Midterm Study Questions
Halima and her family recently moved to the United States from Somalia, and she will be in Ms. Porter's classroom as an English language learner in the fall. There are many other families with Somali backgrounds in the school. What would not be an effective strategy that Ms. Porter could use to support Halima in her English language learning?
Speak to Halima as she would a native English speaker, maintaining a typical conversation pace and frequently using colloquialisms, to create a total immersion experience.
Which of the following represents the role of synaptic pruning in cognitive development?
During synaptic pruning, useless synapses fade away, seeming to make the brain more efficient.
Which one of the following students is not likely to engage in effective metacognitive processes when studying classroom material?
Edgar thinks that the best way to study for a test is read his textbook over and over, as many times as possible in the hour before his exams.
Which one of the following instructional strategies is most likely to help students with social or behavioral problems with low motivation in writing?
Encourage them to write about topics of personal interest.
Which of the following teachers demonstrates effective decision-making about the use of research findings?
After hearing his colleagues discuss a new approach to in-class science experiements, Mr. Roush reads some of the research about the strategy and decides to try it in his own classroom.
Which of the following is not an example of cultural scripts or schemas?
After learning how to ride a bike, Daniel attempts a unicycle.
In which of the following situations is positive transfer occurring?
After learning to play the cello, Xavier quickly adapts to the upright bass.
Which of the following students is engaging in metacognition?
After reading several paragraphs about important battles of the American Revolution, Katja realizes that she cannot remember who won the battle of Saratoga, so she re-reads that section.
Which of the following students is using the strategy of maintenance rehearsal?
After the guidance counselor gives Suzanne her locker combination, she repeats it to herself as she walks to her locker.
Amanda is reviewing the solution to a logic problem based on nonsense words: if all blorphs are smarfs, and some smarfs are morphs, is it true that all blorphs are smarfs? Amanda covers up her notes and tries to remember the solution to the problem. But she finds herself confused and can't remember if all blorphs are smarfs, or if only some blorphs are smarfs. What might explain Amanda's difficulty in remembering the solution?
Amanda is experiencing interference.
Which of the following strategies is most likely to be effective when you read and study educational psychology and subsequently try to apply it to your own teaching practices?
As you read, regularly stop to check your newly acquired understandings
Three of the following individuals do not appear to be engaging in critical thinking. Which one does seem to be engaging in critical thinking?
Before writing an essay explaining Abraham Lincoln's decision to announce the Emancipation Proclamation, Noah researches potential alternatives that Lincoln also considered.
The concept of society is related to and yet somewhat distinct from the concept of culture. Only one of the following statements accurately describes the nature of a culture. Which one?
Behaviors and beliefs that are passed from old members to new ones, generation after generation. .
Which of the following does not represent a general principle of child development?
Children tend to reach developmental milestones at the same age.
Ms. Dumas aims to improve the climate of her classroom. She is not sure whether her students need to be taught explicitly about respect and following instructions, or whether she needs to improve how she gives students directions. What would you recommend to Ms. Dumas as the first step?
Gather preliminary information about the problem and identify specific questions to address
Ms. Fleming is teaching a unit on climatology. She gave her students a pre-assessment to see what they already knew. She was surprised to find that most of her students believed that the earth is warmer in summer because it is closer to the sun, and colder in winter because it is further from the sun. After addressing this misconception, most students now understand the scientifically accurate explanation for hotter summer months and colder winter months. However, her student Gretchen continues to refer to the misconception. Ms. Fleming gently corrects her, and Gretchen angrily exclaims, "I know what I'm talking about!" What might be an obstacle to promoting conceptual change for Gretchen?
Gretchen may have a personal or emotional investment in her existing belief.
Ms. Fleming is teaching a unit on climatology. She gives her students a pre-assessment to see what they already know. She is surprised to find that most of her students believe that the earth is warmer in summer because it is closer to the sun, and colder in winter because it is further from the sun. Which of the following actions is unlikely to promote conceptual change about this misconception among Ms. Fleming's students?
Ignore the misconception; students will figure out that they are incorrect as they learn the material.
Three of the following represent heuristics. Which one represents an algorithm?
In math class, Ruby must multiply two binomials. She uses the FOIL mnemonic device to remember the procedure.
Which of the following teachers is using a recommended strategy to address difficulties with literacy?
Mr. Lagerfeld takes Will to the library to help him find books about dinosaurs, which are Will's current obsession.
Three of the following learning activities involve procedural knowledge. Which one involves declarative knowledge?
In science, Patricia learns that caterpillars morph into butterflies.
Which of the following children exhibits behaviors that are characteristic of Piaget's concrete operations stage of development?
Jacob understands that half of a pizza may be divided into any number of pieces and still represent half of a pizza.
Which one of the following alternatives is an example of social constructivism?
José, Marcella, and Maria work together to design a bridge that can hold at least1,000 grams using spaghetti and tape.
Which of the following scenarios is Kasey's learning being influenced by her worldview?
Kasey does not study for her upcoming quiz, because she believes that she is a lucky person.
Which of the following is the best example of quantitative research?
Looking at school attendance records to identify potential school dropouts
The following four teachers are all teaching elementary writing. Choose the teacher who is most likely to help students apply (i.e., transfer) what they are learning to new situations.
Mr. Tomas asks students to write lab reports, explain their math solutions in sentences, and construct short essays describing landscapes.
Which one of the following is not an example of situated learning?
Minerva asks Leon for help understanding how to apply the math formula, but still doesn't understand.
Which of the following teachers is not likely to promote transfer among students?
Mr. Fridlund has his students memorize the 50 states and their capitals.
Which of the following is a good representation of a community of learners?
Mr. Gonzalez gives each of his students a different supply (tape, paper, wooden sticks) and challenges them to build an airplane that can fly 100 feet.
Which one of the following teachers is not likely to engage his or her students in meaningful learning?
Mr. Kowalski emphasizes the importance of knowing information because it is likely to appear on future tests.
Which one of the following teachers is not guiding students in the use of new metacognitive strategies?
Ms. Liebrecht gives students a procedural guide for their lab assignment.
Would a bioecological systems theorists agree that children's development can ever avoid the influence of culture?
No. Culture is pervasive, providing a framework for how children think about and interact with their environments.
Which of the following teachers seems to have high self-efficacy?
Paloma believes that she can help her students increase their reading comprehension, so she is willing to try a new literacy strategy
Though there is no "best" time to learn a second language, which of the following represents some of the benefits of early exposure to second-language instruction?
Research shows that learning a second language early facilitates achievement in other academic areas, sensitizes children to the multicultural nature of the world, and increases likelihood that they will enroll in foreign language classes
Which of the following statements would Piaget likely disagree?
Students absorb knowledge from their surroundings.
High school math teacher Mr. Gualtieri begins his class one Monday with an important announcement. "Our school has just purchased a new instructional software program that we can use on our classroom computer tablets. This program, called Problem-Excel, will give you practice in applying the mathematical concepts and procedures we'll be studying this year. I strongly encourage you to use it whenever you have free time so that you can get extra instruction and practice with things you might be having trouble with." Mr. Gualtieri is firmly convinced that the new software will help his students better understand and apply certain concepts in his math curriculum this year. To test his hypothesis, he keeps a record of which students use the software and which students do not. He then looks at how well the two groups of students perform on his next classroom test. Much to his surprise, he discovers that, on average, the students who have used the software have earned lower scores than those who have not used it. "How can this be?" he puzzles. "Is the software actually doing more harm than good?" Which one of the following results would provide the most convincing evidence that the Problem-Excel software enhances students' mathematics achievement?
Students at a high school are randomly assigned to two groups. One group works with Problem-Excel, and the other group works with a software program called Write-Away, designed to teach better writing skills. The Problem-Excel group scores higher than the Write-Away group on a subsequent mathematics achievement test.
Which one of the following alternatives is the best example of a well-defined problem or task?
Students will calculate correct change after making purchases in the school store.
Which of the following best categorizes the sensory register, according to cognitive psychologists?
The component of the memory that holds the information that you receive, more or less in its original, unencoded form. It has a large capacity and lasts only a few seconds, at most.
Which of the following best describes the role of the brain in cognitive development?
The parts of the brain may have different specialties, but they all work together
In one high schoo, two teachers (Ms. Cheadle and Mr. Hendrix) have the highest-performing Algebra students in the district, while the students of the other two teachers (Mr. Rupp and Ms. Grimm) score right in the middle. Which of the following is a good example of action research that professionals at the school might conduct?
The teachers work together to compare lessons and assessments, and determine what content standards that they each teach differently. They then choose 3 key learning objectives that they will teach using the same strategies and materials, and meet each week to compare students' scores on exit tickets, homework assignments, and quizzes.
Ms. Leavitt, a high school Physics teacher, planned a certain lab experiment because she knew that her students would be learning a formula that they would need in math class earlier in that week. She is surprised, however, when none of her students seem to recall the formula when they need to use it during their lab experiment. What might explain this?
This may be an instance of situated cognition.
Ms. Middleton teaches her fourth grade students about light waves, and explains why the sky is blue. She also corrects the common misconception that the sky is blue because it is reflecting the color of the ocean. The next day, she asks her students to share what they remember about why the sky appears blue. Josie raises her hand and says, "Because the light waves hit the ocean and bounce back to the sky!" How would a cognitive psychologist explain Josie's misunderstanding?
This represents constructivism: learners take many numerous, separate pieces of information and use them to create a general understanding, interpretation, or recollection of some aspect of the world. In Josie's case, she constructed a misunderstanding based on the new information and a common misconception.
How would a cognitive psychologist define learning?
Using mental processes to construct understanding and meaning based on numerous, separate pieces of information.
Which one of the following examples does not illustrate the concept of distributed knowledge in a society?
Victoria received her quiz back and was dismayed to see that she got only half of the answers correct, but her teacher gives her the opportunity to try again.
Which of the following novice teachers is not exhibiting behaviors that are most likely to result in long-term expertise as a teacher?
Virginia creates her lesson plans a week ahead of time and then almost immediately edits them in an effort to perfect her lectures
Ms. Moon is explaining to a colleague the different emphases that Piaget and Vygotsky place on the role of culture in children's cognitive development. Which represents the best explanation of the difference between the two theories?
Vygotsky believed that a child's culture molds the specific thinking skills that he or she acquires, while Piaget emphasizes self-exploration
Which one of the following is the best example of a covert study strategy?
When reading her textbook, Imogene first skims each paragraph for the big ideas before reading them more carefully.
Can the assessments that teachers design influence what students learn? Why or why not?
Yes, because good assessments encourage students to prepare for them by using cognitive processes that are essential for high-quality learning.
Jean just read about an interesting research study summarized in a professional journal. In the study, researchers collected information about students' reading abilities in 3rd grade, and then followed up years later to see how many graduated from high school. They found that students who had higher reading abilities were more likely to graduate. Jean tells her principal that 3rd grade reading abilities are the key to high school graduation, so the school needs to invest in strong reading instruction for kindergarten, first, and second grades. Has Jean made a mistake in her interpretation of the study?
Yes. This is a correlational study, which means that the researchers found a relationship between third grade reading abilities and high school graduation. Jean as misinterpreted this study and believes that third grade reading abilities are the cause of high school graduation.
Before beginning a lab experiment in which students will swab various classroom fixtures (e.g., the doorknob, desks, pencil sharpener) for bacteria, they must first generate hypotheses about which surfaces are likely to have the most and least bacteria This is an example of:
scientific reasoning.