Running head: MIDTERM ESSAY EXAM

Midterm Essay Exam

Wanling He

EDUC 5302 – Educational Psychology and Learning Theory

Professor – Dr. Kristy Duckworth

East Texas Baptist University

June 23, 2015

Version 1.0

MIDTERM ESSAY EXAM 2

Different Teaching Strategies in Different Cases

Teacher is the model for all students. No matter the influence is strong or weak at that

time, the way that teacher does and the way that teacher thinks will go to students’ long-term

memory and effect the rest of the students’ lives.

When I was a student in elementary school, my math was not good, but it was not too

bad. I listened carefully in the class and I finished my homework on time. One day, I was sitting

next to my friend. She was a great student, because she was good at every course, including

math. My math teacher loved her. My math teacher asked us to read the question loudly, and we

did. During reading the question, she read a wrong word loudly. The math teacher came for me;

stood in front of me. I was scared, because I was bad at math. She asked whether I read a wrong

word. I said it was not I. She was very angry, and blamed on me: “I heard that it was you who

read the wrong word loudly!” And then, I kept silent. At that moment, she believed I was the one

who interrupted her class and she pinched my face hardly. I was crying, but still kept silent.

From that day on, I hated math and I never did good on math problems, because every time I saw

math problems or heard someone talked about math, I thought of the unique thing that my math

teacher did on me immediately. And now I know, being a teacher is an easy job, but being a

good teacher that help students learn is not an easy job.

Every teacher hopes students remember what he or she teaches them and the good time

they share together. Using appropriate teaching skills is always helping students learn better and

store the knowledge and the schema into their long-term memory. However, for different

students, teacher needs to use different teaching strategies give what they need. Here are two

different situations.

MIDTERM ESSAY EXAM 3

Trip, a seventh grader, is having difficulty learning principles of fractions, such as two

out of five is 2/5, 3/5 is less than 2/3, and so on. While his classmates seem to follow most of the

examples given in class and in the textbook, Trip feels overwhelmed and confused by them. He

is good at other subjects (such as reading and social studies) but is falling behind rapidly in

mathematics. Being familiar with Piaget's stages of development, you suspect that Trip is very

concrete in his thinking about mathematical principles compared to many of his classmates.

Trip dose good at other subjects, like reading and social studies. That means his learning

ability is good and he can understand content. Therefore, the math teacher may use the wrong

teaching strategy on Trip. According to Piaget, there are four influences on development

(Woolfolk, 2016). However, the activity is the main solution in this case. Students use activity to

relate one thing to another. For example, children learn “cold” by sitting in a room, which is

fifty-nine Fahrenheit. Children learn “airplane” by seeing an actual airplane or seeing pictures of

airplane. Children learn “energy conservation law” by doing experiment of pulling up balls and

watch how many balls will be bounced up. Using sensation, visual, and experiences to teach

abstract concept is easier for students to understand and remember. Moreover, teacher also can

build new knowledge on the experiences (activity) that the student is familiar with will be also

helpful (Woolfolk, 2016).

At the beginning, teacher can ask Trip how many members are in his family. If he

answers three, his father, his mother and him, teacher will let him imagine that there are three

members in his house. One is his father; one is his mother; one is he. In the morning, he went out

from the door and go to school. So, he is not at home now. But when people ask him: how many

members in your family, he will answer: three, because no matter he is at home or not, he is one

part of the family. And then, teacher let Trip use a pencil and paper to draw a circle, separate the

MIDTERM ESSAY EXAM 4

circle in five pieces, and color three of them. Teacher point to the picture and ask him how to

express those three pieces. And he answers three out of five (because he already knew how to

express fraction). And then the teacher will use the picture he drew and let him watch the picture

to think about: there five people in a family. Three of them go out for work; they went out from

the door, which is “/”. After this, teacher asks: “How many members are there in this family?”

Trip will answer five, because no matter how many members are out of home, they are a family.

Therefore, Trip will know how to use mathematic way to write down three out of five is 3/5.

However, Trip still does not know 3/5 is less than 2/3. Teacher can buy two cakes or two pizzas

to class and let Trip cut one of them into five pieces first and another into three pieces, equally.

And then, let him take out three pieces from the first cake/pizza, which is cut into five pieces;

and take out two pieces from another one, which is cut into three pieces. Teacher asks Trip to

compare the three pieces with the two pieces and find out which is bigger as a whole. Therefore,

Trip knows alto three is bigger than two, but 3/5 is less than 2/3. After this experiment, other

students can share the cakes/pizzas!

In this situation, Trip maybe is a concrete thinker, because he knows what is the fraction

means, like three out of five, but he cannot transit three out of five into 2/5. He also thinks that

three is bigger than two and five is bigger than three, so that 3/5 is bigger than 2/3. However, he

uses concrete thinking in math problem does not mean he use concrete thinking in every subject,

because other teachers may use the strategies that fit with Trip.

According to Piaget, we all construct out knowledge by ourselves. However, the way we

think is changeable. Sometimes, we will test the answer that is provided by teachers and peers’

feedback, to see if it is right or wrong. Through the communication with other people, we will

may try to use they way they solve problems or we may change our thinking (Woolfolk, 2016).

MIDTERM ESSAY EXAM 5

We observe and imitate the way others do and the way they think. Day after day, those will

become one part of our learning construction. Base on Vygotsky’s sociocultural perspective, we

know that using different strategies to teach and the interaction with others will also change the

way we think (Woolfolk, 2016). We learn from each other. Teacher uses different teaching

strategies to teach students will also change their thinking. For example, teacher paraphrases the

complex sentences into a simple and short sentences. Teacher teaches students with pictures,

videos, and hands on activities. Teacher teaches students how to find the central sentences or key

words of each paragraph, like the first and last sentences. There is more than one way to teach

students. As long as teacher knows students well, like what characteristics they have and they

prefer visual or audio, teacher can use specific strategy to teach. Thus they learn faster and

easier. For Trip, his reading and social study is good. He does not have the same problem with

math, which means the reading and social study teachers are using different teaching strategies to

teach Trip. Therefore, they change the way Trip thinks, only in other subjects.

Here is the second situation. Kelly is a ninth grader with above-average abilities. He

earns "Bs" in all of his subjects, except for biology, which he barely manages to pass. As his

biology teacher, you have tried to help him many times, but you have observed no real progress.

Kelly tells you that he has difficulty doing his homework because of anxieties and basic

"resistance" to the subject. He simply doesn't know how to get started and stares at the question

until he gives up and puts the homework assignment away.

Kelly looks like already lost the interest in biology. However, teacher needs to tell him

that if he wants to graduate, he has to pass the biology with no fortune. And then, teacher needs

to set up goals for Kelly. Setting goals is important for students learning (Woolfolk, 2016).

Sometimes students do not know why they need to study some courses. They feel confused and

MIDTERM ESSAY EXAM 6

do not have motivation to study. Once teacher help them clear their mind and set achievable

goals, they will do it better than before, because they have a reason to do it. Kelly may not want

to study biology as his major in the future. So, teacher can set getting B in the biology final exam

as his big goal. And then, teacher needs to think about what degree he needs to achieve in every

month and in everyday. Teacher also tells the expectation to him before every exam; the

expectation cannot be lower or much higher than his grade before. Teacher should find out the

grade is Kelly can get it if he study harder a little bit. Thus, Kelly knows that the teacher never

gives up on him and he knows what grade he needs to get to fulfill his goal.

Only setting goals is not enough for Kelly. Teacher can also let Kelly to write down what

he learns and keep a journal everyday (Woolfolk, 2016). The journal can be the things he learns

or the thing he is confused. Teacher and parents also can check his journal and find out if there is

anything that Kelly is not understood, so they can teach him in specific questions. Therefore,

Kelly can see his progress clearly from the journal and have a sense of confident. In addition,

“self-evaluation” (Woolfolk, 2016) is also important. Once Kelly finishes his assignment, he

could self-check first. He may use textbook or mobile devices to check his answer, and see

whether he can figure out the answer he missed or not. Next, let teacher or parents check his

assignment one more time. Teacher can use bonus points if he answers questions right

(Woolfolk, 2016). In this way, Kelly will also thinks that biology is not that hard with teacher

and parents’ help and he will not be afraid of doing biology homework.

Moreover, “self-reinforcement” (Woolfolk, 2016) is the trigger. Without reinforcement,

students may feel boring on the way they achieve the final goal. By giving appropriate

enforcement for them, they will be very happy to achieve the goal; they will try their best to

achieve the goal; it will make sense of paying effort for the goal. Kelly can think about what

MIDTERM ESSAY EXAM 7

reward that he may get, after reaching one of the goals. Once the reinforcement is the one he is

looking for, he will work very hard to achieve his goal.

Contingency contracting and reinforcement will help Kelly’s study, because Kelly

already lost the interest of biology. Therefore, teacher and parents and him should find other

ways to get the interest back. Contingency contracting is helpful for most of the students,

because they need the positive feedback when they have a little progress. They hope that other

people will see that, even it is little. At this time, teacher and parents are the important role in this

section. Teacher can draw a smile face or write down “Good job” on students’ homework.

Parents can praise and also encourage their children. For example, you did a great job on this

exam! You are doing better than the last time! Keep going! I know you can do it better and I trust

you! When students receive these positive messages, they can feel many people support them

and they taste the sweet when they make progress or reach a goal. Therefore, they will work hard

for reaching next goal.

For me, I think self-reinforcement also works on me. Because I promise myself that if I

get two “As” in June, I will buy myself a handbag. If I will get two “As” in July, I will buy

myself a Microsoft surface, which is a combination of laptop and pad. And I also tell myself, if I

graduate successfully in next May, I will give myself a whole year break, because master is too

hard for me. That is why I am still fighting!

From the two cases, teacher can use different strategies to teach students. Find out what

learning methods they prefer, what they are interested, and what they already knew are important

for teacher to use the appropriate strategy to teach effectively. Not only teaching strategies is

important for students’ learning, but also encouraging students interact with teacher and peers is

helpful. Teacher can use cooperative learning in class. Divide students into groups that each one

MIDTERM ESSAY EXAM 8

has two to four students. They discuss with each other and talk about their ideas. They also can

help others solve problem in cooperative learning. In addition, teacher and parents can set goals

and tell students expectations can help students make progress faster. If teacher and parents give

positive feedback or reward them immediately, after students make progress, students will be

motivated and study harder.

Every student is like a piece of paper. No matter the paper is white or have been color

before, teacher can use their magic to fix the wrong part and draw more on it, to make it become

an amazing work eventually.

MIDTERM ESSAY EXAM 9

References

Woolfolk, A. (2016). Educational Psychology (thirteenth edition). Boston, Massachusetts:

Pearson.

MIDTERM ESSAY EXAM 10

Appendix A – Rubric with completed self-evaluation and total points

Categories Points Possible

Self-Evaluation

InstrutorEvaluation

APA formatting / Grammar / Punctuation / Usage / Spelling 15 12

Quality, depth, and support for the first response 35 33

Quality, depth, and support for the second response 35 33

Introduction, conclusion and evidence of personal insight and/or learning 15 13

Total Points 100 91

Average of the two scores: