CHAPTER ONE
EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY:
UNDERSTANDING LEARNING AND TEACHING
The Pre-eminence of Teachers
* 1. Of the following factors, which contributes most to students’ learning and development?
a. The curriculum that students follow
b. The size of the classes students are in
c. The students’ school facilities and extracurricular activities
d. The students’ teachers
* 2. A person who is highly knowledgeable or skilled in a particular domain, such as physics, anesthesiology, or
teaching is best describes as a(n):
a. professional.
b. expert.
c. scholar.
d. technician.
* 3. Which of the following best describes effective teachers?
a. Teachers who are defined as highly effective by federal legislation mandates, such as No Child Left
Behind or Race to the Top
b. Teachers who are highly knowledgeable in a content area, such as math, science, or American
literature
c. Teachers who are able to produce more learning in their students than would be expected for the
students’ background and ability.
d. Teachers who are well organized and possess both professional knowledge and professional skills
** 4. An elementary school decides to experiment with two different curriculum approaches to language arts.
The first focuses on a whole language approach, and the second focuses on word-attack skills, such as
phonics.
If the schools’ results are consistent with patterns identified by research, which of the following is the
most likely outcome?
a. The whole-language approach will result in more student learning than will the approach
emphasizing phonics in all the elementary grades.
b. The approach emphasizing phonics will result in more student learning than will the approach
emphasizing whole language in all the elementary grades.
c. The approach emphasizing phonics will result in more student learning in the lower elementary
grades, but the approach emphasizing whole language will result in more learning in the upper
elementary grades.
d. The effectiveness of either approach depends on the knowledge and skills of the teacher
implementing the program; one is not necessarily better than the other.
* 5. Which of the following best describes expert teaching?
a. Expert teaching is essentially instinctive, and it is virtually impossible to acquire the skills needed to
be an expert teacher in the absence of a great deal of natural ability.
b. Some teachers possess more natural ability than others, but expertise can be acquired through study
and practice.
c. Expertise in teaching is acquired solely through experience in classrooms, and formal study of
teaching is largely a waste of time.
d. Expert teaching in elementary schools can be developed with study and practice, but expert teaching
in middle and secondary schools depends primarily on teachers’ knowledge of content.
* 6. Which of the following best describes the differences between effective and ineffective teachers in
elementary schools?
a. Students who had highly effective teachers in 1st and 2nd grades scored higher than students who had
ineffective teachers in the same grades, but the differences largely disappeared by the time the
students reached 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades.
b. Students who had highly effective teachers in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades scored as much as 50 percentile
points higher on standardized math tests than students who had ineffective teachers in the same
grades.
c. Students taught by highly effective teachers learn to be better readers than students taught by
ineffective teachers, but differences in other content areas are minimal.
d. The differences between effective and ineffective teachers are slight, because student achievement
largely depends on the socioeconomic status of parents.
Essay Items
* 7. Describe the relationship between expertise and effective teaching.
* 8. Describe the primary difference between effective and less effective teachers.
* 9. A number of differences will exist between a “good” school and a school that is less good. However, one
difference will be more important than any other. What is this difference?
Educational Psychology, Expert Teaching, and Professional Knowledge
* 10. The body of information and skills that is unique to an area of study, such as law, medicine, or teaching is
best described as:
a. professional knowledge.
b. expert knowledge.
c. background knowledge.
d. formal knowledge.
* 11. Of the following, which description is most characteristic of beginning teachers?
a. They are realistic, sometimes even pessimistic, about the extent to which they’ll be able to help
young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
b. They believe that they will be more effective than teachers now in the field.
c. They are unsure of their commitment to teaching.
d. They go into teaching for material rewards.
* 12. Research indicates that effective teaching requires four kinds of professional knowledge. They include:
a. knowledge of content, general pedagogical knowledge, knowledge of learners and learning, and
knowledge of human relations.
b. knowledge of content, pedagogical content knowledge, general pedagogical knowledge, and
knowledge of learners and learning.
c. pedagogical content knowledge, general pedagogical knowledge, knowledge of learners and
learning, and knowledge of human relations.
d. knowledge of teaching skills, knowledge of learning styles, knowledge of student learning, and
knowledge of content.
* 13. Teacher abilities such as questioning and the ability to organize a classroom so it functions smoothly would
best be described as:
a. knowledge of content.
b. pedagogical content knowledge.
c. general pedagogical knowledge.
d. knowledge of learners and learning.
* 14. The ability to find or create examples of topics so that the topics are meaningful to learners is best
described as:
a knowledge of content.
b. pedagogical content knowledge.
c. general pedagogical knowledge.
d. knowledge of learners and learning.
* 15. “You can’t teach what you don’t know” is a commonly stated maxim in teaching. Of the following, it most
nearly describes:
a. knowledge of content.
b. pedagogical content knowledge.
c. general pedagogical knowledge.
d. knowledge of learners and learning.
* 16. Look at the following statement:
Research recognizes that students do not passively receive information from teachers (like tape recorders), but instead
construct their own knowledge of the topics they study as they attempt to make sense of the information.
Understanding the statement you just read most closely relates to:
a. knowledge of content.
b. pedagogical content knowledge.
c. general pedagogical knowledge.
d. knowledge of learners and learning.
** 17. Bob has been teaching fifth grade for five years. He knows his students have difficulty understanding the
different potential geologic plate movements of the earth. Knowing this, he has developed a series of hand
movements the children can use to illustrate the different potential relationships among plates. By
recognizing that his students have difficulty with this concept and by finding a way to better assist their
learning, Bob is specifically illustrating his:
a. domain-specific prior knowledge.
b. general pedagogical knowledge.
c. general prior knowledge.
d. pedagogical content knowledge.
** 18. Sandy wants to strengthen her United States History teaching this summer. She has enrolled in a master’s–
level course for history majors on the Underground Railroad. By enrolling in the course, Sandy illustrates
her desire to increase her:
a. knowledge of content.
b. general pedagogical knowledge.
c. general prior knowledge.
d. pedagogical content knowledge.
** 19. After studying educational psychology, a teacher understands that the thinking of most high school students
is concrete, e.g., they are able to understand abstract concepts like density, for example, only after seeing
concrete illustrations of it. Without these illustrations, they memorize formulas that have little meaning for
them.
Of the following, the teacher’s understanding would best be described as:
a. knowledge of content.
b. pedagogical content knowledge.
c. general pedagogical knowledge.
d. knowledge of learners and learning.
** 20. Many people believe that teaching is primarily a process of presenting information to students in succinct
and organized ways. Of the following, the most likely reason for this belief is:
a. most of their experiences with teaching involved teachers presenting and explaining information.
b. the belief is consistent with what we know about learning.
c. the belief is based on the need to thoroughly understand the content that we teach, and the need to
understand content is documented by research.
d. most researchers in the area of learning emphasize the role of teacher explanation in helping students
learn.
Use the following information for items 21 and 22.
April Jackson’s students have difficulty understanding the concept pressure, tending to equate it with force. To try
to help her students understand the difference, she stands with both feet on the floor and then stands with one foot on
the floor. She then helps the students understand that the amount of force she exerts on the floor is the same on
either one foot or both feet, but she exerts twice as much pressure on one foot, because the force is on a smaller area.
** 21. Her ability to represent the concept pressure in this way best illustrates her:
a. knowledge of content.
b. pedagogical content knowledge.
c. general pedagogical knowledge.
d. knowledge of learners and learning.
** 22. The way April represented her content—standing on one foot and then standing on two feet to show the
kids the difference between force and pressure is best described as a:
a. simulation.
b. model.
c. case study.
d. demonstration.
Use the following information for Items 23–26.
Kathy Krudwig, an educational psychology instructor, wants her students to understand the importance of
teacher questioning as a means of involving students. She read a research study in which one group of teachers was
trained to call on all their students as equally as possible, another group of comparable teachers received no training,
and the results indicated that the trained teachers’ students achieved significantly higher than the other teachers’
students.
She knows, however, that simply telling her students to ask many questions will be less effective than showing
them something concrete, so she writes the following vignette and displays it on the overhead in her classroom.
Mrs. Myers was having a difficult time getting her students to respond. She tried various high-interest activities,
but they remained apathetic.
Finally, she tried a direct approach. She told them that she was going to call on each of them whether or not
they had their hand up. She reminded them that she was there to help them if they had trouble answering.
At first the process was very difficult, and she was exhausted at the end of the day, but within a week, the
attention level and involvement of her students had increased significantly.
Kathy also “practices what she preaches” by calling on all of her students as equally as possible.
** 23. Of the following, the form of content representation best illustrated by the vignette Kathy displayed is best
described as:
a. an example.
b. a case study.
c. a demonstration.
d. a model.
** 24. We see that Kathy understood that “simply telling her students to ask many questions will be less effective
than showing them something concrete.” Kathy’s understanding in this instance is best described as:
a. knowledge of content.
b. pedagogical content knowledge.
c. knowledge of descriptive research.
d. knowledge of learners and learning.
** 25. Kathy’s ability to create her vignette to help her students reach her goal is best described as:
a. knowledge of content.
b. pedagogical content knowledge.
c. general pedagogical knowledge.
d. knowledge of learners and learning.
** 26. Kathy’s practicing what she preached by calling on her own students best indicates her:
a. knowledge of content.
b. pedagogical content knowledge.
c. general pedagogical knowledge.
d. knowledge of learners and learning.
* 27. Reflective practice is defined as:
a. the spontaneous problem-solving effective teachers employ.
b. the confidence to communicate with parents, other teachers, and administrators.
c. the process of conducting a critical self–examination of one’s practice and thinking.
d. the accumulation of day to day interactions that engaged teachers use when working with struggling
learners.
** 28. “I’m going to have the children practice on long–vowel sounds and blends during skills block tomorrow,”
Ava Goodwin, a kindergarten teacher, says to herself as she plans for the next week. “I don’t think I’ve
spent enough time on basic skills the past few weeks.” Ava then spends more time on basic skills the next
week.
Ava’s concluding that she hasn’t been spending enough time on basic skills best illustrates which of
the following characteristics of expert teaching?
a. Decision making in ill-defined contexts
b. Reflective practice
c. A critical attitude toward teaching
d. A body of specialized knowledge
* 29. Changes in students’ thinking, personalities, and social skills are best described as:
a. cognitive skills.
b. learner expertise.
c. student characteristics.
d. developmental differences.
** 30. Suzanne sees a row of 5 coins, and a second row, also of 5 coins, with each coin in the second row
immediately below its counterpart in the first row. The second row is then spread apart without adding or
removing a coin, and Suzanne concludes that the second row now has more coins than the first row.
Delbert sees the same demonstration, and states that the coins in the second row have simply been spread
apart, and the number of coins in each row remains the same.
This example best illustrates which of the following?
a. Differences in ability between Suzanne and Delbert
b. Developmental differences between Suzanne and Delbert
c. Aptitude differences between Suzanne and Delbert
d. Differences in expertise between Suzanne and Delbert
Essay Items
* 31. Describe and provide an example of each of the kinds of knowledge professional teachers possess.
Items 32 and 33 are related.
** 32 Paul Hernandez stands at the front of his classroom and smiles broadly as his seventh graders stroll in for
their first meeting. This is the day he’s been waiting for, and he feels ready. He is confident that his double
major in history and geography will make him a stellar teacher. He feels especially lucky in that he’s
obtained an emergency certificate and hasn’t been forced to waste time in teacher education classes.
Which type of professional knowledge is Paul most likely to have? Explain.
** 33. Paul explains that geography influences a great many things about our lives, such as the location of major
cities, the economies of different areas, and the lifestyles people adopt. This material is very interesting to
him, and he’s a bit surprised that his students don’t seem to share the same interest.
Paul’s approach to instruction suggests that he lacks two forms of professional knowledge. What are
they?
The Role of Research in Acquiring Professional Knowledge
* 34. Which of the following is the best definition of research?
a. The process of making decisions about the best way to represent the content that is being taught
b. The process of systematically gathering information in an attempt to answer professional questions
c. The process of requiring students to demonstrate that they have met specified standards, and holding
teachers responsible for students’ performance
d. The process of making changes in educational policy to more nearly meet the needs of students at all
levels
* 35. Researchers will often consciously manipulate one variable, such as the number of questions teachers ask,
to measure its effect on another variable, such as student achievement. This process is best described as:
a. descriptive research.
b. correlational research.
c. experimental research.
d. longitudinal research.
* 36. The use of surveys, interviews, or observations to identify people’s opinions and attitudes is best described
as:
a. descriptive research.
b. correlational research.
c. experimental research.
d. longitudinal research.
* 37. Research that identifies a relationship between two variables, such as identifying a relationship between
student involvement in learning activities and student achievement is best described as:
a. descriptive research.
b. correlational research.
c. experimental research.
d. longitudinal research.
* 38. Which of the following statements best describes the role of random assignment in research?
a. It is used to ensure that researchers don’t infringe on people’s rights.
b. It is used to ensure that the costs of conducting research studies are within government limits.
c. It is used to ensure that research studies are based on appropriate learning theory.
d. It is used to ensure that groups used in research studies are comparable.
* 39. Experimental research most commonly extends which of the following types of research?
a. Descriptive research
b. Correlational research
c. Other experimental research
d. Longitudinal research
* 40. An attempt to describe complex educational phenomenon in a holistic fashion using nonnumerical data,
such as words and pictures, is best described as:
a. descriptive research.
b. correlational research.
c. experimental research.
d. qualitative research.
* 41. Which of the following statements most accurately describes the role of research in teaching?
a. It primarily confirms commonsense notions about teaching.
b. It primarily adds information to the body of knowledge that is not understood by common sense or
intuition alone.
c. It both confirms commonsense understanding and adds nonintuitive information to the body of
knowledge.
d. It primarily focuses on theoretical problems that don‘t have direct application in classrooms.
* 42. Of the following, the best description of the type of research that is most commonly conducted by teachers
in their classrooms is:
a. descriptive research.
b. correlational research.
c. action research.
d. experimental research.
* 43. When conducting action research, after identifying and diagnosing a problem that is important to you, the
next step is to:
a. use the results of the study to generate additional research.
b. implement the findings to solve or improve a local problem.
c. systematically plan and conduct a research study.
d. generalize the findings to other action research settings.
** 44. A research study indicating that teachers who use concrete examples to illustrate their topics have students
who achieve higher than teachers who represent the ideas abstractly best illustrates what kind of research?
a. Descriptive research
b. Correlational research
c. Experimental research
d. Longitudinal research
** 45. Amanda Jones is an educational researcher who investigates the variables that are related to the success of
minority students in private colleges. The type of research that Amanda does can best be described as:
a. experimental research.
b. action research.
c. descriptive research.
d. correlational research.
** 46. Luisa is an educational researcher. She surveys everyone in the district to obtain their opinions about after–
school enrichment programs. What type of research is best illustrated by Luisa’s efforts?
a. Descriptive research
b. Theoretical research
c. Experimental research
d. Correlational research
** 47. Deshawn Smith is an educational researcher who examines the effects of animated agents in learning from
multimedia instructional materials. He randomly assigns participants to either a group that gets animated
agents in their instructional materials or a group that receives instructional materials without an animated
agent. Deshawn’s research can best be described as:
a. experimental research.
b. action research.
c. descriptive research.
d. correlational research.
** 48. Marcella is an action researcher concerned with the effects of feedback on science concept learning. She
has identified a problem important to her, that is, whether feedback hinders inquiry, and she has
systematically planned a study to address the problem. The next step for Marcella is to:
a. diagnose the problem.
b. conduct the study.
c. implement the findings.
d. generate additional questions.
** 49. What kind of research is best illustrated in the following statement? “One group of teachers was trained to
call on all their students as equally as possible, another group of comparable teachers received no training,
and the results indicated that the trained teachers’ students achieved significantly higher than the other
teachers’ students.”
a. Descriptive research
b. Correlational research
c. Experimental research
d. Longitudinal research
** 50. A research study indicates that one group of teachers was trained to bring each lesson to a form of clear
closure. A comparable group of teachers received no training. Of the following, which is the most likely
way the researchers made sure the two groups of teachers were comparable?
a. They conducted their research in two schools that had students with comparable backgrounds.
b. They tested the teachers to determine their levels of intelligence and knowledge of the content they
taught.
c. They interviewed each of the teachers before training one group.
d. They randomly assigned teachers to the two groups before training the teachers.
* 51. Research in education has received a considerable amount of criticism over the years, with its lack of
impact on classroom practice being one of the most important. “It is both surprising and depressing that
many educators cannot think of a single research output or can think of only trivial outputs that meet this
most practical and important outcome of research” (Anderson & Shattuck, 2012, p. 18).
Which of the following types of research has become prominent in response to these criticisms?
a. Descriptive research
b. Action research
c. Design-based research
d. Qualitative research
** 52. A research team from a nearby university collaborates with Zoe Gomez, a middle school teacher, to
examine the impact of supplemental text organizers, such as concept maps, on students’ reading
comprehension of written text. A series of studies are conducted in Zoe’s classroom with her students, and
each study’s design depends in part on the results of the previous study.
Of the following, which type of research is best illustrated by this description?
a. Descriptive research
b. Qualitative research
c. Action research
d. Design-based research
* 53. Of the following, what is the best description of a theory?
a. A series of related patterns that can be used as a basis for explanation and prediction.
b. A large body of information that has limited value in the real world.
c. An abstract description of events taking place primarily in the sciences.
d. A series of descriptions and conjectures that don’t have any basis in fact.
* 54. Sets of related principles that are based on observations and are used to explain additional observations best
define:
a. pedagogical content knowledge.
b. random assignment.
c. research.
d. theories.
* 55. Of the following, the best description of the use of theories is to:
a. rehearse and reflect.
b. describe and correlate.
c. explain and predict.
d. inquire and experiment.
Use the following information for Items 56-58.
You understand the statements “People tend to imitate behaviors they observe in others,” “People are more likely to
imitate a competent person’s behavior,” and “People may learn new behaviors through imitation, or behaviors they
already know may be facilitated,” and you realize they are all related. You then say, “Aha, I know how standing
ovations work. One person stands up, and that facilitates the rest of the people’s behaviors.”
** 56. Of the following, what best describes the three related statements?
a. Combined, they illustrate a theory.
b. Combined, they illustrate experimental research.
c. Combined, they illustrate critical decision making.
d. Combined, they illustrate pedagogical content knowledge.
** 57. Each of the statements, taken separately, is best described as:
a. a demonstration.
b. a principle.
c. a fact.
d. a case study.
** 58. You have studied a theory that focuses on the way people learn, and you understand the theory thoroughly.
Of the following, which statement best describes how you will use this understanding in the real world?
a. It provides you with information about the way people learn that you know to be true for all cases.
b. It allows you to predict what kind of practice will likely result in the most learning.
c. It provides you with a set of teaching rules, which if properly applied will almost always work.
d. It provides you with knowledge and understanding, even though it has limited application for
classroom practice.
Essay Items
** 59. Identify an important limitation of correlational research, and provide an example that illustrates this
limitation.
** 60. Describe the relationship between research and theory. Provide an example that illustrates the relationship
between the two.
Teaching in Today’s Classrooms
* 61. Statements that describe what students should know or be able to do at the end of a prescribed period of
study are best described as:
a. forms of accountability.
b. standards.
c. value-added models.
d. assessments.
* 62. Which of the following best explains why the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) was
developed?
a. Analysis of standards from different states identified significant variations in expectations,
rigor, and content.
b. Our federal government wanted to create a national curriculum that would be competitive with other
advanced nations.
c. States in our country wanted standards to focus to a much greater extent on the impact of technology
on learning and teaching.
d. Educational leaders wanted to create standards that would “level the playing field” for students who
are members of cultural minorities.
* 63. The process of requiring students to demonstrate that they have met standards, and making teachers
responsible for ensuring that students do indeed meet the standards is best described as:
a. value-added modeling.
b. standards-based education.
c. assessment.
d. accountability.
** 64. Teresa Walker is a second-grade teacher in a large urban elementary school. Her students take a state test
near the end of the school year to determine their learning progress. Teresa’s year-end evaluation is
determined in part by the amount her students improve, such as moving from the 50th to the 60th percentile
in reading during the academic year.
The overall process Teresa is experiencing best illustrates which of the following?
a. Accountability
b. High-stakes assessment
c. Value-added modeling
d. Standards-based instruction
* 65. Which of the following best describes demographic trends predicted to exist over the next few years in our
country?
a. By the year 2021 no ethnic group will be a majority in our country.
b. By the year 2025, the majority of our country’s school students will be of Hispanic background.
c. By the year 2030, students who have backgrounds, such as Asian/Pacific Islander, Native American,
and multi–ethnic groups, will become the majority of our nation’s school students.
d. By the year 2050, African American students will be the majority of students in our nation’s schools.
* 66. Which of the following best describes the trends in our country with respect to family income?
a. States on our country’s east and west coasts are experiencing rising rates of low-income students,
whereas the rest of the country is remaining fairly stable.
b. States with large rural populations are experiencing rising rates of low-income students, whereas the
rest of the country remained fairly stable.
c. The rates of low-income students throughout our country have remained fairly stable over the last 20
years.
d. All states in our country have experienced rising rates of low-income students to this point in the 21st
century.
* 67. Which of the following best describes experts’ estimates of the impact that technology will have on
education over the next several years?
a. Technology will present both potential benefits and challenges for teachers, and the extent to which
it influences learning will depend on the expertise of the teacher using it.
b. Technology will revolutionize teaching; in 10 years teaching won’t resemble the way it exists today.
c. The influence of technology on teaching will largely be limited to using the Internet to access
information.
d. Research suggests that technology is having a negative impact on learning because of the amount of
time students spend on activities such as texting and playing video games.
* 68. Which of the following best describes a potential outcome, or result, of the concept of neuroplasticity?
a. If we appropriately teach to students’ right-brained or left-brained orientations, we can increase
student learning.
b. With the right kinds of experiences people can literally become “smarter.”
c. If we successfully accommodate students’ learning styles, we can increase student learning.
d. Stress and fatigue tend to decrease the amount that students learn.
** 69. Jack Ryan, a math teacher, uses lecture as his primary instructional strategy, and if his students are
confused, he tries to explain the content even more clearly. Lucas Walsh, also a math teacher, uses a great
deal of questioning with his students, varies his activities, and works hard to represent the content he
teaches in ways that students can understand.
Of the following, which is the most likely explanation for the differences between Jack’s and Lucas’s
approaches to teaching?
a. Lucas has more experience than does Jack.
b. Lucas understands math better than does Jack.
c. Lucas has more native ability than does Jack.
d. Lucas possesses more professional knowledge than does Jack.
Essay Items
* 70. Explain why standards and accountability are so much a part of teaching in today’s schools in our nation.
* 71. Describe the Common Core State Standards Initiative, and explain why it was developed.
* 72. Describe two controversies that exist with the Common Core? Include both criticism and defense of the
Common Core in your description.
* 73. Describe the general process of teacher licensure and evaluation that virtually all teacher candidates will
experience.
* 74. Describe two important demographic trends that are occurring in our country and the implications these
trends will have for teaching over the next several years.
* 75. Describe the concept of neuroplasticity, and explain why it is so important for teaching and learning.
CHAPTER ONE ANSWERS
The Pre-Eminence of Teachers
Educational Psychology, Expert Teaching, and Professional Knowledge
The Role of Research in Acquiring Professional Knowledge
Teaching in Today’s Classrooms
