrease the fat content of the food it serves. B) On average, students who eat more do better in school. C)There is a correlation between weight and classroom performance. D) Parents should feed their children as much as possible.
C
As the textbook points out, assessment in the classroom can take a variety of forms. Three of the following are examples of assessment in the classroom. Which one definitely does not, in and of itself, illustrate assessment? A)A teacher sees her students growing increasingly restless during a lengthy lecture. B)A teacher asks students to write an essay describing the pros and cons of a free enterprise system. C)A teacher decides to use a new approach to teach science this year. D)A teacher observes that Lani rarely interacts with her classmates during recess.
C
Rani has just moved here from a middle eastern country where most women remain at home serving their husbands as taking care of her children, when she is asked to perform the same school task as her male classmates. Rani's situation illustrates:
Cultural mismatch
Judging from the textbookʹs discussion of educational research, which one of the following would be the best course of action for teachers to take? A)Teachers should focus on research that relates to a single theoretical perspective (such as Piagetʹs theory or information processing theory). B)Teachers should always go with their common sense and ʺgutʺ feelings about how to teach, regardless of any research findings to the contrary. C)Teachers shouldnʹt take research findings very seriously, because there are too many ʺholesʺ in what we know from research. D)Teachers can use findings from educational research to guide their classroom decision making.
D
The textbook offers several suggestions for studying a textbook effectively. Which one of the following is not necessarily recommended? A) Draw inferences from the things you read. B)Occasionally stop and check to make sure you understand. C)Relate new ideas to things you already know. D) Take detailed notes on the bookʹs content.
D
Which of the following reflects class inclusion as Piaget described it?
Realizing that things that are cars can also be vehicles
Which one of the following descriptions best reflects how educators typically define students at risk?
Students unlikely to acquire the basic academic skills necessary for success in the adult world
Three of the following depict challenges that children living in poverty are likely to face. Which situation is least typical?
Trina rarely comes to school on Tuesday, because her family likes to take advantage of the free-admission policy that many city museums have on Tuesdays.
You have several students in your class who speak a dialect other than Standard English. If you follow the textbook's recommendation for handling this situation, you will:
ask them to use Standard English in formal situations (e.g., oral reports) but encourage them to use their own dialect in other situations.
Olivia understands why 3/5 and 9/15 are equivalent fractions. Based on this information, from Piaget's perspective Olivia is probably in the ________ stage of development.
formal operations
At a Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meeting at your school, several parents complain about the moral decline of today's youth and argue that the school should be giving regular lectures about the importance of honesty, loyalty, generosity, and so on. If the teachers and school administrators are up to date on research regarding moral development, they should respond by saying that such lectures:
would do little if anything to promote moral behavior.
A study that tells us whether two variables are associated, but does not tell us if one variable causes or influences the other, is: A) An experimental study without a control group B) A correlational study C)A descriptive study D) An experimental study with one or more control group
B
Three of the following teachers are using strategies that are recommended for teaching students with special needs. Which one is using a strategy that is not recommended?
At the beginning of each year, Ms. Toor specifies one set of class rules but actually holds another, more lenient set of rules for students who have disabilities
Three of the following statements are consistent with Vygotsky's views about the kinds of diversity we are likely to see in students. Which statement is not consistent with Vygotsky's theory?
Some children frequently engage in self-talk, whereas other children don't use it at all.
A mirror neuron is mostly likely to fire:
When an individual performs an action or watches another individual performs an action.
As a teacher, you are likely to be concerned about your students' self-concepts and self-esteem. Probably the best state of affairs for students' long-term development is that they:
have reasonably accurate beliefs about their strengths and weaknesses, perhaps with a touch of optimism about what they can accomplish.
A researcher is interested in the possible effect of teacher-student ratios on studentsʹ learning. She finds 10 fifth‐grade classrooms with 30-40 students per class and 10 others with 15-25 students per class. She discovers that there is a correlation between class size and student achievement. Which one of the following conclusions can we draw from this study? A) Class size can help us predict school achievement. B) Classes should be as small as is reasonably possible. C)Classes should be as large as is reasonably possible. D) The researcher has conducted a descriptive study.
A
Mr. Jacobs wants to find out whether a new program for teaching physical education promotes studentsʹ physical development. He gives his students a number of tests before they begin the program (pretests) and the same tests again after they have been in the program for eight months (posttests). He finds that the studentsʹ posttest scores are higher than their pretest scores and so concludes that the program is effective. What is definitely wrong with Mr. Jacobsʹ conclusion? A) There are other possible explanations for his results. B)The posttests should always be different from the pretests. C)Tests are not a good measure of physical development. D)Eight months is too short a time for such a program to have a long‐term effect.
A
Mr. Jones, a physical education teacher, notices that some of his students are better basketball players than others. He wonders if having a basketball net at home fosters the development of basketball skills. He gives his students a short survey that asks them if they have a basketball net at home. Sure enough, Mr. Jones finds that the better basketball players are more likely to have a net at home. He concludes that having a basketball net at home facilitates the development of basketball skills. Is his conclusion appropriate? A) No, because he didnʹt conduct an experimental study. B) Yes, because he used random assignment. C)No, because his study wasnʹt conducted in a scientific laboratory. D)Yes, provided that his students responded truthfully to the survey.
A
Which one of the following most accurately describes the general concept of temperament?
An inherited predisposition to interact with one's environment in certain ways
A French teacher reads an article about how visual imagery (i.e., ʺpicturingʺ things in oneʹs mind) can be used to help students learn French vocabulary words. To find out if visual imagery is more effective than verbal repetition in learning vocabulary words, she develops two different study guides for her students—one that tells students how to use visual imagery to learn French words, and one that tells them just to repeat the words over and over again—and randomly distributes the two study guides to her students. Over the next few weeks, the teacher finds that students using visual imagery study guides achieve higher average quiz scores. She concludes that the study guides describing the visual imagery technique help her students learn their French vocabulary words. Is the teacherʹs conclusion valid? A)No, because her experiment wasnʹt conducted in a laboratory. B)Yes, because she was able to manipulate a variable in the environment. C)Yes, because her students probably all had similar IQ scores. D) No, because she used random assignment
B
Which one of the following alternatives best illustrates action research? A)A university professor and two of her graduate students conduct systematic observations of kindergartenʹs turn‐taking behaviors on the playground. B)A high school principal conducts a survey to find out what kinds of after‐school activities students would most like to have available at their school. C)After a first‐grade teacher completes a research project for her masterʹs thesis, she presents her findings at a national teaching conference. D)A middle school math teacher gives his students quizzes every Friday because he knows that frequent quizzes will encourage students to study regularly.
B
Dr. Kenney conducts a study in which she gives some students (chosen randomly) logically organized learning material; she gives other students the same material presented in a haphazard, unpredictable sequence. She finds that students with the organized material remember more. This study can best be described as: A) A correlational study B) A descriptive study C)An experimental study D) A theoretical stud
C
Dr. Lesgold finds that students in private schools perform better on achievement tests than do students in public schools. He can conclude that: A)The difference is probably due to differences in family income. B)The difference is probably due to the fact that private schools are more likely to ʺteach to the test.ʺ C)Studentsʹ achievement test scores can be predicted to some extent by the kind of school they attend. D)The difference is probably due to the fact that private schools have smaller classes.
C
Experimental research requires which one of the following? A) Being able to predict two or more variables B) Studying behavior in an actual classroom environment C)Manipulating an aspect of the environment D)Describing every variable in the study in considerable detail
C
Which one of the following is the best example of elaboration? A)Logan copies a friendʹs answers to last nightʹs homework assignment. B)Sharon automatically knows how to study effectively for an upcoming history test. C)Melissa makes up stories to help her remember the various species she studies in biology. D)Rosie repeats the spelling of each word several times the night before her spelling test.
C
Which one of the following statements about educational research is true? A)Experimental research can be conducted only in the laboratory under somewhat artificial conditions. B) Correlational research is more difficult and time‐consuming than experimental research. C)Experimental research allows us to draw cause-and-effect conclusions. D)Descriptive research gives us the most information for making decisions about teaching practice
C
If we consider Erikson's theory of personal development, which one of the following issues would we expect secondary students to be most concerned about?
Trying to decide who they really are and the role they will play in adult society
Ms. Banerjee is considering using a well-reviewed computer-based enrichment activity for her class of high-achieving readers, which includes 9 girls and 3 boys. Based on the research regarding gender differences in experience with technology, the best strategy for Ms. Banerjee is to:
assign the activity along with support to ensure that all students are comfortable and confident using it.
Eight-year-old Julie lives in a rural area where many people are farmers or in some other way make their living through agriculture. After a lengthy summer drought, it begins to rain heavily one day in late July. "Thank goodness!" Julie hears her father exclaim. "Our prayers have finally been answered!" Julie makes a mental note of the cause-and-effect relationship her father has implied. This situation illustrates Vygotsky's belief that:
adults pass along to children the ways in which their culture interprets events
