Download Final Exam Study Guide - Exploring Learning and Teaching | EPSY 2130 and more Study notes School management&administration in PDF only on Docsity! FINAL EXAM PREPARATION - EPSY 2130, Fall, 2010 Notice that this exam is different from previous exams in some of the following ways: there are four sections instead of three, Part A refers to different scenarios for the short answers and the essay, Part C has short answers (5 pts) and very short answers (2 pts.) and no essay. Part D is comprehensive and uses the scenario from Part C, the essay in Part D is worth 20 points. The actual exam will consist of four parts. Parts A, B, and C focus on topics from Unit 3, while Part D is comprehensive. As usual, a limited number of lines will be provided (about ¾ page for essays) so plan to be concise and clear. PART A: Assessment (30 pts. total) Short answer: 3 questions (5 pts. each) Martin Grant has not been doing very well in your second grade class. He takes a very long time to do work in class and often misses turning in homework; what he does turn in is often incomplete, with many erasures and errors. His parents are very concerned that he does well in school, so that he can eventually get in the honors track in high school and get into a good college. They have suggested that maybe it would be better for Martin to move back to first grade for another year, since he is obviously not able to succeed at the second grade level, but you have persuaded them to wait for the results of the Fall ITBS testing before making any decision. Now the test results are in, and they have come in for a conference. Refer to the ITBS score report attached. Concepts that may be addressed: Be prepared to interpret for Martin's parents the meaning and implications of various types of scores Percentile scores: percentage of those in the norming sample who scored at or below an individual’s score Sub-test scores: scores in focused areas; may indicated strengths and weaknesses Grade-equivalent scores: measure of grade level based on comparison with norming samples from each grade Norm- versus criterion-referenced scores: Norm-referenced scores are compared with the average performance of others while criterion-referenced scores are compared to a set performance standard in specific areas of the Performance Profile. Also be prepared to use these scores to make recommendations and decisions about what should and shouldn't be done to best help Martin in the future: adflkhsdkljfhaskjfnlasiudhvaskjebf Essay question: 1 question (15 pts.) Dr. Robertson teaches undergraduate Biology at a small college in Georgia. In his Biology 101 class, he has always given multiple choice Midterm and Final exams, each worth half of the class grade, but he is becoming dissatisfied with this plan of assessment for two reasons. First, he has noticed that students who do badly on the Midterm often lose interest in the class, starting to skip classes or even withdrawing, when many times he is sure that if they worked a bit harder and came into office hours for help, they could do much better on the Final and therefore pass the class. He is also bothered that, during lectures, students keep asking him, "Is this going to be on the exam?" It seems to him that many students are just interested in learning the "right" answers, instead of really understanding the ideas he is trying to teach. Since his Ph.D. is in Biology, Robertson has had no courses or training in teaching, so he has come to you (Director of the college's Center for Teaching) for advice. Describe in detail one practical change you would suggest Dr. Robertson makes in the way he assesses and grades students in this course, and explain why you would suggest this change, based on specific principles of assessment from class materials. The manner of testing in Dr. Robinson’s class is considered a high-stakes objective (multiple choice) testing model because the testing results have a powerful influence on the student’s grade. If the student performs poorly on the midterm, worth 50% of his or her grade, they may become discouraged when considering their likelihood of passing the course. He already offers methods of remediation to students who fail through his office hours, but in order to make Dr. Robinson’s model of high-stakes testing more appropriate and effective, he should offer opportunities for retesting so that students have a chance to raise their test grades. Because of this, the students will become more invested in really understanding the information he is presenting rather than being purely concerned with the tests. PART B: Classroom Management (30 pts. total) As an experienced and previously successful English teacher, Ms. Brown was assigned this year for the first time to teach a section of English for Life, the lowest track English class for sophomores at her high school. Knowing that this track was mainly for problem students and low achievers, she made her expectations clear from the beginning, She told the students there would be no easy grades in her class; only students who studied hard and mastered the material would pass. It is the end of September, and her worst fears are being fulfilled. Students didn’t read the first novel she assigned, and very little homework is being turned in—most students say they “forgot it” or “left it at home.” No one ever volunteers to answer her discussion questions or to correct sentences on the board, so Ms. Brown spends most of each period either lecturing about the book or demonstrating proper grammar and editing techniques on the board. The few students who try to participate get teased by a vocal group of girls who all choose to sit together by the door. These girls typically walk in late, and take five or ten minutes to settle down; they spend most of the rest of class time whispering, passing notes across the aisles, or sending text-messages. Several other students in the back row sleep through most of each class. The grades on the first test were terrible; almost half the students failed, the others got mostly D's and C's; exactly two students got a B and none earned an A. When Ms. Brown handed the tests back, she told them they would have to do better, and reminded them that they could not graduate unless they passed this class, but if anything, student behavior and attitudes got worse. She has come to you, the chair of the English department, saying she is either getting out of this class or getting out of teaching! How can you help her solve some of the problems in this class? Short answer: 3 questions (5 pts. each) Concepts that may be addressed: You will be asked to analyze the causes for Ms. Brown's management problems in this class in three of the following areas (taken from Woolfolk, Ch. 12 and the “Questions to ask yourself . . .” handout): -- The physical environment (seating, spaces, physical organization, etc.) -- The communication in the classroom (rules, procedures, tacit messages, expectations, assignments, feedback, etc.) -- Ms. Brown’s teaching practices (gaining attention, maintaining focus; adapting to students’ developmental/skill levels, prior knowledge/experiences, temperaments, interests and goals; increasing student choice and ownership, etc.) -- The social relationships in the classroom (teacher-student, parent-teacher, &/or student-student) -- Ms. Brown's handling of the students’ modifiable behaviors. -- Information about her students Ms. Brown should find out that might help her solve these management problems. Essay: 1 question (15 pts.) Describe one change you would suggest Ms. Brown make to solve some of her management problems in this class. Describe this strategy in detail and explain, based on materials from class reading or discussions, why and how you think these changes will help. (e.g., Do not just say, "She needs to give students more choices"; give a specific example of one choice she could offer students and explain how you think offering that choice would improve things and what makes you think so.) PART C: Motivation (30 pts. total) Perf./Ego Goals: Performance Approach High Self-Efficacy; external indicators of success (i.e., grades); judge success by how we measure up to others; strong self-image involvement; high utility instrumental value Perf./Ego Goals: Performance (Failure) Avoidant Trying not to look stupid; High self image; An Entity view of ability; high cost of failure; weak L.O.C.; lack of support/time/resources Learned Helplessness (Failure Accepting) High cost of failures vs. not trying; Unmet prior needs àlow self-image; weak L.O.C.; lack of S/T/R; entity view of ability; low self efficacy Work Avoidance Goal Concerned with doing bare minimum to get by; weak L.O.C.; lack of S/T/R/; lack of intrinsic and instrumental value; unmet prior needs; low self-image involvement; low relational value; low cost for not trying Social Goals High relational value (of a competing activity if not doing work); Low cost for not trying; lack of intrinsic & instrumental value; unmet prior needs; high relational value of a competing activity PART D: Comprehensive (35 pts. total) Refer to the scenario in Part C, Ms. Washington’s notes on a difficult math review session. Short answer: 3 questions (5 pts. each) You will be asked to look more closely at possible causes for Tom’s (student in the Ms. Washington scenario) learning and motivational problems in three short answer questions, using the three main theoretical frameworks you have studied in the class: Behaviorism, including classical and operant conditioning, all Bandura's (pg350) theories and the behaviorist related readings in REP, pp. 187-196 & 231-238. - Behaviorism: explanation of learning that focuses on external events as the cause of changes in observable behaviors - Social Cognitive Theory: adds concern with cognitive factors such as beliefs, self-perceptions, and expectations to social learning theory - Triarchic reciprocal causality: individual affects environment which affects achievement outcomes which affects individual (Newton’s cradle) - Social Learning Theory: learning through observation of others - Classical Conditioning: Association of automatic responses with new stimuli; Dog salivating/altoid example: conditioned stimulus and response and unconditioned stimulus and response - Operant Conditioning: learning in which voluntary behavior is strengthened or weakened by consequences or antecedents Cognitive science, including the information processing model, strategies, metacognition, and schema theory (including the Anderson & Willingham readings, REP, pp.167-186). - Cognitive Science: in order to learn, students must focus on using learning strategies to memorize and attain knowledge - Information Processing Model: human mind’s activity of taking in, storing, and using information; sensory -> working -> long term - Strategies: devices used to enhance knowledge retention abilities by using specific methods repeatedly to aid in the learning process - Metacognition: knowledge about our own thinking process - Schema Theory: basic structures for organizing information or concepts Constructivism, including Piagetian, neo-Piagetian, and Vygotskian ideas, and the related readings in REP, pp. 29-35, 109-110, 207-212) - Constructivism: consider knowledge to be developed on the basis of internal understanding rather than inert facts - Vygotskian- focuses more on social aspect - Vygotskian cycle of learning: includes zone of proximal development, will not be a question with that exact terminology; instead study scaffolding - 5 Conditions for Learning 1. Embed learning in realistic & relevant environments 2. Provide for social negotiation & responsibility 3. Support multiple perspectives 4. Nurture self-awareness 5. Encourage ownership - Industry vs. Inferiority: Child must deal with demands to learn new skills or risk sense of inferiority and failure - Concrete operational stage (can’t understand hypothetical reasoning) - Neo-Piagetian Theories: more recent theories that integrate findings about attention, memory, and strategy use with Piaget’s insights about children’s thinking and the construction of knowledge - (Piagetian) Formal operations problem-solving strategy – hypothetico deductive reasoning: good thing to implement because he’s a logical thinker but cannot consider hypothetical situations for the future; she could use this to identify sources causing him to want to drop out; Tom must deduce and evaluate specific solutions to his problems Essay: 1 question (20 pts.) Develop and describe an overall plan of action that you would suggest to Ms. Washington, to help Tom be more motivated and better able to learn in her class. Be sure to address both learning and motivational needs, explain your recommendations in practicable detail (being sure to include ways to avoid any potential bad side effects), and give a convincing explanation for why this plan is likely to significantly help Tom, supporting your reasoning with specific concepts, theories, &/or theorists you have learned about at any time throughout this class. - Hypothetico deductive reasoning; Piagetian; help motivate Tom to perform better - Emphasize the instrumental value of learning - Goal Setting Theory (Locke & Latham): Direct our attn; energize effort; increase persistence; promote the development of new knowledge and strategies