Learning Objectives

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Carefully crafted learning objectives reinforce the most important material.

Chapter 1: Using Science to Inform Classroom Practices

  1. Explain why educational psychology is an important resource for teachers.
     
  2. Describe three elements of research studies that help determine which studies are worthy of consideration.
     
  3. Define best practices and explain why it is important for teachers to base them on scientific evidence.
     
  4. Describe four diversity characteristics that can define an individual’s group membership, and explain why teachers need to understand differences between groups. 

Chapter 2: Contexts of Development

  1. Describe Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory.
     
  2. Describe how parenting styles and family transitions interact with the school system.
     
  3. Describe how aspects of the peer context interact with the school system.
     
  4. Explain how broader contexts of development influence microsystems and individual outcomes.

Chapter 3: Social Emotional Development

  1. Describe the environmental influences in the development of the eight psychosocial crises.
     
  2. Describe the four types of identity statuses.
     
  3. Explain the development of ethnic identity and gender identity.
     
  4. Compare and contrast self-concept and self-esteem.
     
  5. Explain the two components of social competence.
     
  6. Describe at least three strategies for improving social competence. 

Chapter 4: Moral Development

  1. Explain how thinking or reasoning about moral issues becomes more sophisticated over time, and identify any gender differences in moral reasoning.
     
  2. Describe the importance of perspective taking and empathy to prosocial behavior, and identify any gender differences that exist in prosocial behaviors.
     
  3. Describe the cognitive deficits that may explain why some individuals are more likely than other individuals to use aggression.
     
  4. Explain how families, peers, and schools contribute to the moral development of children and adolescents.

Chapter 5: Brain Development

  1. Explain the direct and indirect influences of neuroscience on education.
     
  2. Identify the parts of a neuron and the four lobes of the cerebral cortex, and explain the function of these brain structures.
     
  3. Explain the role of experience, plasticity, and sensitive periods in brain development.
     
  4. Explain the developmental changes in the brain that occur for executive functioning, reading, and math.
     
  5. How do brain patterns of individuals with reading disability and math disability differ from those without disabilities?
     
  6. Explain the ways in which neuroscience can inform best practices for teachers. 

Chapter 6: Cognitive Development

  1. Contrast individual and social constructivism.
     
  2. Describe cognitive development through Piaget’s stages, and identify what causes changes in thinking.
     
  3. Describe intersubjectivity, internalization, and scaffolding within the zone of proximal development.
     
  4. Compare and contrast the views of Piaget and Vygotsky on issues in cognitive development.
     
  5. Discuss how teachers can use constructivist theories to develop effective instruction.

Chapter 7: Language Development

  1. Explain the factors that contribute to language development.
     
  2. Describe changes in semantics, syntax, pragmatics, and metalinguistic awareness from birth through adolescence.
     
  3. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of the methods of teaching English language learners.
     
  4. Describe the language differences that emerge from early childhood through the early school-age years.
     
  5. Describe ways teachers can support language development in the classroom.

Chapter 8: Behavioral Learning Theories

  1. Describe the basic assumptions of traditional behavioral learning theories.
     
  2. Explain classical conditioning and its relevance to educational settings.
     
  3. Explain how reinforcement and punishment influence future behavior and how often each should be used to be effective.
     
  4. Explain how teachers can use consequences effectively.
     
  5. Describe strategies teachers can use to increase appropriate behaviors and decrease inappropriate behaviors.

Chapter 9: Social Cognitive Theory

  1. Describe the basic assumptions of social cognitive theory.
     
  2. Describe those characteristics of models, imitators, and the environment needed for observational learning.
     
  3. Explain how self-efficacy and self-regulation are related to positive outcomes for students.
     
  4. Explain how teachers can promote self-efficacy and self-regulation among their students.

Chapter 10: Information Processing

  1. Describe the assumptions that underlie the information processing approach.
     
  2. Explain how perception and attention are important processes for learning information.
     
  3. Describe the function, capacity, and duration for three types of memory.
     
  4. Discuss the methods for getting and maintaining students’ attention.
     
  5. Summarize the instructional strategies for helping students enhance memory.

Chapter 11: Metacognition

  1. Summarize the instructional strategies for helping students enhance memory.
     
  2. Explain four characteristics of children’s theory of mind.
     
  3. Explain two consequences related to adolescent egocentrism.
     
  4. Explain the factors that influence the development and use of metacognitive skills.
     
  5. Describe how teachers can assist students with reading comprehension and writing skills.
     
  6. Explain the importance of note taking and study time and describe how teachers can help students improve these learning strategies.

Chapter 12: Transfer of Skills and Knowledge

  1. Contrast the specific versus general view of transfer with the high-road versus low-road view.
     
  2. Explain why high-road transfer is more difficult to achieve than low-road transfer.
     
  3. Identify four teaching principles that support transfer, and explain how each facilitates transfer.

Chapter 13: Higher Order Thinking

  1. Define higher order thinking and explain why it is important in the current educational climate.
     
  2. Explain what critical thinking means.
     
  3. Identify five instructional strategies that can be used to foster critical thinking.
     
  4. Identity the five steps of the IDEAL method, including specific problem-solving strategies.
     
  5. Identify five strategies that can be used to foster problem-solving skills.
     
  6. Explain what creativity is.
     
  7. Identify five strategies for promoting creativity.

Chapter 14: Behavioral Theory

  1. Explain how motivation changes from elementary through middle school, and discuss what factors might account for this trend.
     
  2. Explain why task-contingent rewards tend to diminish intrinsic motivation, and performance-contingent rewards tend to enhance intrinsic motivation.
     
  3. Discuss the conditions under which praise can enhance or diminish intrinsic motivation, and explain individual and developmental differences in the effectiveness of praise.
     
  4. Discuss methods teachers can use to create an intrinsically motivating learning environment.

Chapter 15: Cognitive Theories

  1. Define expectancies and values, and explain how they influence students’ motivation.
     
  2. Compare and contrast the two types of mastery and performance goals.
     
  3. Identify attributions that enhance motivation and those that lower motivation.
     
  4. Explain the major developmental changes in motivation.
     
  5. Identify gender and ethnic differences in motivation.
     
  6. Explain how learned helplessness and anxiety affect students’ motivation to learn.
     
  7. Identify student-level and classroom-level strategies for enhancing motivation.

Chapter 16: Self Theories

  1. Describe outcome expectations and efficacy expectations with respect to student and teacher efficacy.
     
  2. Explain how self-worth affects the motivation of success-oriented students, overstrivers, and failure-avoiding and failure-accepting students.
     
  3. Explain how autonomy, competence, and relatedness can facilitate intrinsic motivation.
     
  4. Define internalization and explain how educational contexts can facilitate internalization of behaviors.
     
  5. Describe techniques teachers can use to enhance students’ intrinsic motivation, and identify which self theory supports each technique.

Chapter 17: Classroom Management

  1. Provide at least three strategies needed to become an effective classroom manager.
     
  2. Explain how time management can increase academic performance.
     
  3. Provide strategies for building positive relationships with both students and parents.
     
  4. Provide steps for handling misbehaviors, including bullying. 

Chapter 18: Instruction: Applying Behavioral, Cognitive, and Constructivist Approaches

  1. Explain why it is not necessary to individualize instruction for every student, and identify the situations in which teachers need to differentiate instruction.
     
  2. Describe the goals of mastery learning and direct instruction, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.
     
  3. Explain how discovery learning and expository teaching foster meaningful learning.
     
  4. Describe the techniques based on cognitive apprenticeships that are used in constructivist teaching.

Chapter 19: Grouping Practices

  1. Discuss the pros and cons of within-class and between-class ability grouping.
     
  2. Discuss the advantages of flexible grouping methods.
     
  3. Identify the characteristics of cooperative learning and discuss the effectiveness of this approach.
     
  4. Describe effective practices for addressing student differences in elementary and secondary education and for implementing cooperative learning.

Chapter 20: Intelligence and Giftedness

  1. Explain how intelligence and giftedness are more than just high cognitive ability.
     
  2. Describe what IQ tests measure and indicate the concerns with using IQ scores to identify giftedness.
     
  3. Describe how environment, socioeconomic status, and gender influence IQ.
     
  4. Explain how theories of intelligence and giftedness can be used to enhance the learning of all students regardless of their ability level. 

Chapter 21: Cognitive Disabilities

  1. Describe how cognitive disabilities are identified and served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act.
     
  2. Discuss the impairments you would expect to see in students with intellectual disabilities and the curricular approaches useful in addressing these deficits.
     
  3. Explain how learning disabilities are identified using the IQ-achievement discrepancy and the response-to-intervention approach.
     
  4. Explain the characteristic deficits you would look for in identifying students with reading and mathematics disabilities and how you would approach remediating these deficits.

Chapter 22: Emotional, Social, and Behavioral Disorders

  1. Describe how students with emotional, social, and behavioral disorders are identified and served under IDEA and Section 504.
     
  2. Explain how anxiety and depression affect students’ academic and social functioning.
     
  3. Explain how ADHD and conduct disorder affect students’ academic and social functioning.
     
  4. Describe the characteristics of autism spectrum disorder, and explain how these affect academic and social functioning.
     
  5. Describe interventions that are effective in treating emotional, social, and behavioral disorders.

Chapter 23: Assessing Student Learning

  1. Define assessment and describe its many purposes.
     
  2. Contrast the major advantages and disadvantages of objective assessments and performance assessments.
     
  3. Describe the tools used to score performance tasks, and explain the limitations of scoring performance assessments.
     
  4. Describe the three main types of grading procedures and explain their advantages and limitations.
     
  5. Describe the different types of report cards, and explain how teachers can open the lines of communication with parents regarding their children’s progress.
     
  6. Describe the principles for implementing valid and meaningful assessments.

Chapter 24: Test Construction and Use

  1. Explain why validity, reliability, fairness, and practicality are important for classroom tests.
     
  2. Explain why a test blueprint is important for test planning and construction.
     
  3. Compare and contrast the usefulness and scoring considerations of selected-response and constructed-response item formats.
     
  4. Explain how item and distractor analyses can be used to improve the validity of a classroom test.

Chapter 25: Standardized Tests and Scores

  1. Describe the purpose of four broad categories of standardized tests and how standardized tests are used by teachers.
     
  2. Explain the difference between criterion-referenced and norm-referenced tests.
     
  3. Explain the basic properties of a normal distribution.
     
  4. Describe four types of test scores, and explain the advantages and limitations of each.
     
  5. Explain why validity and reliability are two important qualities of tests and why teachers need this information about tests to interpret test scores.
     
  6. Explain how accommodations improve the validity of test scores for students at risk.