chapter 1 educational psychology

Of the following, what is the best description of a theory?

A series of related patterns that can be used as a basis for explanation and prediction.

Nikki Yudin, a middle school teacher, has recently read articles suggesting that homework doesn't increase student learning. So, she decides to investigate the question.In two of her classes she gives homework as always, and in two other classes she assigns no homework. She follows this practice for one 9-week grading period, and finds that the classes who did homework scored higher than her other two classes on her 9-weeks test.Which of the following types of research is best illustrated by Nikki's study?

Action research ---Action research is research conducted by teachers or other school officials designed to answer a specific school or classroom related question. Kristi is a classroom teacher and she has a classroom related question-how does homework impact the amount students learn?

Of the following, which statement most accurately describes the difference between expert teachers and their colleagues with less expertise?

Expert teachers possess more professional knowledge and skills that do their colleagues with less expertise.

Of the following, which statement most accurately describes the difference between expert teachers and their colleagues with less expertise? Correct!

Expert teachers possess more professional knowledge and skills that do their colleagues with less expertise.

Which of the following statements most accurately describes the role of research in teaching?

It is the mechanism expert teachers use to improve their practice

Which of the following statements most accurately describes the role of research in teaching?

It is the mechanism expert teachers use to improve their practice.

Luisa Hernandez is an educational researcher. She surveys everyone in the district to obtain their opinions about after-school enrichment programs. What type of research is best illustrated by Luisa's efforts?

Qualitative research

A research study indicating that teachers who use concrete examples to illustrate their topics have students who score higher on their achievement tests than teachers who represent the ideas abstractly best illustrates what kind of research?

Quantitative research

"I'm going to have the children practice on long-vowel sounds and blends during skills block tomorrow," Ava Goodwin, a kindergarten teacher, says to herself as she plans for the next week. "I don't think I've spent enough time on basic skills the past few weeks." Ava then spends more time on basic skills the next week.Ava's concluding that she hasn't been spending enough time on basic skills best illustrates which of the following characteristics of expert teaching?

Reflective practice --Reflective practice is the process of conducting a critical self-examination of one's teaching, and Ava concluding, "I don't think I've spent enough time on basic skills the past few weeks," is a concrete example of this process.

Which of the following best describes expert teaching?

Some teachers possess more natural ability than others, but expertise can be acquired through study and practice.

Raphael Sanchez represents the concept crustacean by showing his students a lobster, a crab, and shrimp and having them identify the characteristics they have in common.Which of the following is Raphael best applying by representing crustaceans in this way?

Strategy 2: Linking abstract concepts to concrete representations from the National Council on Teacher Quality's Six Strategies that Every New Teacher Needs to Know

Mike Melvin, a 5th grade teacher, is working with his students on adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. However, on his homework assignments he also includes some problems that involve adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators.Then, when he moves to multiplying and dividing fractions, he also includes a problem or two where students must add and subtract fractions, with both like and unlike denominators.Which of the following six essential teaching strategies that all new teachers need to know, from the National Council on Teacher Quality is Mike most nearly applying with his homework practice?

Strategy 4: Alternating problems with solutions provided and problems students must solve

Mike Melvin, a 5th grade teacher, is working with his students on adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. However, on his homework assignments he also includes some problems that involve adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators.Then, when he moves to multiplying and dividing fractions, he also includes a problem or two where students must add and subtract fractions, with both like and unlike denominators.Which of the following six essential teaching strategies that all new teachers need to know, from the National Council on Teacher Quality is Mike most nearly applying with his homework practice?

Strategy 5: Distributing practice

Research has identified a number of positive outcomes for students taught by expert teachers compared to students taught by teachers with less expertise. Which of the following is not one of those best describes the outcome for students taught by expert teachers compared to students taught by teachers with less expertise?

Students taught by expert teachers are more likely to come to school socially mature than are students taught by teachers with less expertise.

An elementary school decides to experiment with two different curriculum approaches to language arts. The first focuses on a whole language approach, and the second focuses on word-attack skills, such as phonics.If the schools' results are consistent with patterns identified by research, which of the following is the most likely outcome?

The effectiveness of either approach depends on the knowledge and skills of the teacher implementing the program; one is not necessarily better than the other. ---For all intents and purposes, no curriculum approach, nor any teaching strategy is any better than the teacher using it, and most approaches or strategies can be used to increase student learning if they are implemented by expert teachers.

Which of the following is the best definition of research?

The process of systematically gathering information in an attempt to answer professional questions

Of the following factors, which contributes most to students' learning and development?

The students' teachers

Of the following, which description is most characteristic of beginning teachers?

They believe that they will be more effective than teachers now in the field.

April Jackson's students have difficulty understanding the concept pressure, tending to equate it with force. To try to help her students understand the difference, she stands with both feet on the floor and then stands with one foot on the floor. She then helps the students understand that the amount of force she exerts on the floor is the same on either one foot or both feet, but she exerts twice as much pressure on one foot, because the force is on a smaller area.The way April represented her content-standing on one foot and then standing on two feet to show the students the difference between force and pressure is best descr

example.

April Jackson's students have difficulty understanding the concept pressure, tending to equate it with force. To try to help her students understand the difference, she stands with both feet on the floor and then stands with one foot on the floor. She then helps the students understand that the amount of force she exerts on the floor is the same on either one foot or both feet, but she exerts twice as much pressure on one foot, because the force is on a smaller area.The way April represented her content-standing on one foot and then standing on two feet to show the students the difference between force and pressure is best described as a(n):

example.

Of the following, the best description of the use of theories is to:

explain and predict.

Teacher abilities such as questioning and the ability to organize a classroom so it functions smoothly would best be described as:

general pedagogical knowledge.

People's professional knowledge and skills, social abilities, and personality attributes that contribute to a nation's cultural and economic advancement, best describes:

human capital.

Paul Hernandez stands at the front of his classroom and smiles broadly as his seventh graders stroll in for their first meeting. This is the day he's been waiting for, and he feels ready. He is confident that his double major in history and geography will make him a stellar teacher. He feels especially lucky in that he's obtained an emergency certificate and hasn't been forced to waste time in teacher education classes.Which type of professional knowledge is Paul most likely to have? Explain.

knowledge of content

Research indicates that effective teaching requires four kinds of professional knowledge. They include:

knowledge of content, pedagogical content knowledge, general pedagogical knowledge, and knowledge of learners and learning.

"You can't teach what you don't know" is a commonly stated maxim in teaching. Of the following, it most nearly describes:

knowledge of content.

Gretchen wants to strengthen her American literature instruction during the next school year, so she enrolls in a master's-level course that focuses on American classics, such as The Scarlet Letter and To Kill a Mockingbird. By enrolling in this course Gretchen is illustrating her desire to increase her:

knowledge of content.

Paul explains that geography influences a great many things about our lives, such as the location of major cities, the economies of different areas, and the lifestyles people adopt. This material is very interesting to him, and he's a bit surprised that his students don't seem to share the same interest.Paul's approach to instruction suggests that he lacks two forms of professional knowledge. What are they? Your Answer:

knowledge of learners and learning pedagogical content knowledge

After studying educational psychology, Jeff Curry understands that the thinking of his high school students is concrete, e.g., they are able to understand abstract concepts like density, nationalism, or symbolism, for examples, only after seeing concrete illustrations of them. Without these illustrations, they attempt to memorize formulas or definitions that have little meaning for them.Of the following, the teacher's understanding would best be described as:

knowledge of learners and learning.

Research that combines quantitative and qualitative approaches to trying to answer an educational question is best described as:

mixed-methods research.

April Jackson's students have difficulty understanding the concept pressure, tending to equate it with force. To try to help her students understand the difference, she stands with both feet on the floor and then stands with one foot on the floor. She then helps the students understand that the amount of force she exerts on the floor is the same on either one foot or both feet, but she exerts twice as much pressure on one foot, because the force is on a smaller area.Her ability to represent the concept pressure in this way best illustrates her:

pedagogical content knowledge.

Hector is a middle school earth science teacher. He knows his students have difficulty understanding the geology of different land forms in our country. Knowing this, he has gone to the Internet and found a number of colored pictures of young mountains, mature mountains, young rivers, old rivers, and the same for plateaus. Recognizing that his students have difficulty with this concept and finding a way to better assist their learning, best illustrates Hector's:

pedagogical content knowledge.

The ability to find or create examples of topics so that the topics are meaningful to learners is best described as:

pedagogical content knowledge.

The body of information and skills that is unique to an area of study, such as law, medicine, or teaching is best described as:

professional knowledge

The body of information and skills that is unique to an area of study, such as law, medicine, or teaching is best described as: Correct! professional knowledge.

professional knowledge.

The use of surveys, interviews, or observations to identify people's opinions and attitudes is best described as:

qualitative research.

Amanda Jones is an educational researcher who uses a series of case studies to investigate factors related to the success of members of cultural minorities in colleges and universities. The type of research that Amanda does can best be described as:

qualitative research. ---Qualitative research uses processes, such as interviews and case studies to answer questions in a holistic fashion.

Researchers will often investigate educational events, such as the impact of a certain teaching strategy on the achievement of students, using numerical data and statistical techniques. This process is best described as:

quantitative research

Sets of related principles that are based on observations and are used to explain additional observations best define:

theories.