EDU220: Midterm 1 Flashcards
What are the supporting and non-supporting arguments for using teaching standards?
Supporting: teaching standards will create a better learning environment for students because teachers will know what to teach and how to teach it well (according to these set standards); creates higher status and greater autonomy for teachers
Non-supporting: difficulty in creating the standards themselves; a lot of teachers are forced out of their area of expertise because of issues in the school system so responsibly of employers to create good conditions for teachers should be recognized first; could end up punishing a lot of teachers and also students in the end
Differentiated instruction
Teaching that takes into account students’ abilities, what they already know and challenges so that what they are learning matches the subject being taught as well as the students’ needs
Educational psychology
The discipline concerned with teaching and learning processes; uses methods and theories from psychology but has its own as well
History of edu psych
- Plato and Aristotle started discussing edu psych topics before the field was created
- psych and edu have been intertwined since the beginning (William James discussing it in 1890 when psych was created)
- hall encouraged teachers studying students’ development
- thorndike wrote first edu psych text in 1903
Focus of edu psych throughout history
40s and 50s: individual diffs, assessment, learning behaviours
60s and 70s: cognitive development and learning, how students learn concepts and remember them
Now: how cultural and social factors affect learning and development, assessment
What method should a teacher use to select students to read in class?
Going around a circle so as not to skip any child by accident
When should teachers help students one-on-one in class?
Not until kids ask, because helping them without them asking makes the student and the kids around them think that the student is lacking the ability to succeed, and motivation suffers
Should schools encourage kids to skip grades if very smart?
Yes because it encourages the student and has long term social and academic benefits. Depends on child’s maturity and social skills though
Descriptive studies
Collect detailed info about specific situations, using observation, surveys, interviews, recordings, or a combo of those methods
Use qualitative analysis
Ethnography
Descriptive approach to research
Concentrates on life within a group and tries to understand the meaning of events to people involved (type of descriptive study)
Ex: studying life of expert high school math teacher
Participant observation
Method of conducting descriptive research where the research becomes a participant in the situation to better understand the life of that group
Case study
Intense study of one person or one situation
Ex: how a teacher plans a course
Correlation
Statistical description of how closely two variables are related (DO NOT prove cause and effect!)
The closer the correlation is to either 1.00 or -1.00, the stronger the relationship
Positive correlation
Relationship between variables where an increase in one causes an increase in the other and vice versa
Ex: calorie intake and weight gain
Negative correlation
A relationship between two variables where a high value on one is associated with a low value on the other
Ex: height of a person and the distance from top of head to ceiling
Experimentation
A research method where variables are manipulated and the effects are recorded
Uses participants picked at random (preferably)
Quasi-experimental studies
Studies that fit most of the criteria for being “true” experiments, but participants are not assigned at random; instead existing groups such as classes/schools participate
Statistically significant
A result that is not likely to have happened “by chance” (part of experimental studies)
Single subject experimental studies
Systematic interventions to study effects with one person, often by applying and then withdrawing a treatment
Goal= determine effects of therapy, teaching method or other intervention
Ex: ABAB experiment
Microgenetic studies
Detailed observation and analysis of changes in cognitive as the process unfolds over several days or weeks
Researchers: 1- observes change from start to finish (stable)
2- make many observations using exact words
3- study the observed behaviour moment by moment or trial by trial
Longitudinal studies
Same participants over a long period of time
Time-consuming and expensive
Not always practical
Cross-sectional studies
Studies that focus on groups of participants at different ages rather than following the same group for many years
Systematic observations or tests of methods that teachers make to improve learning and teaching
Action research
Established relationship between two or more factors
Principle
Statement which includes multiple principles that attempts to explain a body of data and make predictions about results of future experiments
Theory
A prediction of what will happen in a research study based on theory and previous research
Hypothesis
Empirical
Based on systematically collected data
Three steps of a research cycle
1- pose RESEARCH QUESTIONS based on current understandings or theories
2- gather, analyze and interpret info or data
3- refine and improve understandings and theories
What is good teaching?
Commitment to students
Adapting instruction and assessment to the needs of students
Take care of emotional needs of a students
Carefully plan and teach the basic procedures for living/learning in their classes
What should beginning teachers focus on?
Maintaining discipline Motivating students Accommodating differences between students Evaluating students work Dealing with parents Getting along with other teachers
Development
Orderly, adaptive changes that humans or animals go through from conception to death
Name and define the four types of development
1- PHYSICAL: changes in body structure as one grows
2- SOCIAL: changes in how one relates to others over time
3- COGNITIVE: gradual, orderly changes where mental processes become more complex and sophisticated
4- PERSONAL: changes in personality
Maturation
Changes that happen naturally and spontaneously, and that are genetically programmed (as opposed to changes brought up through learning)
What is the source of development? Discuss nature vs nurture
Both work together
Current views emphasize coactions of nature and nurture as we build our own environment
Now want to understand how both work together
What is the shape of development? Discuss continuity vs discontinuity (is human development a continuous process of adding and increasing abilities, or are there leaps to new stages when abilities actually change?
Discontinuous change=qualitative/like walking up stairs (ex: changes that occur during puberty, like ability to reproduce)
Continuous change=quantitative; like walking up a ramp (ex: teens getting taller)
Timing: is it too late? Describe critical periods and earlier vs later experiences
Many psychologists influences by Freud thought that early childhood experiences were critical (especially for emotional/social and cognitive development)
More recent research shows that later experiences are important too and can change the direction of development
Now: sensitive periods not critical
Name and describe the three general principles of development
1- people develop at diff rates
2- development is relatively orderly (people develop certain skills before others but it doesn’t mean that it’s predictable as some people advance, stay the same for a long time or even go backwards)
3- development takes place gradually
Neurons
Nerve cells that store and transfer info
Neurogenesis
Production of new neurons
How does a neuron send a message?
Neuron sends message to other cells through axon
Myelin cover on the axon makes transmission of impulses faster
Synapse (area between axon and dendrite) neurotransmitters carry info between neurons
Describe “pruning” in the brain
Around age 2-3, children have too many synapses and unused neurons are pruned
Necessary and supports cognitive development
Defects in pruning can cause developmental disabilities
Describe the two types of pruning/overproduction processes
1- EXPERIENCE EXPECTANT: synapses are overproduced in certain parts of brain during specific development periods, awaiting or expecting stimulation. If the parts experience the expected stimulation, they develop properly. If not, that part of the brain changes (ex: auditory processing area of brain becomes devoted to processing visual info). This is responsible for general development in large areas of the brain (could explain why pronunciation in L2s is difficult)
2- EXPERIENCE DEPENDANT: synaptic connections are formed based on individuals experiences; response in very localized areas of brain when individual has trouble processing info; involved in individual learning (ex: mastering new sound pronunciations or developing an ear for music)
What is cortical hyperarousal and what causes it?
Diminished electrical activity in the brain caused by lack of stimulation
(Ex: kids in institutions or orphanages) Goes with problems in attachment, attention and emotional control and delays in cog/language development
Do expensive toys or baby education programs help kids?
No, as it offers more stimulation than is necessary
Glial cells
White matter of the brain; outnumber neurons and have many functions (ex: fighting infections, controlling blood flow, and communication among neurons and providing myelin coating around axon fibres)
Mylelination
Process where neural fibres are coated with fatty sheath called myelin
Makes transferring messages between neurons more fast
Cerebral cortex
Largest area of the brain
Last part to develop therefore more susceptible to environmental influences
Rate of maturation: first physical motor movement, then complex senses, then frontal lobe that controls higher-order thinking processes
Temporal lobes (emotion, language, judgement) don’t finish developing until high school years or later
Lateralization
Specialization of two hemispheres of the brain cortex
Damage on one side creates problems on the opposite side of the body
Left= language processing
Right= special visual info and emotions
Plasticity
Brains tendency to remain somewhat adaptable or flexible (adaptability)
Seen more in brains of young children as their brains are not yet as specialized or lateralized as older people
What two systems contribute to teenagers difficulty in avoiding risks and controlling impulses?
Limbic system develops first (involved with emotions and reward-seeking/risk-taking behaviours) and the prefrontal lobe takes longer (involved with judgement and decision making)
What happens in the brain of a poor reader?
Underuse of parts of the left hemisphere and sometimes overuse of parts of right hemisphere
Have trouble establishing good representations of new words in their brain
Piaget’s two basic tendencies in thinking
1- tendency towards organization (combining and arranging thoughts/behaviour into coherent systems; involves schemes)
2- tendency toward adaptation (adjusting to the environment; involves assimilation and accommodation)
Schemes (Piaget)
Mental systems or categories of perception and experience
Define assimilation and accommodation (Piaget)
Assimilation: fitting new info into existing schemes
Accommodation: changing existing schemes or creating new ones to fit new info
Sometimes neither is used if something is too familiar or there’s no point in trying to figure it out, like a convo in a diff language
Equilibration (Piaget)
Search for mental balance between cognitive schemes and info from the environment
Disequilibrium (Piaget)
“Out of balance” state that happens when a person realizes that their way of thinking is not successful in solving a problem or understanding a situation
Not enough=no interest in changing
Too much= creates anxiety and discourages against change
Neo-piagetian theories
More recent theories that use findings about attention, memory and strategy use with Piaget’s insights about children’s thinking and how knowledge is constructed
Fischer’s three tiers of development
1- actions
2- representations
3- abstractions
Limitations of Piaget’s theory
Lacking in reasoning behind WHY thinking develops as it does
Stages are inconsistent/may be more continuous than they seem
Underestimate children’s abilities (his tests were too hard and the kids may have understood more than they could show)
Doesn’t take culture and social environment into account
Sociocultural theory (vygotsky)
Theory that emphasizes the role in development of cooperative dialogues between children and more knowledgable members of society; children learn ways of thinking and behaving through these interactions
Vygotsky’s “co-constructing”
Higher mental processes (ex: directing own attention or thinking through problems) are first co-constructed during shared activities between a child and another person, then they learn to regulate their behaviour using private speech later on
Which people are best for children to interact with according to Piaget and vygotsky?
Piaget: peers at same level
Vygotsky: adults or someone with higher knowledge than the child
Cultural tools (Vygotsky)
Real tools and symbol systems that allow people in a society to communicate/think/solve problems and create knowledge
Vygotsky’s opinion of private speech
Vital for solving tasks, overcoming impulsive action, planning solutions to problems prior to execution, and to master their own behaviour
Collective monologue/egocentric speech vs private speech
Collective monologue/egocentric speech (Piaget): because children can’t see the world through the eyes of others, gradually changes to socialized speech
Private speech (Vygotsky): important role in cog development because move children toward self-regulation, later regulates their own behaviour with silent inner speech
Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
Phase at which a child can master a task if given appropriate help and support
Vygotsky and Piaget’s ideas of the role of learning and development
Piaget: cognitive development needs to happen first in order for the child to have the capacity to learn
Vygotsky: learning pulls development to higher levels and social interaction is key to learning
Limitations of Vygotsky’s theory
Still underestimates children’s abilities (children figure out a lot about the world without being taught by their culture or teachers)
He died before he could elaborate on his ideas so very general
He didn’t have time to detail the applications of his theories for teaching
Implication of Piaget’s theory for teachers
Main goal of edu=teach kids how to learn
We can learn about kids way of thinking by watching how they solve problems
Level of difficulty must be just right (disequilibrium)
Learning is a constructive process
Playing provides important stimulation
Implication of vygotsky’s theory for teachers
Three ways that higher mental functions can be developed through cultural tools/passed between people:
1- imitative learning
2- instructed learning
3- collaborative learning
Tailor scaffolding to the needs of students
Assisted learning (aka learning by having strategic help provided in the initial stages which gradually diminishes as students gain independence)
Make sure students have access to powerful tools that support thinking
Build on students’ cultural funds of knowledge
Capitalize on dialogue and group learning
4 big agreed-upon ideas about cognitive development
1- requires both social and physical stimulation
2- learners must be active in their learning
3- teaching students what they already know is boring, or not ready=frustrating
4- challenge with support is best
Relation between exercise and education?
Systematic exercise programs can enhance the development of specific types of mental processing (important for academics and life in general)
More breaks equals…?
Better test results (Asian countries)
Less behaviour problems especially important for kids with ADHD
How much exercise recommended for kids? How much do they get?
90 minutes per day
23% get it
4 parenting styles
1- authoritative: high in warmth, firm in control
2- authoritarian: cold and controlling, no open affection, punishments, not much talk of emotions
3- permissive: warm but little control; don’t expect maturity and few consequences
4- rejecting/neglecting: low in warmth and control, have their own problems that take up their time and leave no attention for the kids
Which parenting style has the best effect?
Authoritative; happy with themselves, relate well to others, do well in school, have positive relationships with their parents
Permissive, authoritarian, and neglecting parenting styles both have bad effects but how are they different?
Authoritarian: perform worse in school, more hostile, less popular, lower levels of self-control
Permissive: immature, demanding, impulsive, rebellious, aggressive
Neglecting: insecure in relationships, don’t obey, aggressive, more likely to engage in dangerous behaviour and activities, have low development socially and cognitively, and perform poorly in school
Is authoritarian parenting ever best?
Yes, for African American and some Asian kids
Strict, directive, warm, affectionate parenting better for inner city kids
Chiao shun= “training” (Asian parenting style)
Groups of young people with their own rules and norms, specifically about music/clothes/social values/behaviour/appearance
Peer culture (not to be confused with clique or crowd)
4 different types of children and their subtypes
Popular children
- popular prosocial: academically/socially competent
- popular antisocial: aggressive and athletic, may seem cool in the way that they bully and defy authority
Rejected children
- rejected aggressive: conflict and hyperactivity and impulsivity; often misunderstand intentions of others, assign blame and act aggressively on their angry/hurt feelings
- rejected withdrawn: timid and withdrawn, targets of bullies, avoid social interaction for fear of scorn or attack
Controversial children: have both positive and negative social qualities so their social status can change over time, but have friends and are generally happy with their peer relationships
Neglected children: surprisingly well adjusted and not less socially competent, usually viewed as shy but don’t feel lonely or unhappy about their social lives; don’t experience the same wariness and social anxiety of withdrawn children
5 types of child maltreatment
Psychical abuse Sexual abuse Neglect Emotional harm Exposure to family violence
Individual’s knowledge and beliefs about themselves (ideas, feelings, attitudes, expectations)
Self-concept
Two parts of a student’s self-concept
Overall academic self-concept and subject-specific self-concept
How self-concept develops
Starts off very positive and optimistic
Changes once learning to read starts
Some children suffer from illusions of incompetence later on in school
What shapes self-concepts?
How their performance relates to their performance history
Also to other students
“Little fish big pond effect”=students who are good at math in an average school feel better about their math skills than equally talented kids in a high achieving school
Difference between self-concept and self esteem
Self-concept= cognitive structure; belief about who you are
Self esteem= overall feeling of self worth that incorporates your self concepts from every area of your life aka summary judgement of your worth as a person
Best way to improve self-concept?
Short term= focus on self-concept enhancement directly
Long term=direct self-concept enhancement + appropriate feedback and praise
Sex differences in self concept
Girls= language arts and developing close friendships Boys= math science athletics
What is theory of mind and how does it develop?
Theory of mind= an understanding that everyone is an individual with their own thoughts, feelings, beliefs, desires and perceptions
(Perception-taking ability)
Age 2- kids understand their own intention/desires
Older preschool- separate intentional actions from unintentional and react accordingly
Improves with age
What is distributive justice and how does it develop? (Moral reasoning)
Distributive justice: beliefs about how to divide materials or privileges fairly among members of a group
Ages 5-6: want equality
Later: recognize that some people deserve to have more based on skill or merit
Age 8: able to take need into account and reason based on benevolence (some students may get more time with teacher because they need it more)
Moral realism
Child of 5 or 6 believes that all rules are absolute
Punishment should be based on how much damage is done, not intention or other
Eventually shifts to morality of cooperation (people make rules and people can change them)
Kohlberg’s 6 stages of moral development
Preconventional level
Stage 1- obedience orientation (obey rules to avoid punishments and bad consequences)
Stage 2- rewards/exchange orientation (right and wrong determined by personal needs and wants)
Conventional level
Stage 3- being nice/relationships orientation (being good=being nice and pleasing others)
Stage 4- law and order orientation (must obey laws and authorities and the social system must be maintained)
Post conventional (principled) stage
Stage 5- social contract orientation (moral choice determined by socially agreed upon standards; greatest gold for greatest number)
Stage 6- universal ethical principles orientation (universal principles of human dignity and social justice that individuals must uphold, no matter what the law or other people say)
Criticisms for kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning
1- reasoning for moral choices usually reflect more than one stage at the same time
2- moral choices involve more than just reasoning (emotions, competing goals, relationships, etc)
3- stages are based in favour of western male values that emphasize individualism
4- mixes up moral judgments with decisions about social conventions; overlooks personal choice
Situations in which no choice is clearly and indisputably right
Moral dilemma
What is the opposing theory to kohlberg’s stages of moral reasoning
Gilligan’s ethic of care
Says that individuals move from focus on self interests to moral reasoning based on commitment to specific individuals and relationships
Highest level= principles of responsibility and care for all people (like kohlberg’s stage 3)
Agreed-upon rules and ways of doing things in a particular situation
Social conventions
Moral vs conventional domains
Moral: starts with basic ideas of right and wrong, then justice=equal treatment for all, then appreciation for equity/special needs, abstract equity+equality+sense of caring in social relations, finally sense as adults that morality involves beneficence and fairness and that moral principles are separate from other group norms
Conventional: belief that regularities that kids see are right and are how they should be (ex: women have long hair), then realize that there are exceptions, then understand that these “rules” are made to maintain order and people in charge make those rules, teens=rules are just set by society bc widely used and not challenged, adults=conventions are useful in coordinating social life but changeable too
Three important influences on moral behaviour
Modelling
Internalization
Self-concept
5 types of aggression
Instrumental: strong actions with goal of claiming something; may not have intention to harm but can
Hostile: bold action intended to hurt someone; unprovoked
Overt: hostile aggression that involves physical attack
Relational: form of hostile aggression that involves verbal attacks and actions made to harm social relationships
Cyber: anything online
Do video games cause violence?
Yes, playing violent video games is a causal factor for increased aggressive thoughts, feelings and actions and empathy goes down
How can teachers prevent cheating?
Avoid high-pressure situations
Help students be prepared
Be a credible/trustworthy source for info
Focus on learning, not grades
Encourage collaboration
Encourage discussion about concepts that will be on tests
Students are more likely to cheat when:
They're male Low achievers Focused on performance Low sense of academic self-efficacy Impulsive In classes that emphasize competition
Describe changes in physical development of kids in preschool, elementary and secondary grades
Preschool: gross and fine motor skills
Elementary: physical development continues, girls ahead of boys
Secondary: puberty and emotional struggles
Consequences of early and late maturation for girls and boys
Girls: mature two years ahead of boys
No benefits for early maturation
Boys: early maturing=higher social status, leaders, more rebellious behaviour
Brofenbrenner’s bioecological model for development
Takes into account both biological aspects in the individual and nested social/cultural contexts that shape development
Every person develops in a Microsystem (immediate relationships and activities)
Mesosystem (relationships among microsystem)
Inside an exosystem (larger social settings like communities)
All of these are part of macrosystem (culture)
Time period=chronosystem
Early theories of intelligence involved one or more of three themes
1- capacity to learn
2- total knowledge a person has acquired
3- ability to adapt successfully to new situations and to the environment in general
A recent def: ability to reason deductively or inductively, think abstractly, use analogies, synthesize info and apply it to new domains
What is G?
General intelligence (spearman) A general factor in cognitive ability that is related in varying degrees to performance on all mental tests Also requires some specific abilities as well (g + task-specific abilities)
Fluid vs crystallized intelligence
Fluid: mental efficacy that is culture-free and nonverbal and is grounded in brain development (stops developing at age 20)
crystallized: ability to apply culturally approved problem-solving methods
Fluid intelligence is based on what neurophysiological underpinnings
Changes in brain volume
Myelination (coating of neural fibres that makes processing faster)
Density of dopamine receptors
Processing abilities in the prefrontal lobe of the brain like selective attention and working memory
Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences
Several separate mental abilities: Linguistic Musical Spatial Logical-mathematical Bodily-kinesthetic Interpersonal Intrapersonal Naturalist Believes that intelligence has a biological base
Critique of multiple intelligence theory
No published studies that validate it
The intelligences are not independent and many skills use one or more
Some are just talents or personality traits
Best way to use MI theory in the classroom
When designing a curriculum, use these in your lesson: Narrative Logical-quantitive Aesthetic Experiential Interpersonal Existential/foundational
Gardener’s two most important lessons for teachers
1- take individual differences of students seriously and differentiate teaching
2- things should be taught in diff ways but not 8 diff ways at a time
What test was developed by Binet to test children in Paris and help identify who would need extra help in school?
The Stanford-Binet test
Determines mental age of a child
IQ (intelligence quotient) was added in North America
It’s an individual test that must be administered by a trained psychologist and takes about two hours to finish
How is IQ computed?
Intelligence quotient = mental age/chronicological age x 100
Deviation IQ
Score based on statistical comparison of someone’s performance with the average performance of others who are in the same age group
Steady rise in IQ test scores because of better health, smaller families, increased complexity in the environment and more and better schooling
Flynn effect
Is intelligence due to genetics or environment?
Probably equal amounts of both
Does acceleration benefit gifted kids?
Yes and it doesn’t impair social or emotional adjustment
Gifted students also learn more in groups with other gifted students than in mixed groups
What are executive functions?
Attention, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, working memory
Linked to self control and self regulation
Considered central to learning disabilities/ADHD/developmental disabilities
Children with learning disabilities have difficulties in:
Executive functions Working memory (especially when it involves verbal and auditory info) Retrieving info from long term memory Problems holding visual-spatial info (math)
Learning disability
Problem with acquisition and use of language; may show up as difficulty with reading, writing, reasoning or math
Most students with learning disabilities have difficulty reading. What is the biggest problem for English speaking and not English speaking students?
English speaking: problems relating sounds to letters that make up words, making spelling hard too
Chinese speakers: morphological awareness (ability to combine morphemes into words)
What is the second most common problem for students with learning disabilities?
Math (computation and problem solving)
When students don’t understand why they are having trouble leaning, they can become victims of…
Learned helplessness
Aka the expectation that all of one’s efforts will lead to failure (based on past experiences)
What are the two general approaches to teach kids with learning disabilities?
1- direct instruction: involves explanations and demos of new material, teaching in small steps with practice after each step, immediate feedback, and teacher guidance and support
2- strategy instruction: strategies are specific rules of focusing attention and accomplishing tasks such as TREE for supporting elementary students’ persuasive writing
T opic sentence
R easons
E nding
E xamine
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Current term for disruptive behaviour disorders marked by over activity, excessive difficulty sustaining attention, or impulsiveness
Indicators: inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity
Can show up as early as age 3 but is usually diagnosed in elem school
What is the most common intervention for ADHD?
Drug therapy
Usually Ritalin or Dexedrine
70-80% of kids are more manageable on meds
But there are some side effects like nausea, insomnia, high heart rate etc
**must also learn behavioural/social/academic skills (behaviour treatments)
Emotional and behavioural disorders
Behaviours/emotions that deviate so much from normal that they stop the child from being able to grow and develop OR interfere with lives of others (inappropriate behaviours, unhappiness and depression, fears and anxieties, and trouble with relationships)
Includes emotional disturbance
Supports that teachers can provide for kids with behavioural/emotional disorders
Structure Predicability Consistency Feedback with consequences Positive alternatives to current behaviours School to home support systems Engaging and challenging schoolwork
Program for development of competencies for recognizing and managing emotions, developing empathy, making positive relationships and responsible decisions and handing challenging situations effectively
Social and emotional learning (SEL)
What is effective in preventing drug use?
DARE drug program and other scare tactics, providing info= not effective, could encourage experimentation
Making sure kids are involved in school and have positive relationships with adults and peers= effective!
Developmental disabilities
Significantly below-average intellectual and adaptive social behaviour evident before the age of 18
Gradual preparation of exceptional students to move from high school into further education or training, employment or community living
Transition programming (for special needs teens)
Developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication, social interaction, and imaginative creativity, generally evident before age 3 and ranging from mild to major
Autism and autism spectrum disorders
Disorder that includes difficulties with social relations, speech can be fluent but unusual, moderate to severe intellectual disabilities but average or above average intelligence
Asperger syndrome
What is something that kids with autism lack which causes their social behaviour to seem off?
Theory of mind
Interventions for autism
Early and intensive interventions that focus on communication and social relations (without this, behaviours like poor eye contact and odd mannerisms can increase over time) Collaboration between teachers and family Strategies like smaller class size, a class buddy, safe home base for times of stress, consistency and transition in routines, visual supports and technology use
Provincial or territorial legislation that governs education in elementary and secondary schools
Education or school act
Practice of integrated exceptional students into regular classrooms; emphasis=participation not placement
Inclusion
Practice of having exceptional students participate in activities with their non exceptional peers
Integration
Legislation that protects the rights of all Canadians and, in particular, Canadians who are members of minority groups, including Canadians with disabilities
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Practice of placing exceptional students in the most regular educational settings possible while ensuring that they are successful and receive appropriate support
Least restrictive placement (idea from US)
Individualized education program (IEP)
Annually revised program for special needs students that includes present achievement level, goals and strategies, drawn up by teachers, family members, specialists and the student if possible
Beginning from ages 14-16, statement of needed transitional services to move the student toward further education or work in adult life
Ensuring the classroom environment, the tasks teachers assign, and the resources they use are equally accessible and useable to a wide range of learners
Universal designs for learning (UDL)
What sounds do babies prefer after they are born?
Sounds of languages that are rhythmically similar to the ones that they heard in utero (=perceptual narrowing)
Doesn’t happen as quickly in bilingual babies as they are more open to the sounds of different languages
What two processes support early language development?
Joint attention (when child and adult attend to the same object or event at the same time; promotes sustained attention, comprehension, and faster vocabulary development)
Child-directed speech/motherese (form of language characterized by short sentences with simple constructions and delivered in higher pitched, more prosodic, and exaggerated tones; promotes turn taking, joint attention)
Expressive vs receptive vocabulary
Expressive: the words a person can speak
Receptive: the words a person can understand in spoken or written words
Applying a rule of syntax or grammar in situations where the rule does not apply
Overregularize
The order of words in phrases or sentences
Syntax
Appropriate use of language to communicate in social situations (ex: talking in simpler sentences to younger kids, changing tone when giving orders to pets, etc)
Pragmatics
Metalinguistic awareness
Starts to develop around age 5
Their understanding about a language and how it works becomes explicit (they can talk about it)
Shows they are ready to study and extend the rules that have been implicit
Skills and knowledge that are the foundation for the development of reading and writing (developed in preschool years)
Emergent literacy
Two categories of skills that seem to be the most important in literacy
1- skills relating to understanding sounds and codes (ex: knowing letters have names, sounds are associated with letters, etc)
2- oral language skills like expressive and receptive vocab, knowledge of syntax, etc)
What’s more important in literacy, decoding or oral language skills?
Both are equally important! Support each other
Additive vs subtractive bilingualism
Additive: mastered your own language and then added another one or two
Subtractive: lost your first language when you learned your second
Does early bilingualism have disadvantages?
No, it actually just helps kids to have better metalinguistic understanding of how language works, better phoneme awareness, reading comprehension, etc
The language spoken in the student’s home or by members of the family
Heritage language
The entire range of language used in elementary, secondary and university level schools, including words, concepts, strategies and processes from academic subjects
Academic language
Two aspects of proficiency in an L2
1- face to face communication aka basic/contextualized language skills
2- academic language like reading or doing grammar exercises
Any variety of a language spoken by a particular group
Dialect
A group of dialects of English used by aboriginal peoples of Canada
Aboriginal or First Nations English dialects
Cultural deficit model
Explains the school achievement problems of ethnic minority students by assuming that their cultural is inadequate and does not prepare them to succeed in school
Melting pot
Metaphor for immigrants assimilating into the mainstream society of their new country so that ethnic differences vanish
Generation 1.5
Young people who weren’t born in Canada, but immigrated here when they were very young
Characteristics in learning of gen 1.5
Weak literacy skills
Ear learners (may use incorrect verb/noun forms, mispronounce plurals, or mix up words that sound similar)
May have trouble writing or reading academic English
Rely on context/gestures/facial cues/intonations to make sense of language so reading and proofreading is hard
ELLs vs ESL
ELL: English language learners (students who are learning English when their primary or heritage language is not English)
ESL: English as a second language (classes that teach English)
Is structured English immersion the best way to teach English? Or should their L1 be maintained?
Immersion: argues that English should be introduced as early as possible and valuable learning time is lost if students are taught in their L1; best way to learn a new language and works well in school systems where many languages are spoken Maintain L1: deep learning in L1 supports L2 learning, learning science or math in your L2 can cause added confusion, message that L1 is second class if no L1 in school, being encouraged to learn an L2 in high school can cause semilingualism in 3 languages
Socioeconomic status (SES)
Relative standing in the society based on income, power, background or prestige
Most people not conscious of their SES
Assigned by researchers and can be diff based on diff researcher’s criteria
When low SES students refuse to adopt the behaviours and attitudes of the majority culture (ex: doing well in school)
Resistance culture
Tracking
Assignment to diff classes and academic experiences based on achievement
May be responsible in lower achievement of low SES students
Ethnicity and race
Ethnicity: a group’s shared common cultural characteristics like history, homeland, language, etc
Race: group of people who share common biological traits that are seen as self-defining by the people of the group
Minority group
Group of people that have been socially disadvantaged, but not always a minority in actual numbers
Irrational generalization about an entire category of people
Prejudice
Why do many children develop racial prejudice?
- human tendency to divide social world into two groups (them and us)
- justify privilege by assuming they deserve to have bc superior to those who don’t have
- looking for groups to blame when something goes wrong
- lack of representation in the media
Stereotype
Schema that organizes knowledge or perceptions of a category
Discrimination
Treating particular categories of people unfairly
Stereotype threat
Extra emotional and cognitive burden that one’s performance in an academic situation might confirm a stereotype that others have
**anxiety hinders working memory
Short term and long term effects of stereotype threat
Short term: poor performance and performance-avoidance goals (procrastinating or not trying to avoid looking stupid), reduces working memory abilities and decreases interest/engagement in a task
Long term: disidentification with academics
Gender identity vs sexual identity
Gender identity: sense of self as male or female as well as the beliefs one has about gender roles and attributes
Sexual identity: complex combo of beliefs of gender roles and sexual orientation
Stages in development of sexual orientation
1- feeling different (at a young age)
2- feeling confused (embarrassed about being attracted to same sex, try to counteract it)
3- acceptance
Expectations of how females and males should behave
Gender roles
As early as age two, children=aware of gender diffs
Age 3=realize sex cannot be changed
Age 4=spend more time with kids of their sex
Gender schema (theory)
Society’s beliefs of the traits of females and males create gender schemas, which influence processing of social info (attention, memory, etc)
And influences self-esteem (only can behave according to their gender)
Gender biases
Different views of males and females, often favouring one gender over the other
Resilience
Ability to adapt successfully in spite of difficult circumstances and threats to development
Operants
Voluntary and generally goal-directed behaviours emitted by a person or an animal
Operant conditioning
A type of learning where voluntary behaviour is strengthened or weakened by consequences or antecedents
Antecedents vs consequences (operant conditioning)
Antecedents: events that precede an action
Consequences: events that come after an action
What is A-B-C? (Operant conditioning)
Shorthand for behaviour being in between two environmental influences; those that come before and after it
Antecedent - behaviour - consequence
Reinforcement
Use of consequences to strengthen behaviour
Reinforcer= any event that follows a behaviour and increases the chances that the behaviour will occur again
Behaviour - reinforcer - strengthened or repeated behaviour
Positive vs negative reinforcement
Positive: strengthening a behaviour by presenting desired stimulus AFTER the behaviour
Negative: strengthening a behaviour by taking away an aversive/unwanted stimulus when the behaviour occurs
Punishment
Process that weakens or suppresses behaviour
Behaviour - punisher - weakened or decreased behaviour
Less likely to be repeated in similar situations in the future (the bad behaviour)
Two types of punishment
Presentation punishment: decreasing the chances that the behaviour will happen again by presenting an aversive stimulus AFTER the behaviour (type 1 punishment)
Removal punishment: decreasing chances that behaviour will happen again by taking away a pleasant stimulus AFTER the behaviour (type 2 stimulus)
Four types of reinforcement schedules
Continuous reinforcement schedule: presenting a reinforcer after every appropriate response
Intermittent reinforcement schedule: presenting a reinforcer after some but not all responses (best for after a behaviour has been mastered so they can maintain skills without constant reinforcement)
Two types:
1- interval schedule: Based on length of time between reinforcers
2- ratio schedule: based on number of responses learners give between reinforcers
*both can be either fixed (predictable) or variable (unpredictable)
To encourage persistence of a response, what reinforcement schedule is most effective?
Variable schedules; especially if they become lean over time (reinforcement is only given after many responses or a long time interval)
Extinction
Disappearance of a learned response
Happens when the conditioned stimulus appears, but the unconditioned stimulus doesn’t come after it
Stimulus control
Capacity for the presence or absence of antecedents to cause behaviours (ex: skinner’s pigeons only attempting to peck for food when light was on or lady going to old parking lot after work moved locations bc habit)
Effective instruction delivery (EID)
Instructions that are clear, concise, and specific, and that communicate an expected result (statements are better than questions)
Cueing
Providing a stimulus that sets up a behaviour
Prompt
A reminder that comes after a cue to make sure that a person reacts to the cue
Two principles for using cues and prompts to teach new behaviour
1- make sure the environmental stimulus that you want to become a cue happens right before the prompt you are using so that students will learn to respond to cue and not just rely on the prompt
2- fade (gradually reduce or delay) the prompt as quickly as possible so students don’t become dependant on it
Applied behaviour analysis (ABA)
Also known as behaviour modification (negative connotation)
Application of behavioural learning principles to understand and change behaviour
Requires clear goals and measurements of the behaviour as well as analysis of antecedents and reinforcers that may be maintaining unwanted behaviour
What design does applied behavioural analysis use?
ABAB design
A- take baseline measurement of behaviour
B- apply intervention
A- stop the intervention to see if behaviour goes back to the baseline level
B- reintroduce intervention
What is said to be the most powerful motivational/classroom tool?
Praising students for good behaviour and ignoring misbehaviour
Related strategy= differential reinforcement (ignoring bad behaviour and reinforcing good behaviour right away)
Other students reinforcing bad behaviour can make this ineffective for teachers
Three requirements for effective praise
1- must be contingent on the behaviour to be reinforced
2- specify clearly the behaviour being reinforced
3- be believable
**also complement the student not the job done
Premack principle
Principle stating that a more preferred activity can serve as a reinforcer for a less-preferred activity
Shaping
Reinforcing each small step of progress toward a desired goal or behaviour
Also called successive approximations
Uses task analysis
Task analysis
System for breaking down a task hierarchically into basic skills and subskills
Major difference between negative reinforcement and punishment
Negative reinforcement: warning before so student can be in control of the outcome
Punishment: happens after the fact so students have no control over it
Reprimands
Quiet, private criticisms that are more effective if not done in front of others
Response cost
Punishment by loss of reinforcers
Social isolation
Removal of disruptive student for 5-10 minutes
Should not be made more long if not working; shows an issue with not reinforcing good behaviour well enough
Time out
Technically the removal of all reinforcement
Good behaviour game
Arrangement where a class is divided into teams and each team receives a negative point for breaking agreed upon rules of good behaviour If everyone has less than the max number of negative marks then everyone gets a reward
Group consequences
Rewards or punishments given to a class as a whole for obeying or going against rules of conduct Be careful with this as could lead to one person or a few people being hated for always getting the class in trouble
Contingency contract
Contract between student and teacher specifying what the student must do to earn a reward or privilege
Token reinforcement system
System where tokens earned for academic work and positive classroom behaviour can be exchanged for a fun reward
Because token reinforcement systems are complicated and time consuming, they should only be used in these three situations
1- motivate students who are totally uninterested in doing work and haven't responded to other approaches 2- encourage students who have consistently failed to make progress 3- to deal with a class that is out of control
Describe the important aspects of self-management
- goal setting: making goals public works better than keeping them private
- monitoring and evaluating progress: use progress record cards and have teachers check students progress
- self reinforcement: controlling your own reinforcers
Bandura’s criticism of behavioural approaches to learning
Believed in observational learning over conditioning
Ended up created social learning theory (emphasizes learning through observation of others)
Enactive learning vs operant conditioning
Enactive learning= learning by doing and experiencing the consequences of your actions
Operant conditioning says that consequences strengthen or weaken behaviour, but enactive learning believes consequences just provide information (instills expectations about outcomes, influences motivation, shapes beliefs)
Observational learning
Learning by observation and imitation of others (vicarious learning)
Challenges behaviourist idea that cognitive factors are not necessary in learning bc a lot is going on instead the person’s head as they learn
What does bandura believe about children’s abilities?
We all may know more than we show
Bobo doll experiment
Incentives affect performance
Criticisms for behavioural methods: should students be rewarded for learning?
Against rewards:
- used to control students, end up not working with them
- when rewards go away, so does behaviour
- makes them less interested in the material
For rewards:
- if rewards given for performance not participation and delivered unexpectedly, intrinsic motivation is maintained
- gives more confidence
- makes task more interesting if lacking interest or ability
Two ethical issues of behavioural methods
1- goals should be improving academic abilities, not training to sit still or raise hand (conduct)
2- punishment can have negative side effects like model for aggressive responses or encouraging negative emotional reactions; only use punishment when absolutely necessary
Educational psych mainly the study of 3 points
1- teaching/learning processes
2- human learning/development in edu settings
3- how interventions and ways of teaching and learning can help students
Between subject design vs within subject design (experimental research)
Between subject: both group A and group B get the same test
Within subject: there’s a pretest and a post test before/after treatment
Two diff treatments and tests
Same group?
What research strategy was developed by an edu psychologist and used in many fields today?
Meta-analysis
Aka analysis of analysis
Cognitive development
Gradual acquisition of new abilities
Three main patterns of attachment
Secure
Avoidant (ignores caregiver and lack of attachment)
Ambivalent/resistant (upset when caregiver leaves or comes back)
Peer influences occurs through three strategies
Peer pressure
Peer modelling
Acceptance seeking
Agency
Capacity of individuals to make choices and to be aware of themselves having that ability
What is it called when someone believes they are less competent than they really are?
Illusions of incompetence
2 Criticisms of intelligence testing
- culture bias
- used to identify gifted children but is it really necessary?
By high school, what skills are boys and girls better at?
Boys: visuospatial tasks
Girls: verbal tasks and writing
The Forer effect
Something is believable because the description is general enough to apply to many people, it’s not negative and individual is told that it applies especially to them (learning styles, horoscopes, palm reading, etc)
How is a developmental disability identified?
Score below 70 on intelligence test
Assessment of everyday, not school related tasks
Meichenbaum’s self-instruction (cognitive behaviour modification)
Cognitive modelling: teacher performs task while saying instructions
Instructed performance: learner performs task while teacher says instructions
Overt self instruction: learner performs task while saying instructions out loud
Faded self instruction: whispers instructions
Covert: thinking instructions
**faded prompts; vygotsky: self instruction= private speech
Self determination theory
When people are rewarded for doing a task, they are less likely to do the same task when there are no rewards involved
Theory of learned industriousness
Rewarded effort leads to an increased tendency to make an effort