Deck 1: Educational Psychology and Teacher Decision Making

Question 1

A French teacher reads an article about how visual imagery (i.e., "picturing" things in one's 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 teacher's conclusion valid?

A)No, because she used random assignment.
B)No, because her experiment was not conducted in a laboratory.
C)Yes, because her students probably all had similar IQ scores.
D)Yes, because she was able to manipulate a variable in the environment.

Answer 1

Yes, because she was able to manipulate a variable in the environment.

Question 2

According to the definition of Educational psychology in the textbook, which one of the following is a true statement?

A)Educational psychology is the study of behaviour in the classroom.
B)Educational psychology is the study of school-aged children.
C)Educational psychology is the study of a wide variety of factors that are related to learning and classroom processes.
D)Educational psychology is the study of expertise in teachers.

Answer 2

Educational psychology is the study of a wide variety of factors that are related to learning and classroom processes.

Question 3

Mr.Jacobs wants to find out whether a new program for teaching physical education promotes students' 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 students' posttest scores are higher than their pretest scores and so concludes that the program is effective.What is definitely wrong with Mr.Jacobs' conclusion?

A)Eight months is too short a time for such a program to have a long-term effect.
B)There are other possible explanations for his results.
C)Tests are not a good measure of physical development.
D)The posttests should always be different from the pretests.

Answer 3

There are other possible explanations for his results.

Question 4

According to the textbook, principles and theories about student learning and classroom practice:

A)Should form the basis of all teacher decisions.
B)Are the facts regarding best practices.
C)Are our best guesses at the present time.
D)Are to be disregarded by teachers so that they may remain objective in the classroom.

Question 5

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)Parents should feed their children as much as possible.
B)The school cafeteria should decrease the fat content of the food it serves.
C)On average, students who eat more do better in school.
D)There is a correlation between weight and classroom performance.

Question 6

Professor Singh conducts an experiment to test whether or not the Holmes Approach to Studying Psychology (HASP) is superior to the Watson Approach to Studying Psychology (WASP).He convinces Dr.Ormrod to use HASP in her 9:00 am class and WASP in her 10:00 am class.Students exposed to the HASP method do better on the final exam than students exposed to the WASP method.Prof.Singh concludes that HASP is better than WASP.What is definitely wrong with Singh's experiment?

A)The final exam is not a good measure of what students have learned.
B)Students in the 9:00 am class are probably more motivated.
C)Students in the 9:00 am class are probably smarter.
D)There are several possible explanations for his results.

Question 7

A researcher is interested in the effect of teacher-student ratios.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 large as reasonably possible.
C)Classes should be as small as reasonably possible.
D)The researcher has conducted a descriptive study.

Question 8

A principle can best be characterized as a(n):

A)description of the results of a particular research study.
B)statement that describes how a particular variable affects learning or development.
C)objective measure of how a student behaves in a particular situation.
D)explanation of how and why learning or development occurs.

Question 9

Experimental research requires:

A)manipulation of an aspect of the environment.
B)being able to predict two or more variables.
C)a description of each variable in considerable detail.
D)the study of behaviour in actual classroom environments.

Question 10

Dr.MacMillan 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(n):

A)descriptive study.
B)theoretical study.
C)experimental study.
D)correlational study.

Question 11

Ms.Jones, a physical education teacher, notices that some of her students are better basketball players than others.She wonders if having a basketball net at home fosters the development of basketball skills.She gives her students a short survey that asks them if they have a basketball net at home.Sure enough, Ms.Jones finds that the better basketball players are more likely to have a net at home.She concludes that having a basketball net at home facilitates the development of basketball skills.Is her conclusion appropriate?

A)No, because she did not conduct an experimental study.
B)No, because her study was not conducted in a scientific laboratory.
C)Yes, provided her students responded truthfully to the survey.
D)Yes, because she used random assignment.

Question 12

Which one of the following conclusions could be drawn from a descriptive study?

A)Approximately 80% of the students at Southside High School are planning to go on to college.
B)Students are more likely to appreciate classical music if they are exposed to it on a regular basis.
C)Concrete experiences help students better understand abstract ideas.
D)Children from two-parent families are more likely to do well in school than children from single-parent homes.

Question 13

An independent inquiry into school retention rates in a Toronto school board finds drop-out rates of 5% for boys and 2% for girls, and of 4% for urban schools and 8% for rural schools.What type of study was conducted?

A)A descriptive study.
B)An experimental study with two dependent variables.
C)A correlational study.
D)An experimental study with two independent variables.

Question 14

Which one of the following is an example of elaboration?

A)Lindsey automatically knows how she can best study for an upcoming history test.
B)Dana makes up stories to help her remember the various species she studies in biology.
C)Marc repeats the detailed excuses his friend Logan suggests he use to explain his tardiness.
D)Madison repeats the spelling of each word several times the night before her spelling test.

Question 15

Considering the research findings described in the textbook, which one of the following is a true statement?

A)Most experts discourage teachers from having children tutor one another.
B)By the time children are eight or nine years old, most of them have developed effective ways of learning classroom material.
C)Students who see a classmate rewarded for doing something may engage in the same behaviour themselves.
D)Students are usually the best judges of what they do and do not know.

Question 16

Which one of the following statements about educational research is true?

A)Experimental research can only be conducted in the laboratory under somewhat artificial conditions.
B)Descriptive research gives us the most information for making decisions about teaching practice.
C)Experimental research allows us to draw cause-and-effect conclusions.
D)Correlational research is more difficult and time-consuming than experimental research.

Question 17

A study that tells us whether two variables are related, but does not tell us if one variable causes or influences the other, is a(n):

A)correlational study.
B)descriptive study.
C)experimental study without a control group.
D)experimental study with one or more control groups.

Question 18

In experimental studies an independent variable is:

A)a variable that influences the results of an experiment independently.
B)an aspect of the environment that is manipulated by the researcher.
C)an aspect of the environment that is unaffected by the researcher.
D)a variable that causes an increase in another variable.

Question 19

A theory can best be characterized as a(n):

A)description of the results of a particular research study.
B)statement that describes how a particular variable affects learning or development.
C)objective measure of how a student behaves in a particular situation.
D)explanation of how and why learning or development occurs.

Question 20

Dr.Levesque 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 have smaller classes.
C)the difference is probably due to the fact that private schools are more likely to "teach to the test."
D)students' achievement test scores can be predicted to some extent by the kind of school they attend.

Question 21

The most effective teachers of a specific content area are:

A)experts in their content area.
B)very knowledgeable about the content area and about content-specific teaching methods.
C)experts in pedagogy.
D)teachers who keep up with the latest theoretical perspectives.

Question 22

Your textbook was designed both to relate content knowledge about Educational Psychology and to demonstrate the applications of Educational Psychology.As such, the content is presented in a way that adheres to the three general principles of effective learning.
a.What are the three general principles of effective learning?
b.What features of your textbook are applications of these three general principles?

Question 23

We can best think of classroom assessment practices as mechanisms and procedures that:

A)allow us to draw conclusions about how students' motivations and personality traits affect their classroom performance.
B)enable us to form tentative hypotheses about what students know and can do.
C)give us hard, indisputable facts that we can use to assign grades.
D)are most likely to be accurate when they take the form of paper-and-pencil tests.

Question 24

Ms.Dixon, a fourth-grade teacher, is concerned that her students do not seem to be grasping the concept of reversibility in her science lessons.According to your textbook, what is the best explanation for this?

A)The concept of reversibility is too difficult for students in the fourth grade.
B)The material in the science lessons is not motivating.
C)Ms.Dixon is not an effective teacher.
D)There are many possible explanations.

Question 25

We can best derive principles about human behaviour from:

A)a single, well-designed correlational research study.
B)detailed observations of a single student in a controlled setting.
C)multiple research studies that yield similar results.
D)theoretical explanations about learning and development.

Question 26

Dr.Schmitt gives a variety of achievement and aptitude tests to 1000 ten-year-old children from Southside Elementary School and 1000 ten-year-old children from Northside Elementary School.He finds that, on the average, the Southside students perform better on the tests than the Northside students.He concludes that the teachers at Southside are superior to those at Northside.Is this conclusion warranted? Why or why not?

Question 27

A teacher who has high self-efficacy in regards to teaching:

A)rarely has setbacks.
B)is likely to have students who achieve at the highest levels.
C)is surprised to be referred to as a good teacher.
D)feels that they have little influence on their students' success.

Question 28

The textbook offers several suggestions for studying a textbook effectively.Which one of the following is not necessarily recommended?

A)Take detailed notes on the content of the book.
B)Occasionally stop and check to make sure you understand.
C)Draw inferences from the things you read.
D)Relate new ideas to things you already know.

Question 29

Which one of the following is the best example of action research?

A)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.
B)A graduate student quietly observes adolescents' behaviours in the school cafeteria.He plans to describe his observations in his Master's thesis.
C)A university professor recruits sixth graders to come to her 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.

Question 30

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 decides to use a new approach to teach reading this year.
B)A teacher observes that Lakeisha rarely interacts with her classmates during recess.
C)A teacher asks students to write an essay describing the pros and cons of a free enterprise system.
D)A teacher sees her students growing increasingly restless during a lengthy lecture.

Question 31

According to the textbook, what is the best approach for teachers to use to become more aware of the influences of culture and community on student learning?

A)Use prior knowledge about the influence of culture and community.
B)Attend workshops on the influence of culture and community.
C)Participate in local community activities to learn more about your students.
D)No action is requires since culture and community do not influence student learning.

Question 32

Which one of the following is the best example of a teacher's pedagogical content knowledge?

A)A teacher knows what researchers have discovered about the effectiveness of discovery learning approaches to instruction.
B)A teacher knows an effective way to teach students about negative numbers.
C)A teacher makes a reasonable guess as to why a particular student misbehaves just before lunch time every day.
D)A teacher understands why water expands when it freezes.