ED Psych Practicum Questions

In which of the following situations would criterion-referenced scores always be more appropriate than norm-referenced scores?

To pretest students' knowledge so that you know where to begin instruction

Of the following, which is the best example of an authentic task?

Students write an editorial for the school newspaper.

Mr. Loosigian is worried about Jerri, a girl who is struggling in his seventh-grade class. He thinks about several different reasons why she might be having so much difficulty with her schoolwork. Which one of the reasons he considers is consistent with a behaviorist perspective of learning?

"Maybe I don't praise her enough when she does something well."

Use the example below to answer the following item(s). Ms. Wang is working on simplifying arithmetic expressions with her prealgebra class. She has explained the rule for simplifying expressions, has demonstrated the process and has had the students work two examples. She now displays the following problem for her students: 4 + 9(6) 6 + 8/2 Of the following, the question that least promotes critical thinking in the students would be:

"Now, what is the first step we take to solve the problem?"

Which one of the following statements reflects an entity view of intelligence?

"Phoebe is one of the brightest students I know."

Choose the correct order of the following steps for designing performance assessments: 1. Specifying desired outcomes 2. Selecting evaluation procedures 3. Selecting the focus of evaluation (process or product) 4. Determining the appropriate degree of realism

1, 3, 4, 2

Greg took the district-wide achievement test and got a stanine score of 9. Which one of the following is closest to Greg's percentile rank?

98

Ms. Frago has several students who are chronic misbehavers. She meets individually with each student, and together she and the student agree to a plan for improving the student's behavior and a suitable reinforcement for appropriate behavior change. Ms. Frago is using:

A contingency contract

Which one of the following is the best example of a symbolic model?

A detective on a television show

Distributed cognition can best be described as:

A group of students thinking about a task or problem together

If we want to enhance students' metacognitive processes during problem solving, we would be most likely to:

Suggest questions that students might ask themselves as they work on problems.

Use the information below to answer the following item(s). Henry James is teaching his students about the eastern and western states of the United States. He prepares a chart, which is outlined as follows: Geography Climate Economy Lifestyle Eastern States Western States He assigns teams of two to gather information about each of the cells in the chart (such as the geography of the western states). The students provide the information; Henry helps them put it in the chart. Having the students gather and put the information in the chart best illustrates which of the following processes for making the information meaningful?

Activity

Which one of the following illustrates the self-imposed contingencies aspect of self-regulation?

Adele feels terrible when she inadvertently hurts a classmate's feelings.

Which one of the following is the best illustration of the "evaluate" level in the recent revision of Bloom's taxonomy?

Angela discovers fallacies in her teacher's argument regarding the value of an agricultural economy in Africa.

According to your text, which of the following is a criticism directed at behavioral theories?

Behaviorism cannot explain higher-order learning.

If we consider the concept of reciprocal causation, we must conclude that the quality of students' classroom experiences is influenced:

Both by classroom events and by what students themselves do

Use the case study below to answer the following item(s). Three students are discussing the use of highlighting as a strategy for making reading from their textbooks more meaningful. "I highlight the first sentence of nearly every paragraph, because that's supposed to be the topic sentence," Karen comments. "Then I return later and focus on them." "I highlight passages that I think are important," Joanne adds. "I look for key terms and lists and stuff. I try not to highlight too much." "I highlight practically whole chapters," Brad counters. "I read along with it as I'm highlighting. I think it helps." Based on the information in the example, the student whose strategy is likely to be least effective is:

Brad

When we say that an assessment instrument has norms, we mean that it:

Can be interpreted with reference to others who have taken the assessment

Classical conditioning and instrumental conditioning are two types of learning described by behaviorists. A major difference between them is that:

Classically conditioned responses are involuntary, whereas responses learned through instrumental conditioning are voluntary.

During a vocabulary lesson, a teacher talks aloud about how she herself tries to remember the meanings of new vocabulary words. For example, she says, "One of our words this week is herald, which means 'to announce or give notice of.' How might I remember that? Oh, I know! I can think of the Boston Herald, a newspaper that my parents subscribed to when I was young. A newspaper announces what's happening in the world, so it makes sense that it's called the Herald." The teacher's statement is a good example of:

Cognitive modeling

Gang-related activity is increasing at the high school at which you teach. At a faculty meeting, the school principal voices her concern that hostile interactions among members of rival gangs are escalating. You think about the textbook's recommendations for addressing gang violence and suggest that the school:

Convene representatives of each gang; encourage these students to air their grievances and work together to address the problem

Which one of the following examples is consistent with what the textbook means by giving students a sense of control in the classroom?

Lonnie knows he can demonstrate his mastery of an instructional objective in his history class in either of two ways-by taking an exam or completing a project

Which one of the following is definitely an example of affect as psychologists use the term?

Darby is outraged when she reads about various instances of "ethnic cleansing" in seemingly civilized countries.

Four students are sitting in the cafeteria describing their new teachers. From the perspective of the textbook, which student is describing the most effective classroom climate?

Darren says, "Marianne came in late yesterday looking really upset. My teacher stopped for a minute to talk quietly with her but didn't give her too much static about being late for class."

Ms. Villanueva has her students engage in a variety of activities in her middle school geography class. Three of the activities described below are authentic activities. Which one is not an authentic activity as educational psychologists define the term?

Describing the difference between latitude and longitude clearly and concretely

Imagine that you are a third-grade teacher. If you wanted students to create portfolios as a way of discovering how much they've improved over the school year, you would be most likely to have them create:

Developmental portfolios

According to research, of the following, which type of teacher-made test is least reliable?

Essay

Which of the following best explains the effect on students when they receive high grades for all their work?

Grades lose their potency as reinforcers.

Imagine you are a high school principal who wants students to develop effective study strategies before they graduate. With research about effective study skills programs in mind, which one of the following approaches would be the best one to take?

Have teachers incorporate study skills training into the specific academic courses they teach.

Judging from what you have learned about how intelligence is typically measured, which one of the following would you be least likely to find on an intelligence test?

How many friends do you have?

Which one of the following best reflects performance assessment?

Identifying the problem in a car engine that has stalled

Different cultural groups have different views about what intelligence includes. Which view are you least likely to encounter in your discussions with people from diverse cultures.

Intelligence partly involves how much physical strength one has.

Which one of the following examples best illustrates situated cognition in action?

It doesn't occur to Jennie that she can use algebra to help her solve a problem in her physics class.

Learning theorists often emphasize the importance of attention in the learning process. From the perspective of the three-component model of memory, why is attention so important?

It moves information from the sensory register into working memory.

To prepare for his test on Tuesday morning, Harry studied on Monday night. He remembered the information long enough to do well on the test on Tuesday but could not remember it for a surprise quiz a week later. Based on this information, how far in Harry's memory system did the information get?

It reached long-term memory.

As part of a unit on percents and decimals, Katie Guzman gave her students ads from three different newspapers, each advertising the same products. Students then determined the cost per ounce for products such as orange juice and canned vegetables. After the students completed their calculations, Katie led a whole-class discussion in which the students explained their thinking and decided which products actually were the least expensive per ounce. During the discussion Katie periodically smiled and made comments, such as "Good analysis," when students demonstrated a clear understanding of the topic. Based on instruction grounded in constructivist views of learning, which of the following statements is the best assessment of Katie's lesson?

It was effective, because it provided a real-world task and used a considerable amount of social interaction.

Mrs. Wood, a first-grade teacher, and Mrs. Augmon, a sixth-grade teacher, use praise in an attempt to motivate their students. They are very liberal with their praise, strongly complimenting their students in class discussions, whether or not the students' answers demonstrate thought and insight. If the effects are consistent with patterns identified by research, which of the following is the most likely outcome of the teachers' technique?

It will be more effective in Mrs. Wood's class than in Mrs. Augmon's.

Of the following, which student is most directly displaying metacognition?

Karen stops herself from reading to make sure she is comprehending.

Creativity often involves divergent thinking. Which one of the following is the best example of divergent thinking?

Lacking any wooden blocks to build an arch for his toy soldiers to march under, Thomas builds an arch using upside-down paper cups.

If we consider both Gardner's and Sternberg's views of intelligence, we would be most likely to conclude that:

Many of our students are likely to be "intelligent" in one way or another.

As Chalonte reads her science textbook, she encounters the word ecology for the first time and uses the context to figure out what the word means. Given what we know about how the brain functions, we could reasonably assume that:

Many parts of her brain are involved in this task.

Mel and Tina were discussing student assessment in the teachers' lounge. Tina argued that multiple-choice items are ineffective because they only assess lower level learning. Mel suggested that multiple-choice items were more reliable than essay items. Of the following, which is the best conclusion we can make about these teachers' statements?

Mel is correct but Tina is incorrect.

Which one of the following is the best example of cognitive behavioral therapy as a means of helping a student acquire effective social skills?

Modeling effective interpersonal behaviors and reinforcing the student for using them with peers

Consider the scenario below for the following item(s). Four teachers are describing their efforts to improve the academic self-concepts of their learners.Mrs. Aldrich states, "I try to give my students some independence and I let them help me decide on the learning activities that we're going to conduct."Mr. Tichy says, "We do activities that focus directly on self concept. I have them write a sort essays on topics like, 'How I know that I'm good at school activities,' and 'How I would sell myself to an employer.'"Mr. Collins emphasizes, "I try to make sure that the kids are successful. Success is the key. If they're successful, their self-concepts will improve." Mrs. Gomez says, "I agree that success is important, but alone, it isn't enough. The kids must succeed on something they think is challenging and important. Success on something trivial won't do it." Based on research and these descriptions, the teacher likely to be most successful is:

Mrs. Gomez.

Four elementary teachers were discussing their handling of homework in their classes. "They know they have to do it to do well on the tests," Mrs. Lynch comments, "but I don't collect it or grade it." "I don't grade it either, but I check to see if they did it, and they know they get a check mark in my grade book if they did it," Mr. Llamado adds. "It's a part of my grading system," Mrs. Monk continues. "I collect every assignment, score it, and record the scores." "I spot check them," Mr. Peet adds. "They know it may or may not be collected, and I try to avoid falling into a pattern. I grade it and record the grades when I do collect it." Based on research, the teacher whose homework practice is most effective is:

Mrs. Monk

Each of the teachers below has students with misconceptions about the material they are studying. Three of the teachers are using strategies that should help their students correct these misconceptions. Which teacher is not using an effective strategy for changing misconceptions?

Ms. Caro reminds her students that she will be testing them on the material they are studying.

From the perspective of the textbook, which one of the following classrooms best illustrates effective classroom management?

Ms. Demaine's students are busily working on their math assignments in groups of three or four students each. The classroom gets a bit noisy at times when a group disagrees about how to do a problem.

Which one of the following paper-pencil assessments is most likely to have a reliability problem when the teacher scores students' responses?

Ms. Gibbons asks students to describe the "first Thanksgiving" in a short essay.

Which one of the following accurately describes the difference between negative reinforcement and punishment?

Negative reinforcement increases the frequency of behavior, whereas punishment decreases it.

Adolescents who learn a second language often apply patterns of speech production used in their native tongue and thereby speak the second language with an accent. This phenomenon can best be described as an example of:

Negative transfer

Which one of the following is something you should consider when you decide whether to use criterion-referenced scores or norm-referenced scores to summarize how well your students have performed on a classroom assessment?

Norm-referenced scores may be helpful when you need to assess a complex skill that is difficult to define in terms of mastery.

From a classroom management standpoint, which one of the following alternatives describes the most suitable physical arrangement of a classroom?

One that minimizes distractions and facilitates teacher-student interactions

Imagine that, as a teacher, you are administering a high-stakes achievement test to your students. You have three English language learners in your class, none of whom knew English before immigrating to this country: François (who immigrated 9 months ago and is now getting individual tutoring in English); Mei-Li (who immigrated 3 years ago and spent the first 2 years in a bilingual education program); and Maria (who immigrated 7 years ago and is now doing well in her English-only classes). Given what you've learned about the amount of time it typically takes for children to master English as a second language, which of these students has/have probably acquired sufficient knowledge of English to earn valid scores on the high-stakes test?

Only Maria

Only one of the following statements describes an accurate comparison between behaviorist and social cognitive theories of learning. Which statement is accurate?

Only social cognitive theorists propose that reinforcement affects observers as well as the individuals actually being reinforced.

Ideally we should engage students in authentic problem-solving activities as often as possible. When such activities are logistically impossible or impractical, the most authentic alternative is probably:

Presenting computer simulations of real-world problems

Abia found that several items on his final biology exam had cues in them. Students were able to determine the answers without knowledge of the content. For example, in one item the correct response was much longer than the other distractors. Of the following, what will be the most likely result of this test flaw?

Reliability will increase and validity will decrease.

Karin and her mother live on welfare in a poor, inner-city neighborhood in Detroit. Karin is quite bright and highly motivated, and she really wants to get a college education. However, she knows that, on average, students from low-income homes perform more poorly on the SAT Reasoning Test than students from wealthier homes. When she takes the SAT, she is so nervous that she has trouble concentrating on the test items, and so her scores are disappointingly low. Which one of the following concepts best explains what has happened to Karin?

Stereotype threat

Which one of the following best reflects technology-based collaborative learning as the textbook describes it?

Students share their work on a classroom data base, give one another feedback, and build on one another's ideas.

A fourth-grade teacher says, "All of my students have strengths in certain areas. For example, some of them are really good at solving math problems. Others are really fast readers. Still others have a marvelous ability to make connections among seemingly very different ideas. And a couple of them are 'walking encyclopedias' of facts about the world." With which one of the following theoretical perspectives is the teacher's statement most consistent?

The Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory of cognitive abilities

A music student misinterprets the line names of the bass clef because of his understanding of the line names in the treble clef. According to information processing theory, which of the following is the most likely reason why the misconception persists?

The misconception is embedded in an existing schema.

According to cognitive theories of learning, which of the following does not positively affect transfer?

The number of times an answer is reinforced

A teacher calls on John only rarely, gives him little time to respond before turning the question to someone else, and provides sketchy feedback to his answers. The teacher's behavior is most likely the result of which of the following?

The teacher's low expectations for John.

Using constructivism as a basis for your conclusion, of the following, what is the most likely reason that students' conclusions about the topics they study vary so greatly?

Their background knowledge varies, and their constructions of understanding depend on their background knowledge.

Gigi Parker is emphasizing grammatically correct writing and expression of thought in writing with her students. She has begun using portfolios, where systematic collections of her students' work are placed for review and evaluation. She puts work samples in the portfolio at least three days a week, and she is careful to date the samples to help in assessing her students' progress. In examining her students' work, she checks for grammar, punctuation, spelling, and clear expression of thought, and she assigns grades on that basis. Based on the information about Gigi's assessments, which of the following is the most accurate statement?

They are likely to be both reliable and valid.

According to the module, what benefits go along with raising curiosity among your students?

They are more likely to learn about things they are not interested in associated with the things they are curious about.

Social cognitive theorists tell us that students are most likely to work for goals that:

They have chosen for themselves

Under what circumstances should teachers confer with parents about a student's misbehavior?

When a chronic problem has implications for a student's success over the long run

In which situation is mastery learning most appropriate?

When certain skills provide the foundation for future material

Should students ever be allowed to fail at classroom tasks? According to social cognitive theorists, the answer is:

Yes. Occasional failures interspersed among frequent successes teach students that perseverance pays off.

Mrs. Brush has completed a study of adjectives and is beginning a study of adverbs with her students. She begins by showing the students the sentences: "Kelly, an athletic girl, ran quickly to the end of the field." "The big house shook violently in the earthquake." She has the students explain what the adjectives do in the sentences and then has them compare the role of the adverbs to the role of the adjectives in each case. Of the following, Mrs. Brush's technique is best described as an application of:

elaboration to help make the information meaningful for the students.

According to humanistic views of motivation and management, one suggestion for application of humanistic views of motivation for classrooms is as teachers to handle their problem students by:

first building a personal relationship with them.

A teacher is discussing a poll saying that students rate their role as citizen as least important to them. The class decides that this is an important problem that something should be done about. Of the following, the best description of this problem is:

ill-defined.

Use the information below to answer the following item(s). We call information to get a phone number we can't find in the phone book. We repeat the number a few times until we dial the number and then later forget it. The next day, even though we haven't thought about it, amazingly we remember the number. Of the following the best explanation for why we remember is:

it was transferred into longterm memory.

Mary failed Spanish twice. She said, "What is the use? Even if I repeat it, I won't pass." These statements best illustrate the concept(s) of:

learned helplessness.

A major city developed a plan to increase car pooling among its citizens. According to the plan, any car with three or more people in it was allowed to pass through toll booths without paying the toll. The plan worked; car pooling increased. The plan is best described as an application of:

negative reinforcement.

Authentic assessments that directly measure students' skills and understanding in a natural setting are best described as:

performance assessments

Authentic assessments that directly measure students' skills and understanding in a natural setting are best described as:

performance assessments.

The item(s) below are based on the following scenario. Mike is a conscientious and hard working student with a good attitude. He is a good student but was not in honors classes in the tenth grade. However, because of his excellent work in world history, he has been placed in A.P. American History for the eleventh grade. He is filled with uncertainty as he anticipates the first class. Mrs. Brewster is standing at the door of the room the first day, and asks the students their names as they come in. After Mike introduces himself, Mrs. Brewster smiles broadly and says, "Oh, Mike, I'm very happy to have you in here. Mr. Dickens told me about your excellent work last year."Mike felt a big sense of relief. Maybe the year would be OK after all. Each morning Mrs. Brewster greeted Mike with the same positive manner as he came into class. Now when Mike walks into American History class, he is quite at ease as he anticipates the class. Consider this as a case of classical conditioning, and respond to the following item(s).

relief

An authentic task is a classroom learning activity that:

requires understanding similar to understanding required outside the classroom.