Chapter 2: Reflection for Action
Chapter 2: Reflection for Action
Recall the scenario presented in your text:
You are in your first year of teaching and things are going pretty well. Your colleague is also a new teacher but is having great difficulty. He has not planned well and does not have clear instructional goals. He also does not seem to have a strategic approach to teaching or a general approach to teaching. Your colleague has come to you for assistance.
What key elements of effective teaching and the process of teaching does your colleague seem to lack? How could you help him become a more effective teacher?
Now think about how you would approach this problem using the RIDE ACRONYM.
Reflection
In order to answer this question, reflect on some of the topics we have explored in this chapter including teacher development, planning, approaches to teaching, teaching tactics, and promoting learning through homework.
Lets brainstorm!
1. In all likelihood, your colleague will have to submit his plans for review to the administration on a weekly or bi-monthly schedule. However, given his disorganization in the classroom, either he is failing to plan appropriately or has difficulty enacting his plans in the classroom. Reflect on what you know about planning. What is planning and why is it important?
2. Your colleague also seems to have difficulty setting clear instructional goals. Reflect on what you know about instructional goals, what are instructional goals and why are they important?
3. Finally, what other resources are available within or outside the school to help your colleague become a more effective teacher?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. It is important that teachers plan. Planning involves identifying objectives, choosing a way to achieve those objectives, making decisions concerning the details of the approach, making changes to the plan as it is carried out, and evaluating the plan after it has been carried out to be better prepared next time. Research suggests that more expert teachers plan at the whole class level as well as at the individual level rather than assume a one-size fits all approach to student learning. To help your colleague you may offer to observe his class for a day, or organize a group of teachers who teach the same grade to work together on developing lesson plans collaboratively. The type of assistance your colleague requires depends on which part of the planning process he is having most difficulty with (e.g., long term planning, linking plans to objectives, and executing plans, and so on.). You may also suggest a number of websites for him to visit for lesson plans ideas or have him consult other veteran teachers for plans they have used in their classroom over the years. Above all, you should remind your colleague that planning is imperative to effective teaching and requires flexibility.
2. Instructional goals (aka: objectives, achievement targets, desired outcomes, standards, learning intentions) state the desired outcomes of instruction. As such, they are a necessary component of the educational process and have been the focus of a lot of educational research and theory. Instructional goals are defined by your state’s curriculum standards. Usually, these standards are quite broad, such as “All students will write in clear, concise, organized language that varies in content and form for different audiences and purposes.” These broader standards are generally followed by more specific performance indictors, such as “Write stories with multiple paragraphs that develop a situation or plot, describe the setting, and include an ending” that dictates specific techniques teachers can use to achieve their broader instructional goals.
3. There are a number of resources you can suggest to help your colleague become a more effective teacher. For example, the Internet offers extensive resources, such as a variety of lesson plans, teaching ideas, and online teacher communities, that are available to assist teachers. Many of the online teacher communities provide discussion boards specifically for new teachers. Many of them also deal with the kinds of concerns that beginning teachers have about classroom management, discipline, motivating students, and teaching children with special needs.
Information Gathering
You realize that you will need more information to help your colleague improve his teaching. You decide to seek advice from some more experienced teachers in the school and refer him to some online resources for help. To assist you in your information gathering activities consider:
1. What kinds of questions would you ask a more experienced teacher? What do you expect to learn from a more experienced teacher?
2. What kinds of advice or resources do online teacher communities or professional journals offer that would help improve your colleague’s teaching?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. You may consider asking a more experienced teacher about strategies he/she uses to plan. How does he/she balance long term planning with more daily planning? Why kind of resources does he/she rely on for lesson plan ideas or strategies for developing students’ higher order thinking skills? How does he/she link lesson plans to standards and long-term goals? These are just some of the questions you may ask a more experienced teacher. Answers to these questions will vary so consulting more than one experienced teacher is advised. In your text, the authors suggest that expert teachers 1) focus on both long-term and short-term planning, with more loosely structured plans, 2) have more complex views of instructional process and are better able to shift among methods, and 3) attribute success or failure to planning, organization, and so on.
2. Online teacher communities and professional journals offer a myriad of advice and strategies for teaching content and tips for managing the classroom. For example, provides a number of published teacher-friendly articles for beginning teachers on a variety of subjects such as mentoring, time management, planning, and so on. Finally, teachers have created online communities where they can share information, techniques, and personal stories of their experiences in the classroom with other teachers. Because teachers can remain anonymous, websites such as , espouse a comfortable environment in which teachers can ask questions and receive corrective feedback.
Decision Making
Next, decide how to help your colleague plan effectively in the future. Consider:
1. Your investigation so far has resulted in a wealth of knowledge and strategies that can be used to help your colleague plan effectively. You decide that you will work collaboratively to plan his next lesson. What steps do you suggest he take to ensure successful planning?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
You explain to Mr. Adams that every teacher develops his/her own technique for planning and that there are differences between teachers and even within a particular teacher’s planning techniques depending on the lesson. With this in mind you suggest that he
1. Choose a unit
2. Develop a list of end of the unit objectives or goals for his students. These should include broad objectives intended for the whole class and more specific goals for individual students.
3. Refer to your curriculum standards or other national content standards. Most of the time your teacher’s manual will provide explanations of how a particular unit relates to certain curriculum standards, however you may be able to alter the unit to address more standards. Moreover, revisiting the standards helps you remain familiar with what the district has identified as the important knowledge and skills your students are expected to possess.
4. Develop your own or review the assessments that accompany your textbook. Linking your assessments to your instructional goals helps you to identify the material that is important for students to take away from your lesson. This is different from teaching to the test. This means that you want to identify the important concepts/ skills you expect your students to demonstrate at the end of the unit so that your teaching allows students to practice these skills.
5. Get creative! What kinds of experiences, activities, explorations, explanations, group work, analogies, examples, or experiments might help students understand this material? What kinds of activities would ignite students’ interest in learning this content?
6. Make changes to the plan as it is carried out -- it is important to remain flexible.
7. Evaluate how your plan worked and make notes for changes to make for next year.
Evaluation
Finally, help your colleague evaluate his plans. Consider:
1. What are some things your colleague can do to evaluate whether his plans are improving conditions in his classroom?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
Your colleague can do a number of things to evaluate whether the increased effort at planning and more deliberate choice of teaching tactics are improving conditions in his classroom. For example:
1. Ask students to write comment cards on which they describe the goal of the class period. After the lesson, do students know what the intended goal was?
2. Keep records of how many students are turning in completed assignments and homework. Has the incidence of homework completion increased?
3. Evaluate whether students respond effectively to interesting questions that are framed at higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy and whose answers simply do not require the production of rote answers.
Chapter 3: Reflection for Action
Recall the scenario presented in your text:
Mr. Heartland is a high school economics teacher who knows a lot about capitalism, interest rates, and how the economy works. His students, however, do not. By the end of the semester, he wants his students to understand complex concepts such as supply and demand, the stock market, and gross domestic product.
What might this teacher do? How can he help his students develop these concepts? In reflecting on how Mr. Heartland might best foster cognitive development, what approach would you recommend?
Now think about how you would approach this problem using the RIDE ACRONYM.
Reflection
In order to answer this question, reflect on some of the topics we have explored in this chapter.
Lets brainstorm!
1. Evaluate the information you learned on cognitive development, sociocognitive development, and language development. How does this information apply to Mr. Heartland’s dilemma?
2. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development and Vygotsky’s theory of sociocognitive development are applicable to this problem. How so?
3. Reflect on the information you learned about instructional conversations. Can Mr. Heartland use this technique to help students learn about supply and demand, the stock market, or the GDP?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. The information on cognitive development and sociocognitive development can help Mr. Heartland devise instructional techniques that will help his students learn economic concepts.
2. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development suggests that students learn by exploring and interacting with their surroundings. When they encounter new information, they learn through processes of assimilation and accommodation. Vygotsky’s sociocognitive theory is also relevant to this problem. According to Vygotsky, students learn from interacting with more knowledgeable others in their culture. Based on an apprenticeship model, more knowledgeable others guide learners as they acquire the skills and knowledge they need to solve the problems that are most important in their culture.
3. Absolutely. Using instructional conversations to promote student learning is a logical extension of Vygotsky’s theories to the classroom.
Information Gathering
You realize that you will need more information to help Mr. Heartland design activities that will help his students learn various economics concepts. To assist you in your information gathering activities consider the following questions.
1. Upon reflecting, you remember that according to Piaget’s cognitive theory students learn new information through assimilation and accommodation processes. Using your text as a reference describe these processes in more detail?
2. How can Mr. Heartland apply Piaget’s theory in the classroom?
3. Using your text as a reference, how do students learn according to Vygotsky’s sociocogntive theory?
4. How can Mr. Heartland apply Vygotsky’s theory in the classroom?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. When a learner encounters information in the environment that conflicts with his/her current understanding—this is referred to as disequilibrium. When it occurs disequilibrium typically yields an openness to experience, as in “I want and need more information to make sense of this.” As the learner acquires information, one of several processes may occur. For instance, the learner may assimilate the new information into their existing cognitive structure. Here some outside event (e.g., a fractions activity) is brought (or incorporated) into a person’s way of thinking. Through assimilation, schemas grow—in number and in complexity. Another process learners use to deal with new information is accommodation. Accommodation is a process of change in which an existing schema is changed or modified to make sense of something that is new and different. Examples of accommodation processes include a lower level schema (i.e. cat) being transformed into a higher level one (e.g. leopard, lion, tiger) or replacing a schema all together. While, assimilation results in an improved schema, accommodation leads to a completely new schema. Finally, the learner can ignore the new information and his existing schemas will remain the same.
2. There are numerous ways Mr. Heartland can apply Piaget’s theories in his classroom. First, to be sensitive to individual differences, he can plan individualized learning activities that take advantage of learners’ strengths and personalized interests. Alternatively, he could design learning activities that stimulate curiosity and interest such as starting a new business or tracking a favorite stock.
3. According to sociocognitive theory, individuals learn by interacting with more knowledgeable others (in this case usually a teacher or more skilled peer) in the zone of proximal development (ZPD). The ZPD refers to the difference between a learner’s potential development (what they can do with assistance) and their actual development (what they can do alone). Essentially, more knowledgeable others provide instruction that moves ahead of what students can currently do while simultaneously providing the support they need to do so (Vygotsky, 1987). They do this through scaffolding. Scaffolding is the guidance, support, and assistance a teacher provides to students during social interaction that allows students to gain skill and understanding. Examples of scaffolding include providing hints, tips, reminders, examples, directions, challenges, explanations, prompts, and well-timed questions and suggestions. Briefly, scaffolding is the teacher’s effort to support learning in the zone of proximal development by providing what the student needs most but cannot provide for himself. With practice and support, eventually the learner is able to carry out modeled activities independently.
4. Vygotsky’s approach offers several recommendations for instruction. First, the teacher acts as a guide, scaffolding students as they work within the zone of proximal development. For example, Mr. Heartland would assume a role as a facilitator rather than information dispenser, scaffolding students as they worked on projects related to key economic concepts. Second, because “two heads are better than one”, peers can act as guides and mentors, as exemplified by cooperative learning and multi-age classrooms techniques. As such, peer learning or cooperative learning activities are also techniques Mr. Heartland could use in his classroom. Research suggests students benefit from these environments when they are structured effectively (Slavin, 1990). Finally, teachers can use scaffolding, the PQS discourse model, and instructional conversations to soothe and support students’ motivation during potentially frustrating episodes. Instructional conversations are two- way discussions in which a group of students attempt to make sense of the topic of conversation, often by debating with one another. PQS (probe, question, scaffold) begins as the teacher probes, or investigates what students think—What do you think? Can you explain it to me?—questions the basis of that thinking—Why do you believe that? What is your evidence?—and scaffolds students toward a deeper understanding—What sort of evidence do we need to answer this question? In an instructional conversation, the teacher typically encourages students to reflect on their thinking, develop their logic or reasoning, and obtain the evidence they need to defend or justify their thinking. When teachers use the conversational style of an instructional conversation, students participate more in their learning, and a community of learners is more likely to develop.
Decision Making
Next, help Mr. Heartland make some decisions on which methods to employ in his classroom. Consider:
1. What methods are most effective for Mr. Heartland to use to teach his students economics?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. Both the Piagetian and the Vygotskian perspectives on students’ learning and development offer important contributions to the practice of education and thus it seems reasonable that many educators choose to use a combination of both theories in their classrooms. Piaget’s ideas, for example, help teachers formulate instructional strategies to promote disequilibrium and self-discovery, while Vygotsky’s ideas help them formulate instructional strategies to promote social guidance and instructional conversations. For example, designing activities that identify students’ prior knowledge and then using this information to create disequilibrium is an instructional technique based on Piagetian principles. Instructional conversations, perhaps in conjunction with cooperative learning, represent Vygotskian instructional approaches.
For example, in teaching about interest rates, he might create pseudo bank accounts for his students and allow them to calculate how long it would take them to save a particular amount of money at varying interest rates. One can easily imagine how Mr. Heartland could incorporate elements of collaborative learning, scaffolding, and/or discovery learning in such a project.
Evaluation
Finally, help Mr. Heartland create ways to evaluate students work in his class. Consider:
1. What are some things Mr. Heartland can do to evaluate his students?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. Mr. Heartland can begin by informally evaluating student engagement. For example, are they on task? Are they participating in their groups? Do they generate good ideas? Do their critiques show evidence of scientific thinking? Can they answer open-ended questions on an assessment that allows him to judge if they understand the concepts? For a more formal assessment, Mr. Heartland can design a rubric and share it with his students so they understand his expectations and how they will be graded.
Chapter 4: Reflection for Action
Recall the scenario presented in your text:
Mr. Cooper is a tenth-grade teacher. For the most part, today has been a good day. His students are learning, and most are actively engaged in the lesson. The classroom calm suddenly comes to a screeching halt as a fight breaks out between two boys. One wrote an insulting remark on the other’s desk, and the second boy—after reading it—jumped out of his seat and onto the other boy. Insults and fists start flying.
What might this teacher do? Could these events have been prevented? Now that these behaviors have occurred, how might Mr. Cooper best cope with the aggression? What would you recommend?
Now think about how you would approach this problem using the RIDE ACRONYM.
Reflection
In order to answer this question, reflect on some of the topics we have explored in this chapter including relationships, psychosocial and moral development, aggression, and self-concept.
Lets brainstorm!
1. Why is it important to have high quality relationships, and what factors contribute to productive teacher-student and peer-to-peer relations?
2. Consider the role Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development in Mr. Cooper’s 10th grade classroom. What psychosocial needs are most pressing for students during this age and how can this information help Mr. Cooper in his classroom?
3. How could Mr. Cooper use the information on moral reasoning to assess this situation?
4. In what ways are Mr. Cooper’s students acting aggressively toward one another? Was the first boy engaging in instrumental aggression or was he engaging in hostile aggression? What about the boy who reacted, what kind of aggression was he using?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. When high quality relationships exist, individuals are empathetic to one another, are supportive, feel close to one another, and do not assert power over one another. Four characteristics to high-quality relationships include attunement, relatedness, supportiveness, and gentle discipline. When teachers are highly attuned to their students, they have a good sense as to what their students are thinking and feeling, how engaged they are during a learning activity, and whether they understand what they are trying to learn. Establishing a sense of relatedness within the teacher–student (or peer–peer) relationship is important because it gives students a sense of security about themselves and about being with others. This sense of security calms negative emotions that may arise during the school day, such as anxiety, depression, or frustration. When teachers support their students, they accept students for who they are, express their faith that students can self-regulate their behavior, and assist students as they try to realize their goals. These teachers provide their support in ways that preserve students’ autonomy rather than in ways that make students dependent on help. Finally, high-quality relationships rely on gentle discipline as a verbal, relationship-based approach that begins with a conversation of the misbehavior and then use problem-solving approaches to resolve the conflict. Remember as a teacher you serve as an important role model for your students. By working hard to establish high-quality relationships with students, you show them how to form productive relationships with each other.
2. The transition from adolescence into adulthood involves a progressive strengthening of one’s sense of identity. Adolescents explore variations in their possible identities as they observe and imitate role models. They then test how other people react to their trial expressions of these identities. When adolescents search for, find, and eventually commit to a particular set of adult roles and ideological beliefs, they develop a sense of identity; when they fail to do so, they suffer from role confusion and a sense of uncertainty about themselves and their future. While not excusing his students’ misbehavior, Mr. Cooper must keep in mind important developmental processes his students are experiencing during adolescence and how this may contribute to their harmful behavior.
3. In high school, most students continue to rely on conventional moral reasoning. This means their reasoning is rooted in social convention (e.g. doing the right thing so as to live up to the expectations of others). At this level, being good refers to doing that which others approve of as an acceptable behavior. Because postconventional moral reasoning is rare during these school years, Mr. Cooper can expect that most students’ moral reasoning will involve either immature moral principles (preconventional) or conventional principles, in which an act is right because “it’s what everybody else does.” As such, Mr. Cooper will need to take action to establish a classroom culture that does not reinforce destructive behavior.
4. When one student deliberately and intentionally engages in such actions with the purpose of harming another, regardless of how much harm subsequently ensues, the behavior is aggressive. Aggression comes it two types—instrumental and hostile. Instrumental aggression constitutes strategic behavior to obtain something the aggressor desires, such as a possession, a toy, attention, “my way,” or respect from others. Teachers can help students with instrumental aggression by showing them how to cope in a way that is both more effective and more prosocial. The second type of aggression is hostile aggression, or aggression in which harm is sought as a goal itself. Hostile aggression is typically impulsive, thoughtless, and driven by anger. To cope with students’ hostile aggression, prevention works better than remediation. As for remediation, it is probably wise to enlist the assistance of professionals (e.g., school psychologist) who are trained to deal effectively with hostile aggression. Mr. Cooper is going to need more information before he can determine whether this student’s behavior was instrumental or hostile aggression, which brings us to the information gathering stage of RIDE.
Information Gathering
Now gather information to help you interpret the situation. Consider:
1. If you were Mr. Cooper, what might you do next? Would you remove students from the class?
2. If Mr. Cooper removes students from the classroom, what actions might he take to gather information about the incident?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. Depending on your experience in schools, you may know that each school has a policy on bullying and/or disruptive behavior. It is important that you become familiar with this policy and speak with your principal if you have further questions. In general, disruptive students are sent to an administrator’s office.
2. While the disruptive students are absent from the class, Mr. Cooper may ask nearby students what happened. These discussions should take place privately to protect the confidentiality of all students. Mr. Cooper should try to gather as many facts as possible from multiple perspectives before drawing any conclusions. For example, he may want to know what the student wrote, if anything happened to provoke the behavior, how the second boy reacted to the attack, or if anything from the social context contributed to the outburst.
Decision Making
Next, decide what advice to offer Mr. Cooper to help him handle the situation. Consider:
1. What strategies would you suggest Mr. Cooper use to resolve the conflict between his two students?
2. What class-wide actions should Mr. Cooper take to prevent this behavior from re-occurring in the future?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. It is important for Mr. Cooper to continue to promote high quality relationships with students, while communicating that their behavior is unacceptable. This is because students who are disciplined gently show greater social competence and prosocial behavior than do students who are disciplined harshly. While Mr. Cooper may not be responsible for deciding how students are disciplined he can take productive steps in ensure this type of behavior is not repeated. To do so, Mr. Cooper can conduct a private meeting with both students and then communicate to both students together. During these meetings, Mr. Cooper can encourage nonaggressive, alternative, age-appropriate, and all-purpose ways to deal with situations, such as negotiation, counting to 10, or withdrawing from the situation. It is important that both students understand the consequences of aggression (e.g., loss of friendships, loss of privileges, isolation) and that Mr. Cooper creates opportunities for them to develop friendships with peers who are cooperative, prosocial, and socially competent. Finally, Mr. Cooper may need to consider separating these students if anger and aggressive behaviors continue.
2. At the classroom level, Mr. Cooper can conduct a whole class discussion to provide students with an opportunity to discuss what happened in an open and nonthreatening way. Through discussion, Mr. Cooper can share his rationale for why something is right or wrong and provide examples of how to respond to conflicts in a socially appropriate manner even while feeling angry and frustrated. Finally, Mr. Cooper can communicate to students the importance of empathy and let them know that he expects them to be considerate of each other’s feelings. The best thing to defuse disruptive behavior is to get the rest of the class on board with wanting a safe and comfortable learning environment.
Evaluation
Finally, help Mr. Cooper evaluate his decisions in terms of how they will affect future behavior in the classroom. To do so consider:
1. Mr. Cooper needs to prevent this behavior from re-occurring in the future. What aspects of Mr. Cooper classroom (e.g., social structure, peer relationships) will he have to assess in order to create a productive, safe environment for his students?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. Mr. Cooper should evaluate whether this incident was a one-time event or if it happened previously. Part of a teacher’s ability to determine this will come from his/her own experiences with students; although, he/she can also verify his/her assessment with colleagues who also teach these students.
2. Mr. Cooper should evaluate the quality of the relationships that students have with one another. For example, are there cliques in the classroom that exclude some students? In other words, are some students consistently tormented, ridiculed, or excluded from collaborative projects? If so, how do they cope with this treatment?
3. Mr. Cooper may also need to evaluate physical aspects of his classroom environment including seating arrangements in order to minimize conflict among students who have trouble with others.
Chapter 5: Reflection for Action
Recall the scenario presented in your text:
Ms. Jefferson was concerned about her students’ lack of interest in reading in the seventh grade. She concluded that they needed more immediate and tangible rewards. She devised a program that would provide rewards for students’ reading achievements. Classes in which each child read three books in a month would receive a free pizza party at a local pizzeria. After three months, book borrowing at the school and local libraries had increased dramatically.
Has Ms. Jefferson succeeded in increasing the frequency of students’ reading? What about the quality of their reading?
Now think about how you would approach this problem using the RIDE ACRONYM.
Reflection
In order to answer this question, reflect on some of the topics we have explored in this chapter including principles of behavioral learning theory, reinforcement, punishment, managing behavior, and influences of behavioral learning theory on instruction.
Lets brainstorm!
1. Evaluate the information you learned on behavioral learning theory, reinforcement, punishment, managing behavior. Does any of this apply to this program?
2. Reflect on the information you learned about reinforcements. How did Ms. Jefferson use reinforcements to increase students’ reading?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. Ms. Jefferson used information on behavioral learning theory, reinforcement, punishment, and managing behavior to design a program that (at least temporally) increased students reading activity.
2. A reinforcer is an environmental event that increases the strength of a behavior such as a sticker, a candy bar, or an approving smile. In other words, a reinforcer is a consequence of behavior that increases the likelihood that the behavior will be performed again. Here, Ms. Jefferson reinforced reading by providing students with a pizza party.
Information Gathering
You realize that you will need more information to determine if Ms. Jefferson designed a reinforcement program that will increase student reading over the long run. To assist you in your information gathering activities consider the following questions.
1. Using your text as a reference, what schedule of reinforcement is Ms. Jefferson using? Evaluate this method against other schedules of reinforcement, what are the benefits and/or limitations to this approach?
2. Ms. Jefferson would like to gather information on the effectiveness of her program. Whom in the school can she contact for information that might help her evaluate her program?
3. Ms. Jefferson’s reward system (because it is based on quantity of books read rather than quality) may have negative implications. What information could you gather to help you decide if this is so?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. Ms. Jefferson’s pizza program reflects an intermittent schedule of reinforcement because reinforcement is provided only some of the time. Now you must differentiate between variable and fixed intermittent schedules. Fixed intermittent schedules allow the learner to predict when reinforcement will be provided. The schedule can be based on the passage of time (e.g., the first desired behavior after a 5-minute period) or on the number of behaviors performed (e.g., every five homework assignments submitted). When the schedule is based on the passage of time, it is called an interval schedule. When the schedule is based on the number of behaviors performed, it is called a ratio schedule. If a student knows that he or she will get a homework pass after turning in five homeworks on time, she can predict when she will get her next homework pass. Variable schedules of reinforcement are unpredictable. For example, if I press my garage door opener, I expect the door to open. Many times, however, it does not open. I may have to press the opener any number of times before it works. Because the door opens some of the time, I continue to press the opener rather than replacing it because it works often enough for my needs. The same pattern of reinforcement happens every day to students in the classroom, as their correct answer, punctuality, and offers of kindness are sometimes reinforced and sometimes not. Sometimes the teacher will provide praise for a correct answer and other times she will just move on to another question for another student. Like fixed schedules, variable schedules can be based on the passage of time (variable interval) or based on the number of responses. Because the student cannot predict when he might be reinforced, and assuming that the possible reinforcement is in fact likely to increase the probability of performing the behavior again, the student will persist in the behavior. The students get a pizza party if each student in a class reads three books in a month. The reinforcement schedule is a fixed interval schedule because the reinforcement will occur at the end of each month. This is an effective reinforcement schedule because the reinforcement is predictable meaning the learner has more control over when he receives reinforcement. During the early acquisition of behaviors, fixed schedules are helpful as they allow the learner to predict when the next reinforcement will occur. They can quickly learn the relationship between the behavior and the consequence.
2. Ms. Jefferson can gain additional insight into both reading frequency and quality by contacting the school librarian. Perhaps he/she can offer information on the book borrowing habits of her students—is the increase in borrowing due specifically to her students, or are there other factors at work within the school and community? Perhaps the librarian can share observations as to which students are “regulars” and at what times during the month her students tend to visit the library. The librarian might also be able to provide Ms. Jefferson with information about the kind of material her students are reading—is it generally challenging material for seventh graders? Are many of the students interested in detective stories, or are they interested in biographies of sports heroes? If the librarians are not able to provide this level of detail, perhaps they would be willing to keep a sign-out sheet at the front desk for Ms. Jefferson’s students to complete a few brief questions—the titles and type of books they check out during the month. (She could offer an incentive on a variable ratio schedule to be sure the students fill in this information). The school reading specialist is another candidate likely to help Ms. Jefferson gather information about the quality of her students’ reading. Through classroom games or standardized tests, the reading specialist could work with Ms. Jefferson to develop a benchmark of her students’ abilities early in the pizza party reading program and compare the results measured at the end of the year. While it would be difficult to trace improvement in recognition of particular vocabulary words, increased abilities in reading comprehension would be a useful measure of the students’ progress and overall quality of reading.
3. Reading quality depends on whether students are developing individual reading capabilities and if they comprehend what they are reading. Ms. Jefferson’s program is an example of behavioral learning theory—by introducing this pizza party reading program, Ms. Jefferson has offered a change in environment for her students and through this change, is promoting desirable behavior. If the program is working, students are altering their behavior by reading more books to achieve the party as a reward. Students are also trying to avoid the unfavorable outcome of being the student that prevents the class from receiving the reward. While an increase in reading frequency can be inferred from the increase in book borrowing, there is little evidence that the students, or Ms. Jefferson for that matter, are putting emphasis on the quality of reading based on the initial description of the program. However, through sheer increase in reading volume, there is the potential that students will gain vocabulary skills and the ability for self-regulation of their reading activities in the future. These seventh graders will hopefully develop reading competence that will lead to self-efficacy and a personal interest in reading, but this will depend on whether Ms. Jefferson can add elements to her program that will promote intrinsic motivation within her students.
Decision Making
Next, help Ms. Jefferson decide whether to continue with her pizza program and if so, if modifications are needed. Consider:
1. Are there any negative implications of using rewards to increase behavior?
2. If Ms. Jefferson determines that students are not retaining anything they have read, what techniques could she use to increase the quality of students reading?
3. How can Ms. Jefferson change her reading program to focus more on quality?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. Providing rewards can have negative consequences. For example, students’ intrinsic motivation for reading may decrease or they may choose easy books to meet the goal.
2. ? The promise of a pizza party for the entire class is an example of a group contingency program in which the reinforcement is only awarded if all the students meet the reading goal. As seventh graders, Ms. Jefferson’s students are most likely quite concerned with peer approval and are influenced by the peer pressure to “do their part” toward achieving the party. The law of effect suggests that once the students have enjoyed the pizza reward as a result of their reading, they are likely to continue the same behavior with increased frequency. However, Ms. Jefferson’s program is structured on an intermittent fixed schedule of reinforcement. The fact that students must read three books in order to achieve the award is an example of a fixed ratio schedule, and the fact that the three books must be read within a designated time period means that it is a fixed interval schedule of reinforcement. The pizza party does not occur without the designated number of books read (the ratio), but the time element (the interval) certainly might influence the students’ productivity at certain times of the month—especially as the month draws to a close and just after a new month starts. But because the increased reading is achieved through this fixed and completely predictable schedule, Ms. Jefferson will need to address a drop-off in reading frequency if she wants to or needs to stop the pizza parties at some point in the future.
3. If students have little knowledge of what they read, the teacher may wish to create reading contracts with them. The contracts would require students to explain what they have read to Ms. Jefferson after they finish a pre-designated number of chapters from each book. This will allow her to positively reinforce students with praise as they gradually approximate the desired behavior. In addition, Ms. Jefferson could reduce or eliminate weekend homework, pop quizzes, or book reports for those students who keep a book journal that describes their personal reflections of the text they are reading each night. The students who keep the journal could also work in groups to present commercials or short skits about the texts they have read. Working as a group may serve as a form of reinforcement for seventh graders who wish to have peer approval. The group work could be videotaped and played back for all to see at the next monthly pizza party. It is important to refrain from issuing negative punishment towards those persons who do not wish to read. The use of negative punishment may cause students to associate reading activities with negative outcomes.
4. Perhaps Ms. Jefferson can change the program from simply reading three books to include submitting a paragraph summary of each book, or vary the requirement by asking for a written summary one month, or even asking the students to create a diorama of an important scene. Here students still receive the pizza party reward, but Ms. Jefferson has a means of measuring reading comprehension and quality.
Evaluation
Finally, help Ms. Jefferson create ways for her to evaluate her pizza program. Consider:
1. Has Ms. Jefferson succeeded in increasing the frequency of students’ reading? What about the quality of their reading?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. Ms. Jefferson can evaluate whether the quality and quantity of student reading has increased in her class after using these techniques. If the students continue to read three or more books per month and comprehend what they have read then the intervention was successful. It is important to see if student interest in reading stays high over time or decreases, requiring the teacher to devise a new strategy. Ms. Jefferson should keep track of which students are reading and how quickly they report having read a book. She should develop some brief assessment to evaluate students’ understanding of the material. Ms. Jefferson should also ask her classes, and in some cases individual students, for feedback about the program and their attitudes about reading when they started the year and have them compare these to how they feel about reading now. She could also speak with her colleagues to compare the frequency of reading in her classes to that of the students in the other seventh grade classes. Ms. Jefferson could also meet with the students individually to congratulate them on their individual total number of books read and talk with them about their interest in reading and how they feel the quality of their own reading has or has not improved. In terms of the long-range success of the pizza party reading program, Ms. Jefferson could check in with these seventh graders as they become eighth graders—how regularly did they read over the summer without the pizza party incentive, and what are their attitudes toward reading as they enter the next grade level.
Chapter 6: Reflection for Action
Recall the scenario presented in your text:
Now try to imagine how you would deal with a behavioral problem. Lunchtime has arrived, and not a moment too soon. Two of your twelfth-grade English students came into class in the midst of an argument that almost escalated into a physical fight 15 minutes into the period. You were able to get one of the students down to the principal’s office during the class and sent the other one there as soon as the period ended. You have a free period for lunch now, but you will see this class again tomorrow.
What are you going to do now? How should you follow up? What will you do when the students enter your classroom tomorrow? Was your reaction to the situation the best possible one? How would you know?
Now think about how you would approach this problem using the RIDE ACRONYM.
Reflection
In order to answer this question, reflect on some of the topics we have explored in this chapter including designing the physical environment, designing the social environment, managing day-to-day classroom instruction, and dealing with behavior problems.
Lets brainstorm!
1. Evaluate the information you learned on designing the physical environment, designing the social environment, managing day-to-day classroom instruction, and dealing with behavior problems. Which of these theories apply to this problem?
2. Reflect on what you know about dealing with behavioral problems. How will this information help you respond effectively to this incident? For example, what is the difference between acute behavior and chronic behavior problems? How would you characterize the disagreement that occurred in your class today?
3. Dealing with the immediate behavior problem will be first on your list, however you realize that you will also need to reflect on your classroom management approach. Why are establishing rules an important part of an effective classroom management plan?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. The information on designing the social environment, managing day-to-day classroom instruction, and dealing with behavior problems can be useful information to you to consider.
2. Chronic behavioral problems are problems that, although they may not be serious in any one instance, persist over time. These misbehaviors can range from talking out of turn, failure to complete homework, or to an inability to keep one’s hands to oneself. Acute behavior problems are problems that do not occur frequently such as the incident described above. They are, however, serious and can often arise from a minor event. Acute behaviors can include the same types of behavior described for chronic behaviors (talking, homework, etc.) however, the student has only performed them once or so. Without any other information, we must assume that this was an acute behavior. You realize that you will need further information to decide how to respond to the situation in class today.
3. Designing your classroom to encourage desirable behavior is essential to a good classroom management plan. Rules in a classroom provide a set of norms for acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Rules often outline the penalties for transgressions. Setting rules, and consequences for not following them, is a critical element of classroom management. Rules need to be taught to students in a conscientious fashion, and teachers must make sure that students understand them.
Information Gathering
You realize that you will need more information to deal with the behavioral problem that occurred in class today. To assist in your information gathering activities consider the following questions.
1. Upon reflecting, you decide to get an account of what happened from each student before they speak to the principal. How will you handle this in a fair and diplomatic way?
2. What are some strategies you can employ for dealing with and preventing acute behaviors in the future?
3. Refer to the information in your text on establishing rules, what are some techniques you can use to communicate and enforce rules in your classroom?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. Start by asking both students to provide you with a written description of what happened. The advantages of having them write a description is that it removes some of the emotional context from the situation. Then compare the two responses to determine the degree to which they report the same event. Once you have read these, you will be in a better position to speak with both students.
2. Although some acute problems are completely unforeseen, many are escalations of minor issues. Thus, many acute problems can be prevented simply by not letting minor problems escalate. The key is to be aware of the potential for escalation and to defuse the problem. In this case, a problem has already occurred so the question becomes how to deal effectively with acute behavioral problems. The first priority is to avoid imposing one’s own will or trying to save face. Instead, it is far better to assess the situation and work to defuse it. Once the situation is calm, order can be re-established. The next step is to give the disruptive student some way of exiting the situation. A teacher can ask the student to join him or her in the hallway for a minute in a voice that communicates firmness but also sympathy. Once there, the student can present his or her view of the problem. The focus should be on the student’s concerns. The teacher can revisit the incident in the classroom when the student is calmer, and a less intense discussion can occur. These steps might not always work; in such cases, the teacher will have to seek help from someone in the school who is trained and responsible for dealing with such situations, such as a principal, counselor, or school psychologist.
3. There are a number of techniques teachers can use to prevent minor misbehaviors from escalating into major disruptions. Successful teachers blend nonverbal cues, direct requests, humor, and occasionally penalties to keep students on task. Establishing procedures for running the class, the lesson, and interaction routines is also an effective way to support good behavior and minimize misbehavior. Developing a positive and productive classroom environment that has minimal behavioral problems is one of the biggest challenges that new teachers face. Help is available from websites and educators who have written about the topic. In addition, it is important for new teachers to ask how other teachers in their school deal with classroom management issues, what kinds of rules students have been required to follow in previous years, and what the most effective classroom routines are.
Decision Making
Next, help decide how to deal with this behavioral problem. Consider:
1. What steps will you take to deal with this behavioral problem?
2. What resources are available to help you figure out your response?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. Recall that in most schools there is a policy on disruptive behavior. It is important that you become familiar with this policy and speak to your principal if you have further questions. In general, disruptive students are removed from the classroom and sent to an administrator’s office. You will also need to determine if this was a one-time instance or not. After your meeting with students, you will need to notify the administration on what happened. Together you will discuss repercussions. Finally, you should conduct a whole class discussion to provide students with an opportunity to discuss what happened in an open and nonthreatening way. Through discussion, you can share your rationale for why something is right or wrong and provide examples of how to respond to conflicts in a socially appropriate manner.
2. There are a number of websites that have examples of contracts, behavioral modification plans, and strategies expert teachers use to manage behavioral problems in their classroom. These will be of much help to you in dealing with behavioral problems that may arise in your classroom.
Evaluation
Finally, create ways to evaluate your classroom management plan to see if it is successful. To do so consider:
1. What are some criteria by which you can evaluate your classroom management plan?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. You can use a number of quantitative and qualitative measures to evaluate your classroom management plan. An example of a quantitative measure would be to see if the number of behavioral problem has decreased since you initiated your plan. In contrast, a qualitative measure may include journal entries in which students answer open-ended questions regarding classroom climate issues.
Chapter 7: Reflection for Action
Recall the scenario presented in your text:
It happened to Melanie again. Her grades for the marking period did not reflect all the work she had done. Melanie was a serious student in her junior year of high school. She was attentive during her classes. She did her homework and prepared for the tests. But when it came time to take a test, she could not recall the information she had studied. Her grade point average was sinking with each marking period. What further distressed her was that her friends received better grades but spent less time and energy on schoolwork.
Melanie comes to her homeroom teacher, Mrs. James, to talk about how she might improve her grades. What can Mrs. James suggest to Melanie that will help her perform better on tests?
Now think about how you would approach this problem using the RIDE ACRONYM.
Reflection
In order to answer this question, reflect on some of the topics we have explored in this chapter including the information processing model; memory systems; encoding, retrieval, and forgetting; categorization; and social learning theory.
Lets brainstorm!
1. Evaluate the information you learned on the information processing model; memory systems; encoding, retrieval, and forgetting; categorization; and social learning theory. Does any of this apply to this problem?
2. Melanie is working hard but perhaps she is not working as strategically as she might. How can Melanie use elaboration techniques to improve her performance?
3. Perhaps Melanie’s performance it is not due to how she is studying, but rather how much information she is studying at one time. You recall reading about the difference between distributed and massed practice. How does this information relate to Melanie’s problem?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. Mrs. James can use the information on encoding, retrieval, and forgetting and categorization to help Melanie improve her test taking strategies.
2. Mrs. James may suggest to Melanie that she try some elaboration techniques to help her remember the information she has learned in class. Elaboration means connecting the information you are trying to learn to information you already know or to images or other enhancements of the information to be learned.
3. Melanie may be engaging in massed practice to study for her exams. Massed practice involves engaging in extensive practice at one time, such as cramming before an exam. Distributed practice, on the other hand, is done over a period of time with varying intervals between rehearsals of the information. Rather than studying for an exam the night before a learner might study for a few hours on alternating days in the week before the test.
Information Gathering
You will need more information to help Mrs. James and Melanie. To assist you in your information gathering activities consider the following questions.
1. What are some of the benefits of using elaboration strategies and examples of ways in which students can use these strategies to learn?
2. Tasks that require students to recognize information are different from those that require them to recall information. How can this help Mrs. James and Melanie?
3. How might Melanie use graphic organizers to help her organize her notes better to study for her exams?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. Melanie can elaborate on the concepts learned in class in a number of ways. For example, she can link learned information to 1) prior knowledge, 2) experiences outside of school or in other classes, or 3) other information she is currently studying. The goal of any elaboration technique is to form relationships among the concepts to increase the likelihood that you will remember newly learned information in the future. Mnemonic strategies in particular are powerful aids to memory and are frequently used to elaborate on information. There are several mnemonic strategies Melanie can use to help her remember her class material. For example, she can use an acronym like ROY-G-BIV to remember the colors of the rainbow in science class. Keywords, methods of loci, and pegwords are other mnemonic strategies that are also available. In general, mnemonics work well when students have to memorize information, but are not as effective for tasks that require higher order thinking skills.
2. Recognition simply requires a student to respond to information and recognize that he/she has seen it before. Recognition memory responds to cues. Responding to multiple-choice tests can require recognition memory because the cues provided by the options from which you may choose will provide some assistance to memory. Recall, on the other hand, implies you must generate information without cues from the questions or answers. Responding to an essay question, for example, requires that you generate and organize the content. For many people, this kind of remembering is much harder. If Melanie’s study strategy focuses on studying vocabulary and/or identifying information and then she is asked to complete an essay assignment, it is unlikely that she will perform highly. As such, how she studies is not consistent with how she is tested. Mrs. James can suggest to Melanie that she ask the format of a test before she begins studying and then practice answering questions that are consistent with that approach.
3. Graphic organizers are visual displays of verbal information and include concept maps, mind webs, semantic maps, knowledge maps, or tables, etc. Graphic organizers are intended to help students comprehend, summarize, and synthesize information and may provide Melanie with another way to encode the information and take advantage of dual coding. Graphic organizers are a great way to represent the relationships among concepts and for Melanie to organize her class material.
Decision Making
Next, decide which techniques Mrs. James should suggest to Melanie to help her improve her performance. Consider:
1. What are some strategies that will help Melanie? How might Mrs. James teach these strategies to her?
2. Where might Mrs. James look for more ideas on strategic training programs/techniques?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. Mrs. James needs to decide on a strategy to help Melanie. She might want to create a special note-taking sheet in which Melanie can record the key ideas from her text or lesson on one side of the page and the details on the other side of the page. This will help Melanie pay attention to whether the information is central or supportive. Mrs. James may also provide Melanie with examples of graphic organizers that might be helpful to her. In order to use these well, Mrs. James will need to teach Melanie to be alert for the structure of knowledge in the materials she reads. For example, stories have a chain structure as one event happens after another. By teaching Melanie to use graphic organizers, Mrs. James is giving her another strategy for encoding information that takes advantage of both verbal and visual modalities. Mrs. James also needs to help Melanie practice more. She can create a self-management checklist for Melanie who can then record when she studies material and for how long.
2. Mrs. James can visit a number of online resources to receive advice, tips, and help on how to improve students study skills. She may also want to ask other teachers about strategies they use with their students.
Evaluation
Finally, evaluate the plan to see if it is successful. Consider:
1. What are some criteria by which Mrs. James can evaluate if Melanie’s performance has improved?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. Mrs. James should give another test after about two weeks to determine if Melanie’s work has improved. If she has improved, she should continue with the program of activities she has developed. If not, Mrs. James may need to observe Melanie’s study strategies to determine areas where she can improve.
Chapter 8: Reflection for Action
Recall the scenario presented in your text:
Mr. Paine is a high school social studies teacher. He wants his students to learn how to do historical research. He intends for his students to select a period of history that is of interest to them, frame a specific question they would like to explore (e.g., How did Stalin come to power?) and use online resources, libraries, etc., to locate information. He wants them to learn to be critical of the resources they locate. Jake is very resistant to the idea. He insists that all he needs is his textbook.
What should Mr. Paine do? Why do the other students imitate Jake? What can Mr. Paine do to utilize Jake as a constructive rather than destructive role model?
Now think about how you would approach this problem using the RIDE ACRONYM.
Reflection
In order to answer this question, reflect on some of the topics we have explored in this chapter including complex cognition, social constructivism, and instruction influenced by social constructivist and sociocultural theory.
Lets brainstorm!
1. Reflect on the information you learned about complex cognition, social constructivism, and instruction influenced by social constructivist and sociocultural theory. How can you apply these concepts to help Mr. Paine challenge Jake?
2. Perhaps Jake is not interested in exploring other resources because he is not interested in his topic. One way to interest students in a topic is make it personally meaningful. Reflect on what you know about developing meaningful projects and explain how this technique may be used in this problem.
3. Jake may not want to complete the research project because he does not know how to look for other resources. Reflect on what you know about scaffolding. How can Mr. Paine use scaffolding techniques to support Jake through the research project?
4. Social cognitive and sociocultural theories advocate learning from others in a social contexts. Are there ways to use peers to help Jake learn how to use resources effectively?
Lets consult the experts!
1. You recall that social constructivist and sociocultural theories of learning focus on how individuals learn from interacting with more knowledgeable others within a social environment. This information coupled with instructional techniques based on these philosophies may help Mr. Paine find ways encourage Jake to incorporate more resources in his social studies project.
2. Students are more motivated to complete an assignment when the content of instruction is personally relevant and meaningful to them. Efforts have also been made to engage students in learning by situating learning activities within their cultural experience or asking students to connect content knowledge to experiences in their own lives. You anticipate that if Mr. Paine could make the assignment personally meaningful to Jake, then this may propel his interest in this project.
3. Jake’s refusal to engage in the research project may reflect insecurity with how to locate and use different resources in his project. Mr. Paine can use scaffolding techniques to provide planning, monitoring, and evaluative support.
4. Mr. Paine may incorporate elements of collaborative learning into this project in order to promote peers learning from one another. Perhaps he could ask students to pick partners and then arrange a day at the library for peers to help each other locate resources for their research projects. Mr. Paine could also lead a class wide discussion so students can share resource ideas with each other.
Information Gathering
You realize that you will need more information to help Mr. Paine. To assist you in your information gathering activities consider the following questions.
1. Upon reflecting, you decide that you need more information on how to make this project personally meaningful and interesting to Jake. Review the information on high interest tasks, what information is relevant to this problem?
2. Mr. Paine can also use scaffolding techniques to help Jake learn to use resources effectively. Refer to your text for the description of scaffolding and explain how scaffolding applies to this problem.
Lets consult the experts!
1. The first thing Mr. Paine can do to make this task personally meaningful is to find out Jake’s interests and prior experiences. To help Jake identify his interests, Mr. Paine may simply ask Jake. Another way to find out is to observe what he does when he has free time in the class, or ask him to keep a record of what he does for fun at home. There are also a number of interest surveys available on the web that Mr. Paine can use to help Jake identify his interests. Once Jake’s interests have been identified, Mr. Paine can help him focus his interests on investigating a particular historical event.
2. Scaffolding is more than simply providing help; rather, it describes a “process that enables a novice to solve a problem, carry out a task, or achieve a goal which may be beyond his unassisted efforts” (Wood et al., 1976). Several activities that are important to scaffolding include channeling, focusing, and modeling. Channeling (of the learner’s activity) and focusing (of the learner’s attention) involve providing constraints during the task so that the learner is more likely to perform it effectively. By focusing on a particular part of the task, Mr. Paine can model effective strategies for successful performance. For example, Mr. Paine may decide to scaffold Jake by focusing on only information found in the library first. He may take Jake to the library; show him how to search for and locate books related to his topic, and how to incorporate this information in his report. Mr. Paine can also offer tips, hints, pointers, and assistance; suggest strategies for locating information; and help Jake maintain pursuit of the goal by calming frustration and supporting interest and effort. As Jake becomes better at using the resources in the library, Mr. Paine should fade support by decreasing the explicitness of instruction, and transferring the center of decision making to Jake.
Decision Making
Next, decide what advice to give Mr. Paine that will help Jake engage in the research project. Consider:
1. What steps will you take to redesign this research project to focus on Jake’s interests? Determine how Mr. Paine can use scaffolding to support Jake as he practices using different resources.
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. First, Mr. Paine will need to determine what Jake’s interests are. Once Jake develops a topic based on his interests Mr. Paine can scaffold Jake’s learning as he practices using print and electronic sources to support his research. As Jake becomes skilled at using a variety of resources, Mr. Paine can fade his support. Finally, Mr. Paine can ask Jake to be a peer leader and help other students learn how to use resources effectively in order to capitalize on peer learning techniques.
Evaluation
Finally, determine how to evaluate if Jake’s performance has improved. To do so consider:
1. What are some criteria by which Mr. Paine can evaluate Jake’s performance on his research report?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. There are a number of evaluations that Mr. Paine can do that address Jake’s attitude, behavior, and performance. He can estimate the frequency of complaints from Jake about the research report to determine if they are increasing or decreasing. If they have decreased, perhaps Mr. Paine’s strategies are working. Mr. Paine can also examine Jake’s research report to determine the number of resources he incorporated in his assignment, as well as how well he used the resources to support his points.
Chapter 9: Reflection for Action
Recall the scenario presented in your text:
You have finally decided to have your sixth-grade students work in groups. You have 26 students in your class, 16 boys and 10 girls. Four of them have special needs. The project on which the children will work will take about two weeks. Tommy is often absent because of illness.
How many groups will you form? What will the composition of the groups be?
Now think about how you would approach this problem using the RIDE ACRONYM.
Reflection
In order to answer this question, reflect on some of the topics we have explored in this chapter including perspectives on peer learning, tutoring, learning in homogeneous groups, collaboration and technology, influences on effectiveness in heterogeneous groups, and learning from peers: practices for learning.
Lets brainstorm!
1. Arranging students into groups can be a difficult task. Naturally, students will prefer to work with their friends but this may not be most effective for learning. Many researchers and teachers advocate heterogeneous grouping. Reflect on what you know about heterogeneous grouping. What are the advantages of heterogeneous grouping?
2. You realize that you have an unequal number of boys and girls in your class so you will have to consider how gender will affect grouping. What information about gender will help you form groups?
3. Collaborative learning can be an effective instructional method for students with special needs. Explain how.
Lets consult the experts!
1. Heterogeneous groups are made up of students who vary in academic achievement and other characteristics, such as race, gender, and ethnicity. Heterogeneous groups have a number of advantages including they give students a chance to work with others who may be different.
2. You recall that is difficult to draw strong conclusions about the role of gender in cooperative groups based on the available evidence. Nevertheless, you know you should be sensitive to the possible influence of gender on group interactions and consider it when assigning students to groups.
3. Students with special needs do benefit from collaborative learning because these environments allow them to observe other students’ knowledge and strategies. This can provide opportunities for group members to model, support, and provide feedback to one another as they work on a joint task. Alternatively, you can envision situations where this would not be the case.
Information Gathering
You realize that you will need more information in order to form effective collaborative learning groups. To assist you in your information gathering activities consider the following questions.
1. Upon reflecting, you decide that you need more information on how to form effective collaborative learning groups. You decide to research homogeneous grouping further. What do you find?
2. Review the research on gender composition in collaborative learning groups. What information is relevant to this task?
3. What should you consider when including students who have special needs in collaborative learning tasks?
4. Citizen
Lets consult the experts!
1. When groups work effectively students benefit both academically and socially. However, groups do not automatically work well. Without instruction in the cognitive skills needed for tasks or the social skills needed to coordinate their activities, students tend to work at the most concrete level or give each other only minimal support (Cohen, 1994). Group interaction is influenced by the goals and incentives associated with the assigned task, the nature of the task itself, and individual differences among the participants (O’Donnell & Dansereau, 1992). One way to comprise is to ask students to nominate one classmate that they enjoy working with. You can then try to place students in groups with at least one other person they know. You should refrain from asking them to nominate students they do not wish to work with as this is likely to be hurtful to some and will only encourage students to rehearse their dislikes.
2. The research on gender composition in collaborative learning group is not conclusive. One study (Webb, 1984) found that when boys in the group outnumbered girls, the boys dominated the interaction. When girls outnumbered boys, the girls still deferred to the boys, even when there was only one male. In groups that were balanced with respect to gender, all the students participated equally. Other things that may affect gender groupings are age and maturity. Students would rather work in same gender groups, but as the teacher you need to expose them to all different types of groups and encourage them to focus on each others’ strengths. Having an equal number of boys to girls in your group seems to be most effective.
3. There is evidence to suggest that students with special needs may benefit from collaborative learning interactions. Stevens and colleagues, for example, examined the effectiveness of Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) with third and fourth graders. They evaluated the effect of the technique over a 12-week and a 24-week period, and found that academically handicapped students achieved more when they were mainstreamed into CIRC classes and received support from a special education teacher who collaborated with the general education teacher (Stevens et al., 1987). In a follow-up study conducted over a two-year period, Stevens and Slavin (1995) showed that students in CIRC classrooms showed higher achievement in vocabulary, comprehension, and language expression than did students in the matched schools. Academically handicapped students in CIRC classrooms showed significantly higher achievement in reading vocabulary, reading comprehension, and language expression than did the students in the pull-out programs. Of course, it is important to structure the group interaction to ensure that students respect each other and that everyone assumes an important role within the group.
Decision Making
Next, decide how you will form your collaborative learning groups. To help you do so consider:
1. How many students will you include in each group? Will your groups be heterogeneous? What will your gender composition be?
2. How will you perspective on peer learning affect your decisions about group composition?
3. How will you include the four students in your class who have special needs?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. How big will the groups be? Four to five students seems manageable. Because Tommy is often absent, you might put him in a group that has four other students. Thus, you will have 6 groups of 4 students and two groups with 5 students. How will you assign the other students? Based on what they told you of their preferences for their classmates and your knowledge of their ability. You attempt to make groups as heterogeneous as possible.
2. There are a number of different perspectives on peer learning that will influence your decisions about group composition, the use of rewards, the kinds of assessments you will use, and your role in the class. You can see that if, as a teacher, you chose a social-cohesion perspective on cooperative learning, you would engage your students in very different activities (e.g., team building, social skill development) than you would if you chose a social-motivational perspective. If you adopted the latter approach, you would focus more on ways to provide recognition or reward. The tasks you assigned would also differ. If you chose a social-motivational perspective, you might assign tasks that require practice and rehearsal. Alternatively, if you chose a social-cohesion perspective, you might assign more open-ended tasks.
3. How will you include students with special needs? If you assign students with special needs to groups in which students are very competitive, they are likely to have a bad experience. As such, you decide to divide them up and assign students to their groups who are known to be patient and supportive.
Evaluation
Finally, determine how to evaluate if your groups are effective. To do so consider:
1. What are some criteria by which you can evaluate the effectiveness of your groups?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. There are several evaluations you can use to assess the effectiveness of your groupings. First, you can ask students to comment on how they liked doing the group activity and if they would like to do another project later in the term. This information will tell you something about their interest in collaboration and it may also shed light on any difficulties they have experienced. You should also develop a rubric to grade their products and provide them with feedback. Finally, you might give a test of the material to ensure that all students learned the necessary material. If you find that the students do poorly on that test, you may need to reconsider the kind of structure that you had set up.
Chapter 10: Reflection for Action
Recall the scenario presented in your text:
Mr. Marcus is a little worried about how today’s lesson will go. Today’s class features a lesson that students in the past have said was difficult and somewhat boring. The lesson, however, is important, even crucial, for students to learn if they are to master the course material and develop the skills they need.
What can Mr. Marcus do to add some motivational spark to today’s lesson? What can he do to modify his existing lesson plan so to more fully engage his students?
Now think about how you would approach this problem using the RIDE ACRONYM.
Reflection
In order to answer this question, reflect on some of the topics we have explored in this chapter including engagement, motivation, intrinsic/ extrinsic motivation, and psychological needs.
Lets brainstorm!
1. Reflect on the information you learned about engagement, motivation, intrinsic/ extrinsic motivation, and psychological needs. What information could you use to help Mr. Marcus improve his lesson?
2. There are at least two different approaches to promoting motivation. What is the difference between a behavioral and dialectical approach to increasing motivation?
3. Identify the different forms of engagement? If so, explain.
4. What is intrinsic motivation? What are some strategies Mr. Marcus can implement to promote students’ intrinsic motivation?
Lets consult the experts!
1. The information on engagement, motivation, intrinsic/ extrinsic motivation are all relevant to helping Mr. Marcus improve his lesson.
2. There is a difference between behavioral and dialectical methods aimed to increase motivation. If you adopt a traditional behavioral approach, you might try directly to engage students in the learning activity. Several practices illustrate this model. First, the teacher offers an attractive incentive and students work hard to gain it. Second, the teacher warns of an unattractive consequence and students work hard to avoid it. Finally, the teacher models appropriate behavior and students emulate what they see. The logic underlying this frequently used approach is that students’ motivation rises and falls in response to what the teacher (and the classroom environment more generally) does or does not do. Second, a teacher might adopt a dialectical approach to motivation, which recognizes that students bring motivation of their own into the classroom for teachers to potentially support and nurture. Several practices illustrate this model. First, students express an interest and the teacher incorporates that interest into the lesson and offers supportive resources. Alternatively, students suggest a goal to strive for and the teacher encourages and supports that goal. In this case, the teacher listens, takes the students’ perspective, and asks students for suggestions during the lesson. The logic underlying this approach is that, first, motivation originates within the students themselves and, second, effective teaching depends a great deal on the efforts of the students themselves. As such, depending on your theoretical perspective you will approach the development of motivation differently.
3. Engagement refers to a student’s behavioral intensity, emotional quality, and personal investment during a learning activity. There are three types of engagement: behavioral, emotional, and cognitive.
4. Intrinsic motivation is the inherent desire to engage one’s interests and to exercise and develop one’s capacities. To energize intrinsic motivation, teachers need to find ways to involve and nurture students’ psychological needs. When teachers are able to do this, students say that the activity is interesting, fun, and enjoyable. Feelings of interest and enjoyment arise as spontaneous satisfactions from the experience of psychological need satisfaction.
Information Gathering
You realize that you will need more information to help Mr. Marcus redesign his lesson to be more engaging. To assist you in your information gathering activities consider the following questions.
1. Upon reflecting, you decide that you need more information on how to support motivation in your classroom. Review the material in your textbook on supporting motivation. What do you find?
2. During the reflection phase, you identified the difference between behavioral and dialectical approaches to promoting motivation. Now research these topics in more depth, what do you find that you can use to help Mr. Marcus?
Lets consult the experts!
1. To support motivation Mr. Marcus needs to have supportive conditions. Each day, students walk into classrooms, relationships, and learning activities. The learning environment can nurture and support their motivational strivings or it can neglect and frustrate those strivings. When students are surrounded by classroom environments that support and nurture their needs, wants, strivings, and constructive ways of thinking, they show greater engagement and learning. You learn that Mr. Marcus can support students’ motivation by taking an active approach to finding out their interests and trying to incorporate choice and autonomy into his classroom tasks.
2. Behavioral engagement refers to situations when students are highly engaged, active, and display strong and enduring effort. During learning activities, students express their behavioral engagement through on-task attention, strong effort, and enduring persistence. Emotional engagement refers to students who study and practice hard and long, but they do so within an emotional atmosphere of interest, enthusiasm, enjoyment, and a sense of wanting to. In contrast, less emotionally engaged students might study or practice hard, but they do so under a cloud of negative emotion—tension, pressure, or stress—an emotional atmosphere of resistance, and a sense of having to. Finally, cognitive engagement expresses itself when students go beyond the basic requirements of the lesson and invest themselves in a committed and intellectually engaging way (Fredricks et al., 2004). Investing oneself means being strategic and purposive in trying to understand and master the knowledge or skill at hand. As such, Mr. Marcus can monitor students’ engagement using a number of factors. These will help him determine if he should continue, modify, or restructure a particular lesson.
Decision Making
Next, you will have to make some decisions on what advice to give Mr. Marcus that will help him spark students’ engagement. To help you do so consider:
1. How can Mr. Marcus build off students’ interests to support engagement in his classroom?
2. How can Mr. Marcus restructure the task to make it more interesting to students?
3. What can he do to make this lesson more valuable to his students?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. Mr. Marcus might consider prior lessons in which students were highly engaged with the material. What about those lessons supported student engagement? What about those lessons seemed to motivate student interest? Mr. Marcus may also consider surveying his students. Students can be asked to write and/or talk about those lessons that were most interesting to them and describe what it was about those experiences that they found engaging. He might also consider asking colleagues about strategies they have used to motivate and engage students during similar units of study.
2. Mr. Marcus may need to find alternative ways of structuring the learning environment for this lesson. It is unlikely that the material is what the students are “tuning out.” Instead, it is more likely that the structures used to facilitate learning are not interesting to these students and they do not value what they are learning. This is difficult material, so incorporating a “guessing and feedback” model to introduce the lesson may foster engagement. Mr. Marcus could also look for ways to build controversy into the material. Positioning students to consider the tensions within material presented can positively motivate engagement. Creating suspense, where students look forward to learning about a topic of study, can have the same effect. Ultimately, opportunities to foster engagement by helping students to recognize the value of the learning may support Mr. Marcus’ work with his students and, in turn, positively influence their learning. Mr. Marcus will need to give clear instructions to the students so that they understand the goals of the tasks in which they will engage. If he creates a challenge such as a game, he will also need to be very clear about how the students are to participate.
3. To increase value Mr. Marcus can lead the students to consider how they might benefit from having the skills they are to practice. He could have students write reflection papers to focus on how the material relates to their life and how they could apply the material to their future.
Evaluation
Mr. Marcus should consider if the changes made in the lesson motivate students’ engagement and facilitate student learning. To do so consider:
1. What are some criteria by which Mr. Marcus can evaluate if students motivation has increased?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. To assess this, Mr. Marcus can review test scores, observe the quality of students’ engagement in the material, ask students to keep a journal of their reaction to both the material presented as well as the learning environment created, or develop an assessment that asks students to link the material learned to a personal experience/need. In addition, Mr. Marcus should give an assessment to determine if students have learned the skills he intended them to learn. Finally, he might also ask students to rate their liking of the activity.
Chapter 11: Reflection for Action
Recall the scenario presented in your text:
Looking at the 28 faces in front of her, Mrs. Applesmith can feel the tension in the air. Her students are working on a week-long writing project, and she has noticed that what they care about is making a good grade, doing better than others, and not looking stupid. Few students are actually trying to learn, improve, and develop new skills. Mrs. Applesmith wants to transform this evaluative, competitive, and performance-driven classroom climate into a mastery-oriented, learning-based culture.
What can Mrs. Applesmith do to create a classroom climate that cultivates mastery goals rather than performance goals?
Now think about how you would approach this problem using the RIDE ACRONYM.
Reflection
In order to answer this question, reflect on some of the topics we have explored in this chapter including self-efficacy, mastery beliefs, goals, and self-regulation.
Lets brainstorm!
1. Mrs. Applesmith is aware that something is awry in her classroom with this specific writing assignment. The tension in the classroom and the students emphasis on grades instead of learning could be a result of numerous motivational factors. Recall some of the topics you have read in chapter 12, which apply to Mrs. Applesmith’s classroom?
2. Recall that there is a difference between performance and mastery goals. Can you elaborate on this difference?
3. Finally, you remember that students with classroom relevant possible selves are more likely to see the material in that subject area as relevant, meaningful, and important. Describe the term possible selves.
Lets consult the experts!
1. The information on possible selves and goals relate to this problem; however, the problem could be interpreted using self-efficacy or mastery belief information as well.
2. Students typically adopt one of two achievement goals: mastery goals or performance goals. Mastery goals focus attention on developing competence and mastering the task. For this reason, mastery goals are also called learning goals. Doing well means developing competence by improving, learning, and making progress. Performance goals, on the other hand, focus attention on demonstrating or proving that one has high ability on the task. Doing well means demonstrating competence by doing better than others.
3. A large number of Mrs. Applesmith’s students do not see themselves as writers. This situation is not unusual. Personal histories with writing tasks might have led them to think of themselves as students who write because they are expected to write, but not because writing is meaningful and useful. Possible selves represent students’ long-term goals or strivings for what they would like to become. Your textbook provides some examples of possible selves including honor-roll student, high school graduate, successful artist, counselor, or state champion in a particular sport.
Information Gathering
You realize that you will need more information to help Mrs. Applesmith redesign her classroom to focus on mastery, rather than performance goals. To assist you in your information gathering activities consider the following questions.
1. Upon reflecting, you decide that you need more information on the distinction between learning and performance goals. Refer to the section on mastery and performance goals in your text, what do you find? Why is this distinction important?
2. What is the difference between classrooms that promote mastery verses performance goals? What affect does this have on students’ motivation?
3. What role do students’ possible selves play toward increasing motivation in Mrs. Applesmith’s classroom?
Lets consult the experts!
1. Students with mastery goals strive to increase, develop, or improve their competence. Alternatively, students with performance goals strive to demonstrate or prove their ability to an audience of others. Students with learning goals want feedback that they can use to learn and improve, whereas students with performance goals want feedback that they can use to judge their ability and sense of superiority. The distinction between mastery and performance goals is important because the adoption of a mastery goal is associated with positive and productive ways of thinking and behaving, whereas the adoption of a performance goal is sometime associated with relatively negative and unproductive ways of thinking and behaving.
2. Classroom climate is affected by the instructional techniques, activities, and type of feedback teachers’ use in their classrooms. Teachers create classroom situations that give students purposes (goals) such as developing competence or demonstrating competence. Classrooms that promote mastery goals have teachers who define success as improvement, value effort, communicate that satisfaction comes from working hard, focus on how students learn, view errors as a natural part of learning, focus on the process of learning, explain the need for high effort while learning something new, and assign grades based on progress or improvement. In examining the classroom climate, Mrs. Applesmith could gather information in a few ways. She might find it useful to reexamine her lesson plans, grading schemes, and learning activities to determine whether they are structured in ways that undermine her goals for this assignment. Mrs. Applesmith’s would also find it useful to have a mentor or master teacher visit her classroom to observe her interactions with her students. It is possible that inadvertently Mrs. Applesmith is stressing behaviors or providing feedback to the students that emphasize performance goals over mastery goals.
3. In your textbook you learn that possible selves play an important motivational role in the classroom (Oyserman & Markus, 1990). Without a possible self in a particular subject area, the student lacks an important cognitive basis for wanting to acquire knowledge and skill in that subject (Cross & Markus, 1994). A student who can envision a possible self in that subject, however, sees the events, knowledge, and skills featured as personally important (Cross & Markus, 1994; Markus, Cross, & Wurf, 1990). Thus, for a student enrolled in a foreign-language class who wants to realize possible selves, such as world traveler, French speaker, or foreign-language teacher, the desire to take notes, read books, watch foreign films, and participate in class comes easily. One way to learn about the students’ views about possible selves and their perceptions of themselves as writers is by interviewing several of the students. That way Mrs. Applesmith could learn whether these students see writing as a meaningful and useful activity. She could also refer to the professional literature in the areas of writing and literacy to learn more about developing writers in the classroom.
Decision Making
Next, decide on advice to give Mrs. Applesmith that will help her redesign her classroom to promote mastery goals. Consider:
1. What are some techniques Mrs. Applesmith can use to have her students focus on mastery, rather than performance goals?
2. What are some strategies Mrs. Applesmith can use so that her students will think of themselves as writers?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. The tension in the classroom, the competition, the focus on grades, and the disinclination to develop new skills and improve indicate a classroom climate in which performance goals, not mastery goals, are promoted. You can advise Mrs. Applesmith on the first day of school to make comments similar to these:
“In this class, my goal is to help you become effective writers. I hope you adopt this goal as well. If you do, I guarantee that at the end of the year, you will all be significantly better writers than you are right now. Writing is not a mystery – though it may feel like that sometimes. It is not a ‘gift’ that you either have or don’t have. It is a skill. My job is to teach you strategies for effective writing so that it no longer feels like a mystery. Your job is to work at it – individually and as a class. Writers need feedback, and I believe we can make this classroom a safe place to share our writing. Every one of you will have the opportunity to share your work with the class and receive constructive comments.”
By explicitly communicating mastery goals and inviting students to adopt these goals, Mrs. Applesmith can focus students’ attention on something other than grades.
2. If Mrs. Applesmith determines that students do not generally see themselves as writers, she can implement a number of techniques that can change their perceptions, such as having writers visit the classroom to discuss their craft. Alternatively, she can have students keep journal on how the information learned in class relates to their future. Such a change in perception is likely to take much time but will be well worth it in the end.
Evaluation
Mrs. Applesmith needs to consider if the changes made to her classroom lessen students focus on performance goals. Consider:
1. What are some criteria by which Mrs. Applesmith can evaluate if students’ motivation has increased?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. It would hardly be surprising to learn that many, if not all, of the tasks and assignments that Mrs. Applesmith develops for her students - as well as the messages that she sends to them - promote performance goals. A careful examination of these factors and efforts to institute attitudes and behaviors that favor learning goals would be the most prudent steps to take in this situation. Among the steps she could implement to change the classroom climate are the institution of grading procedures that focus on absolute standards of performance, or even on personal improvement as opposed to comparisons to other class members. This would allow all students to receive strong grades. Additionally, provision of useful, meaningful feedback to students on assignments, the use student errors or mistakes as markers for improvement, and attention to the process of learning, could be very useful in changing the classroom climate.
Jorge is in the seventh grade. Mr. Jackson asks students in his language arts class to write a letter attempting to persuade the school board to allow them to have their own newspaper. After half an hour, he glances over Jorge’s shoulder and notices that he has written very little. He reads Jorge’s work quickly and notices that the ideas are quite disconnected.
Chapter 12: Reflection for Action
Recall the scenario presented in your text:
Jorge is in the seventh grade. Mr. Jackson asks students in his language arts class to write a letter attempting to persuade the school board to allow them to have their own newspaper. After half an hour, he glances over Jorge’s shoulder and notices that he has written very little. He reads Jorge’s work quickly and notices that the ideas are quite disconnected.
Now think about how you would approach this problem using the RIDE ACRONYM.
Reflection
In order to answer this question, reflect on some of the topics we have explored in this chapter including intelligence, talent, differences in ability and instruction, learners with special needs, and prevalent student needs and challenges.
Lets brainstorm!
1. Evaluate the information you learned in this chapter. Does any of this apply to this scenario?
2. You recall from your education classes that there are a number of different forms of intelligence. What are some of the advantages of assuming a multifaceted view of intelligence?
3. Reflect on what you know about learning disabilities. Is it possible that Jorge has a learning disability related to language?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. The information on intelligence, differences in ability and instruction, and learners with special needs are just some of the topics that can be used to analyze this problem. Other topics include motivation, scaffolding, and designing effective instructional techniques.
2. Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence and Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences are two models of intelligence that have revolutionized how educators and researchers view intelligence.
3. It is possible that Jorge has a learning disability with language. While it is in Jorge’s best interest for you to identify learning disabilities as soon as possible, you want to be careful not to base your judgment on his performance on one assignment alone. Jorge’s poor performance could be the result of a number of other motivational or social issues and not related to his cognitive functioning at all. Of course, early identification is ideal so you decide to investigate the possibility that Jorge has a learning disability related to language.
Information Gathering
You need more information to determine why Jorge’s production is so poor and to help Mr. Jackson devise a plan to improve Jorge’s performance. To assist you in your information gathering activities consider the following questions.
1. You recall that there are three facets of intelligence according to Sternberg: analytical, creative, and practical, and at least eight identifiable forms of intelligence according to Gardner, but you realize that you will need to research these terms further in order to use them to improve Jorge’s writing. Using your text as a reference, describe Sternberg’s and Gardner’s theory of Intelligence and why they are applicable to this problem.
2. Using Sternberg’s conceptualization of intelligence, how might Mr. Jackson support Jorge’s development of and use of his analytical, creative, and practical intelligence?
3. While it is too soon to decide whether Jorge may have a slight learning disability considering you only have information about his performance on one assignment, you decide to review the information on learning disabilities just in case. Are there specific techniques that may help Jorge improve (whether he has a learning disability or not)?
4. Can you think of other reasons to explain Jorge’s behavior besides a learning disability?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. There are three facets of intelligence according to Sternberg: analytical, creative, and practical. The analytical facet is the ability to respond effectively to problems. The second facet of intelligence is the creative facet, which involves generating new ideas, coming up with new approaches, taking a different look at a problem, or combining information in a novel way. Finally, the practical facet of the theory involves the ability to handle everyday problems and issues. The best way to conceptualize this model is to define intelligence as an ability to (a) solve problems, (b) generate new ideas, and (c) put one’s ideas and solutions to purposeful use in the environment. Similarly, Gardner proposes a multifaceted conceptualization of intelligence including Logical-Mathematical, Linguistic, Spatial, Musical, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Naturalistic intelligences. Sternberg and Gardner’s views of intelligence apply to this problem because each suggests that educational activities might mean different things for different students and that they bring various cognitive strengths and weaknesses to their learning efforts. Mr. Jackson should evaluate Jorge’s performance using a more multifaceted definition of intelligence. Perhaps this activity overlooks areas where Jorge excels and Mr. Jackson could alter the assignment to showcase Jorge’s strengths.
2. Sternberg suggests teaching that promotes successful intelligence has four key elements including:
1. Teaching for memory learning which involves the acquisition of information—the who, what, where, when, and how of learning
2. Teaching for analytical learning, which is the ability to understand the reasons underlying issues and to explain, evaluate, or judge them
3. Teaching for creative learning constitutes the inventive and creative aspect of learning—letting students explore new ideas of their own imagining
4. Teaching for practical learning refers to the practical application of knowledge and skills— making things work in the real world. Sternberg argues that it is not always necessary to emphasize all four of these elements but that attention to all of them on a regular, ongoing basis will help students enhance their strengths and overcome their weaknesses as they learn about themselves.
3. Identification of children with special needs may begin informally when a teacher sees that a child is having difficulties in school. For example, the child may have trouble learning to read or have more behavioral problems than is typical. Mr. Jackson should only initiate a formal committee to observe Jorge if his behavior develops into a pattern. Either way there are certain instructional techniques you can suggest to Mr. Jackson that he might use to help Jorge. First, Mr. Jackson should talk to Jorge about how he approaches the task and perhaps have him talk aloud about what he is trying to accomplish. You can suggest that Jorge try some brainstorming strategies to help elaborate his ideas before he becomes inundated with the details and mechanics of writing. This can include knowledge webs or free association techniques. To help organize his thoughts, you can suggest Mr. Jackson provide Jorge with a checklist of “things to do” as he is writing. If Jorge expresses some difficulty with understanding his goal for the writing task and monitoring his progress, he may have difficulties with metacognitive activities. To help alleviate metacognitive difficulties teachers often tape this checklist to the corner of students’ desks so students can refer it on future activities. Above all Mr. Jackson will have to teach Jorge how to self-regulate, that is how to manage, monitor, and control his thinking, motivation, and behavior.
4. Perhaps Jorge is not motivated or has other concerns that are interfering with his ability to focus. First, Jorge may have no interest or does not believe this activity has any value to his current or future goals. As such, his poor performance may reflect a lack of motivation rather than a cognitive impairment. Equally as likely is a situation in which something at home or with another student has interfered with Jorge’s ability to concentrate and has contributed to his poor performance. It is important for you, the teacher, to explore these possibilities before forming judgments about your students.
Decision Making
Next, help Mr. Jackson decide which methods to employ to help Jorge improve his letter. For you to help him do so consider:
1. What method(s) are most effective for Mr. Jackson to employ to help Jorge write his letter to the school board?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. Since Mr. Jackson will need to gather more information to decide whether Jorge has a mild learning disability, it seems that in the short term he needs to decide on three things. First, which topics would be interesting for Jorge, second how will he provide Jorge with enough support to produce his ideas (e.g., have him tell his story into a recorder and then write it down), and finally how could he structure the activity to capitalize on Jorge’s strengths and abilities.
Evaluation
Finally, help Mr. Jackson create ways to evaluate Jorge’s performance using various indicators. To do so consider:
1. What are some things Mr. Jackson can do to evaluate Jorge?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. It is not clear whether Mr. Jackson has provided Jorge with a rubric or a list of goals that will allow him to know Mr. Jackson’s expectations. Communicating clear goals and expectations for students, helps them structure their work while also providing them with effective models of expert planning practices. Mr. Jackson could also divide the task into smaller sections so Jorge will receive feedback more often and he can use this feedback to improve. Students, especially younger ones, are not capable to managing huge tasks and work best under conditions where the task is subdivided. Finally, Mr. Jackson can provide a new writing task for Jorge with the appropriate supports. He can contrast the quality of Jorge’s new writing with that of his previous writing to determine if these new strategies are effective.
Chapter 13: Reflection for Action
Recall the scenario presented in your text:
Working proactively is the best way to approach trying to be a good teacher of students from diverse backgrounds. But one of the issues when people come from different backgrounds is that sometimes they do not get along. Prejudices and biases often run strong. Imagine you have children in your class that come from groups that have long-standing disagreements with one another. There might be religious differences, differences relating to past or even current conflicts, or differences based on one group having oppressed the other. Imagine that these children refuse to work with one another or even acknowledge the other child exists. How are you going to approach this problem?
Now think about how you would approach this problem using the RIDE ACRONYM.
Reflection
In order to answer this question, reflect on some of the topics we have explored in this chapter.
Lets brainstorm!
1. Evaluate the information you learned in this chapter. Does any of this apply to this scenario?
2. You recall from your education classes that it is important for teachers to establish a multicultural education for students. What is a multicultural education?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. The information on creating a multicultural education can be used to analyze this problem.
2. Promoting a multicultural education involves selecting and inventing content, instruction, and learning centered activities that encourage cultural awareness and appreciation.
Information Gathering
You need more information to improve social relations in your classroom. To assist you in your information gathering activities consider:
1. Identify some of the major goals for implementing a multicultural education.
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. There are five goals for implementing a multicultural education. First, show students how the past and present experiences of many ethnic groups, including their own, have had an impact on society. Try to help them develop both self-acceptance and respect for other ways. Second, show students how different cultural groups have influenced and perceived historical events and artistic creations, with the goal of reducing ethnocentrism and fostering productive relationships amongst members of those groups. Third, help students combat harmful stereotypes about ethnic groups. Forth, support other teachers in developing attitudes, expectations, instructional practices, disciplinary policies and practices, and classroom climates that value and accept all students. Lastly, acknowledge the need for basic reading, writing and computation skills and embed them in a personally meaningful, cultural context.
Decision Making
Next, you decide to establish a multicultural education in your classroom to improve peer relations. Consider:
1. What method(s) are most effective for establishing a multicultural education in your classroom?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. To establish a multicultural education in your classroom you need to first integrate culturally-relevant content into lesson plans. This means using examples, data, stories, and products from a variety of cultures and groups to illustrate key concepts, principles, generalizations, and theories in the subject matter of the course. Second, consider adjusting instruction to accommodate the needs of diverse learners. Here, the general rule is for teachers to work hard to understand their students’ perspective and goals and, once done, work equally hard to adapt the instruction they provide to the minority culture’s strengths, interests, values, and aspirations. Adapting instruction to integrate students’ primary language is one example of such accommodation. Finally, you need to reduce prejudicial attitudes and behaviors. You can modify students’ attitudes through the use of cooperative learning. Cooperative learning helps students develop positive racial attitudes and cross-groups (racial, gender) friendships. Since students currently refuse to work together, you will need to prepare students to interact in cooperative and constructive ways with students who are different from themselves. Without such pre-cooperative learning readiness, it is somewhat common for students to treat their peers with unequal statuses and for students with relatively higher-status (e.g., often boys, high SES students) to dominate the group dynamics at the expense of relatively lower-status students (e.g., often girls, low SES students). Be sure to encourage active oral participation by placing students into rotating roles (e.g., facilitator, questioner, reporter; see Chapter 9) and by introducing skill-building activities such as how to ask for help from others and also how to provide help to others. Above all you need to help all students feel that they are of equal status with their classmates. You can do this by believing that all students are capable of learning both basic skills and higher-level concepts, and also by creating conditions under which all students have equal access to challenging learning materials.
Evaluation
Finally, you need to determine if your plan of action is working effectively. To do so consider:
1. Describe some strategies you can use to evaluate your diversity awareness plan.
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. One evaluation technique you may use is to invite an objective outsider to observe you in your classroom. You may even suggest that the principal hire a professional to observe each teacher in the school. Alternatively, you might take a quick inventory of your classroom and teaching practices. For example, do the pictures on your walls include a variety of cultures, Do you have a multicultural curriculum? Finally, you might consider forming a committee of parent volunteers to evaluate authenticity in questionable material. When in doubt it is best to seek a second opinion.
Chapter 14: Reflection for Action
Recall the scenario presented in your text:
Imagine that you have just graded an assessment for your class, and constructed a stem-and-leaf diagram of the results. They are a disaster. The students did much worse than you had expected. Only the two best students in the class did well, although they did very well.
What might have gone wrong? How can you find out what happened, and how you can avoid repeating this situation?
Now think about how you would approach this problem using the RIDE ACRONYM.
Reflection
In order to answer this question, reflect on some of the topics we have explored in this chapter including assessment for learning, principles of assessment and grading, options for assessment, developing and using assessments, interpreting classroom assessments, developing a grading system, and communicating with parents.
Lets brainstorm!
1. It can be very discouraging to have students perform poorly on an assessment whether it is related to a single lesson such as a lab or an entire unit of study. The first time this happens, a teacher may experience feelings ranging from a sense of failure to placing blame. It is important to move beyond such feelings to determine what caused this situation to prevent its reoccurrence and to decide how to deal with the current situation. Recall the information presented in this chapter, what could you use to help you assess this problem?
2. Recall the relationship between a teacher’s expectations and student performance. How does this information relate to this problem?
3. You recall that developing a test blueprint is an important part of the assessment process. What is a test blueprint and how could you use it to plan and evaluate your assessment?
4. Sometimes assessments are ineffective because they do not align with the format in which students learned the information. It is possible that students’ poor performance is the result of a discrepancy between instruction and assessment? Explain.
Lets consult the experts!
1. The information on developing and using assessments and interpreting classroom assessments is particularly important to this problem, although the other topics are also helpful to consider.
2. It is obvious that students did not perform as well as you might have expected. Surprises and disappointments are bound to happen and they are due in part to the students’ performance and in part to your expectations. Expectations develop naturally once you have worked with a group of students. Although it is very important not to let such expectations affect the grading of student papers, they should affect the interpretation of the assessment and the communication to the student. The work that a student hands in at any given point in time is part of an ongoing thread of work that must be revisited from time to time to assess that student’s growth properly. You decide to revisit this topic further after you have gathered more information.
3. Teachers start the development of an assessment by thinking about what they want to accomplish. What should the assessment be about, and why is it being given? When developing traditional assessment formats, such as multiple choice, constructed response, and essay, teachers rough out a table of specifications, or test blueprint, of what to include. The blueprint can be as simple and straightforward as an outline or it can be more sophisticated, such as the content/behavior matrix. Test blueprints are used to determine how well the assessment represents the content and cognitive objectives of instruction.
4. You are aware that assessment options each have strengths and weaknesses and that you must consider the appropriateness of various alternatives to a specific assessment goal. For example, if the objective is to have students develop their own ideas in relation to an assigned task and then students worked on activities in class that reinforced these skills, an essay or a performance assessment would be appropriate. If you used a multiple-choice exam to assess these skills then you should not be surprised if students perform poorly. If, on the other hand, a unit requires that students acquire and comprehend a large amount of information, a multiple- choice or short-answer test can provide a good sample of how much they have learned. In this case, an essay exam would not be consistent with your instructional goals or activities. Assessments should follow from your instructional goals, and the activities you use to reinforce learning and your assessments should follow the same format.
Information Gathering
You realize that you will need more information to assess why students performed so poorly on your assessment. To assist you in your information gathering activities consider the following questions.
1. During the reflection phase, you realized that you need more information about your assessment. If you were to review your assessment, what information would you look for to explain students’ performance?
2. When interpreting your assessment it is important to analyze the whole class as well as individual’s performance. Review the information provided in your textbook on this subject. What do you find?
3. During the reflection phase, you determined that developing a test blueprint is helpful to analyzing and interpreting your assessment. Review the section on test blueprints in the text. How can you use this information to develop a test blueprint and evaluate your assessment?
Ok, lets consult the experts!
1. You might examine the assessment for possible sources of confusion in the language of the instructions or the items themselves. You may also want to discuss the assessment with the class. Ask the students for their explanations for their performance. Although students may sometimes look for easy excuses, when a teacher is sincere in his/her approach to this type of situation, students (particularly middle school and high school students) will often give reasonable explanations for their performance. You may specifically want to ask students why they found it difficult, and what would have helped them to do better. This may provide you with information about how they felt about the material and the particular format you selected. All of this will provide you with information about your assessment and help to explain students’ performance.
2. By reading your text, you learn teachers need to consider performance for both the class as a whole and individual students when analyzing and interpreting their assessments. When the class in general does not do well on a particular aspect of an assessment, there could be a variety of explanations. First, perhaps the problem lies in the assessment itself. Was there a mistake, a typographical error, or a possibility for misinterpretation? Second, perhaps the problem has do with your instruction. If there is nearly unanimity on a wrong response, it might be time to take a serious look at how the instruction was delivered with respect to this content. Finally, the problem may in fact have to do with the students. Perhaps they did not understand the expectations for performance, or there was a general letdown in performance.
3. A content/behavior matrix is a form of test blueprint that crosses behaviors with subject headings to provide a matrix of possible instructional objectives. The content/behavior matrix is particularly helpful in that it enables teachers to see all the possible areas for writing test questions. Not every possible cell has to have questions in it. If a particular combination of a content area and a cognitive behavior has not been taught then it should not be tested. The content/behavior matrix not only helps in test construction but also provides a useful way to reflect on instruction up to the point of the test. It can even lead teachers to a deeper understanding of their instruction (e.g., “I really haven’t spent much time on this topic, have I?” or “This has turned out to be the real emphasis of this unit”). A good starting point for a test blueprint is the set of district or state standards for the unit being taught. The test blueprint is, in reality, a restatement and expansion of the goals for the unit, essential not just for assessment but for instruction as well. After you construct the test blueprint, you should compare it with the assessment. Is there agreement between the two documents with respect to the content objectives and cognitive behaviors?
Decision Making
Next, determine if your assessment was effective. To help you do so consider:
1. What are some specific strategies you can use to evaluate and interpret your assessment?
Lets consult the experts!
1. Two students did very well on the assessment, which might suggest that the test is a valid measure of the content and did not present particularly confusing instructions. Alternatively, if only the two best students did well on the assessment, there may be a problem with your instruction or the assessment. Based on the information you gathered from students, perhaps you might redesign the assessment and give the students another opportunity to demonstrate what they know. Furthermore, if a comparison of the blueprint and the assessment confirms the validity and there are no apparent sources of confusion, the class discussion will probably reveal the lack of preparation of the students for the assessment. The two best students performed well, but they would not need as much rehearsal and reinforcement of the content as the rest of the students. If most of the students have not mastered the content, it is senseless to move on to the next activity or unit; additional time should be spent re-teaching and practicing the concepts before administering another assessment. The first assessment might be considered a formative assessment in this situation with the grades not being recorded.
Evaluation
How will you determine if your modifications will have a positive effect on student performance? To do so consider:
1. What are some criteria by which you can evaluate if your assessment is a valid and reliable measure?
2. How will you prevent this situation from occurring in the future?
Lets consult the experts!
1. If you decide to give another assessment then students’ performance on the second assessment will be a measure of success in this situation. Some questions to ask yourself include:
• How do the results look as a whole?
• What did I expect? Were there surprises?
• What was particularly difficult for students? For example, why did students pick a certain wrong option on a multiple-choice test?
• What seemed to confuse students? Are there items that students who really seemed to know the material got wrong? Why did some of the best students miss the idea behind an essay question?
• Did any of the students take an especially novel and/or useful approach to a performance assessment that I can incorporate next time around?
2. To reduce the chances of this type of situation occurring in the future, it may be beneficial to incorporate formative assessments to determine the students’ understanding during instruction and well before administering a summative assessment.
Chapter 15: Reflection for Action
Recall the scenario presented in your text:
You are teaching fourth grade in your school for the first time. Three weeks before the statewide standardized assessments, you receive a set of materials to use in preparing your students for the test. In reviewing the materials, it seems to you that you are teaching what is going to be on the test in the same format as the test. Although these are not direct questions from the test, you are not sure whether this is ethical.
Teaching to the test is an issue of great concern in American education. On one hand, it seems unfair to expect children to show what they can do on an assessment without a solid understanding of what is expected of them and what will appear on the assessment. On the other hand, if you focus too heavily on what is on the assessment and how it is assessed, will you narrow what your students will learn and the contexts in which they can display their abilities? Will they know how to perform only on the assessment?
Now think about how you would approach this problem using the RIDE ACRONYM.
Reflection
In order to answer this question, reflect on some of the topics we have explored in this chapter including the nature and development of standardized tests, technical issues in assessment, interpreting standardized assessments, and controversies in assessment.
Lets brainstorm!
1. What topics have we covered in this chapter that are applicable to addressing your problem?
2. Recall that there is a difference between teaching to the test and assessment following from instruction. Can you explain?
3. Whenever we discuss assessments, we are concerned with whether they are valid. Define validity and discuss how you will ensure that students test results are valid.
4. Describe the difference between a norm- referenced and criterion- referenced tests. What type are standardized tests?
5. What are some problems teachers have when interpreting standardized test results?
Lets consult the experts!
1. The information on technical issues in assessment, interpreting standardized assessments, and controversies in assessment are relevant to this problem.
2. Teaching to the test is an issue of great concern in American education. On one hand, it seems unfair to expect children to show what they can do on an assessment without a solid understanding of what is expected of them and what will appear on the assessment. On the other hand, if you focus too heavily on what is on the assessment and how it is assessed, you will narrow what your students will learn and the contexts in which they can display their abilities.
3. Validity is the degree to which conclusions about students based on their assessment scores are justified and fair. Validity asks the question, Is the conclusion I am drawing about this student based on this assessment correct? In assessment, validity is the heart of the issue. If an assessment is valid, it has to be reliable. Because of its importance, you decide to research the concept of validity further during the information-gathering phase.
4. You recall from your text that if you compare a score to a fixed standard, or criterion (90% and above =A, 80–90% =B, etc.; or passing on the road test to get your driver’s license), you are making a criterion-referenced interpretation of the score. If you compare a score to how well others did on the same test (70th percentile, above average, best in show), you are making a norm-referenced interpretation of the score. Is the statewide assessment a norm-referenced test in which a student’s performance is compared to others of his or her age or grade level? Your intuition is that it is a norm-referenced test, but you decide to gather more information before making your decision.
5. Teachers encounter several problems when looking at standardized test reports. The first is that the teacher sees only the test report, not the actual efforts of students taking the test. On a classroom assessment, the teacher sees the work of each child on each problem or prompt. As a result, the teacher is able to gather information about the student on each problem, draw inferences, and make judgments about the student’s overall performance on the assessment. With a standardized test, the teacher does not see the work itself, but rather a scaled score of some sort on a label, such as interpreting text or process skills. A related problem is that teachers do not usually get the results of an assessment until well after it was given. It may be months later; in fact, in some cases it may be after the end of the school year. It is difficult to have an influence on a student who is no longer in your class. Finally, the content of standardized assessments does not always line up directly with what was taught to all of the students.
Information Gathering
You realize that you will need more information to decide what to teach students to prepare them for the standardized exam. To assist you in your information gathering activities consider the following questions.
1. During the reflection phase, you realized that validity is an important issue in evaluating any assessment. Review the information in your text on validity. What are some ways that statisticians ensure that standardized tests are valid?
2. You decide to examine the test materials to gather more information, what do you look for to help you determine how to prepare students for the exam?
Lets consult the experts!
1. In assessment, validity is the heart of the issue. If an assessment is valid, it has to be reliable. The concepts of antique and old provide an analogy. If something is antique, it has to be old, but not all old things are antique (rocks, for example). For standardized assessments, measurement specialists conduct studies to validate empirically that the assessment measures what it is intended to measure. These validation studies often include the following:
● Having experts critically review the items on the assessment to ensure that they measure what is intended (this is called content validity evidence)
● Statistically relating the scores from the measure with other, known indicators of the same traits or abilities (this is called criterion-related validity evidence)
● Conducting research studies in which the assessments are hypothesized to demonstrate certain results based on theories of what the assessments measure (called construct validity evidence)
2. You might consider examining the test preparation materials, comparing them to the content objectives and cognitive behaviors of the curriculum for the current year. Are there minor or major differences? Are the students familiar with the format of the questions (e.g. multiple choice, constructed-response) that will appear on the assessment? You might also consider how you can include test preparation activities within your classroom instruction rather than as daily drills. In addition, you could review the kinds of assessments that you have been giving in the class to see whether the statewide assessment uses similar formats or whether they are very different. Finally, you might consult with other teachers who have experience with statewide tests to see if you can learn from them about the best strategies for preparing the students.
Decision Making
Next, you will have to make some decisions on how to determine the best way to prepare your students for the standardized exam. To help you do so consider:
1. It is time to determine the instructional strategies you will use to prepare your students for standardized testing. Consider the benefits/drawbacks of each approach. What will you do?
Lets consult the experts!
1. If students have had frequent practice with the format of the items on the standardized test and the content of the test has been taught throughout the year, no specific preparation is needed beyond explaining the testing situation to the students. If the students have had little or no practice with the format of some of the questions, students should be given an opportunity to practice before the test. Additionally, if there are some content areas that have not yet been taught, and if it would be logical to address them in the three weeks before the test, then this instruction should be done. This preparation would best be done as classroom instruction and considered as such (rather than test preparation), using activities, inquiry, cooperative learning, and encouraging active involvement of the students as opposed to sets of problems or questions on worksheets for drill. This implies that you would probably develop assessments for your instructional units that were similar to the format of those used in the statewide test. You might also consider modeling for students how to respond to these assessments and provide them with opportunities for practice including the use of homework problems that have a similar format as the assessments. Linking your assessments to your instructional goals will help you to identify the material that is important for students to take away from your lessons. This is different from teaching to the test. This means that you want to identify the important concepts/ skills you expect your students to demonstrate at the end of the unit so that your teaching allows students to practice these skills. Because using a similar format is not the same as teaching to the test, you should have no ethical issues.
Evaluation
You will need to consider if you prepared the students effectively for the standardized test. To do so consider:
1. What are some questions you could use to assess how well you prepared students for the exam? Are there other techniques you could use?
Lets consult the experts!
1. You may ask yourself if it was possible to incorporate necessary content areas and practice on different item types before the standardized test? If students overall performance on the test was at least adequate? Or what information could you use to modify classroom instruction in future years to improve student preparedness for the test without using specific drills, last minute exercises, or compromising the quality of instruction? After the statewide assessment, you may consider asking students how comfortable they were taking the test and whether they thought it was easy or hard. Was there anything that surprised them? Finally, you will want to examine the results carefully when they came back.
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