how-to test items

Hoff, Ashton 1

Name:_________________ Date:______________

True/False

Directions: Read the statement completely and determine if the statement is true or false.

In the blank provided, write “True” for a true statement and “False” for a false statement.

Write your answer in the blank provided. Each True/False question is worth 3 points.

The True/False section is worth a total of 15 points.

Learning Outcome: Develop a repertoire of teaching strategies and material that are

designed to be meaningful, integrative inquiry-orientate, value based, challenging, active

and geared for students’ abilities and needs.

___________ 1. A good way for students to compare two differing opinions of

historians is by using a Structured Academic Controversy

Correct Answer: True; a Structured Academic Controversy is a strategy of teaching

students, where a teacher allows students to compare two different historical perspectives

to the same question. It allows students to see differing opinions to the same problem

and go about doing history. It is designed to add inquiry into the teaching of history.

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Knowledge, Comprehension; This question represents the lower levels on

Bloom’s Taxonomy because it requires students to know specific facts and recall

them demonstrating the knowledge category. In addition, students demonstrate

comprehension by understanding the concept and how it can be used in the

classroom. Students have to understand what the two different opinions of

historians are called and represented.

Wiggins and McTighe:

• Explanation: students have to provide an account of the facts and data. It is

broad general knowledge application without students moving to deeper

understandings by making the question personal, or using the concepts in any new

and different way.

Rules Followed:

• Keep the statement short and use simple vocabulary and sentence structure

• Avoid trivial statements

• Use negative statements sparingly and avoid double negatives

• Include only one central idea in each statement

• Avoid extraneous clues to the answer

• True statements and false statements should be approximately equal in length

• The number of true statements and false statements should be approximately

equal

Why Meaningful?

Hoff, Ashton 2

• This question is meaningful because the Structured Academic Controversy is an

important strategy that teachers can use to demonstrate differing points of view

amongst historians. This allows students to see that history isn’t as ‘black and

white’ as they may have thought and develop their own opinion about certain

historical debates.

Learning Outcome: Develop a repertoire of teaching strategies and material that are

designed to be meaningful, integrative inquiry-orientated, value based, challenging,

active and geared for students’ abilities and needs.

___________ 2. An example of History Alive! Technique is the Teaching U.S. History

as Mystery strategy.

Correct Answer: False; History Alive! is an approach to teaching history that involves

students become more engaged in history. This approach advocates strategies such as

Interactive notebooks, response groups, visual discovery, and much more but not

Teaching U.S. History as Mystery. Instead History as Mystery is a separate strategy

designed to increase historical inquiry by encouraging students to see history as a

mystery they must uncover and solve.

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Knowledge, Comprehension: students are asked to demonstrate the basic recall

of specific facts about the history alive techniques. They are required to have

memorized the various history alive strategies and realize that Teaching History

as Mystery is not one of them. Because students are asked to distinguish the

Teaching History as Mystery as a separate strategy from History Alive they move

into the Comprehension domain of Bloom’s.


• Explanation: this question requires students to use only the first facet of

understanding because they are asked to provide the answer to specific facts. It

falls under broad knowledge and doesn’t move deeper into Wiggins and McTighe

Rules Followed:



• Avoid extraneous clues to the answer



equal

Why Meaningful?

• The History Alive strategies have been used effectively in a variety of classroom

settings. They have been tested by other teachers and are proven to make history

more engaging for students. Therefore it is good for all beginning teachers to

Hoff, Ashton 3

know what they are and how they can be used in their own classroom to engage

their students.

Learning Outcome: Utilize appropriately a range of technologies within the social

studies classroom to encourage historical inquiry and the doing of social studies

___________ 3. The difference between a blog and a wiki is that a wiki can be edited by

people freely.

Correct Answer: True; a wiki is an online technology that allows those who are part of

the wiki to edit its content freely making changes as they see fit. This is a tool such as

wikipedia. A blog however, is registered to a specific user and while others can view and

comment on the blog’s content, they are not allowed to make changes and edits, even if

they are followers of the blog.

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Knowledge, Comprehension: Students are required to recall the definition of

what a blog and a wiki and distinguish the difference. This requires them to use

their knowledge of the subject to define the answers and their comprehension to

determine the difference.


• Explanation, Interpretation: Students demonstrate they can explain the concept

by providing a supported account of the facts (knowing the difference between a

blog and a wiki). In addition, students are interpreting this data by applying it to a

real world situation. The difference is that a wiki is available for anyone to edit,

including themselves.

Rules Followed:


• Keep the statements short and use simple vocabulary and sentence structure

• Use negative statements and avoid double negatives

• Avoid extraneous clues to the answers


Why Meaningful?

• Both blogs and wikis are two tools that a teacher can use in their classroom to

reach an increasingly digital youth. It would be unreasonable for teachers to stifle

creative of student projects by not allowing them to explore these new

technological developments. In addition teachers must understand what these

concepts mean to fully appreciate how they can be used in their own classrooms.

Learning Outcome: Reflect and Re-evaluate one’s own biographic conceptions of

learning and teaching history and social science

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___________ 4. The purpose of INTASC is a national organization designed to provide

leadership and service to Social Studies

Correct Answer: False; INTASC is a set of ten standards for evaluating an intern’s

performance in a way that allows reflection upon their experience. In addition INTASC

is used in a variety of content’s not specifically Social Studies. Although used nationally,

it is used to evaluate all kinds of internships not simply those in Social Studies or

education.

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Knowledge, Comprehension: Students are asked to recall the facts about what

INTASC is and extend their knowledge to how it is used. They are required to

explain that while INTASC is used national, students must distinguish that it is

not used solely in Social Studies but in a variety of other contents.


• Explanation: Students only delve into the very first facet of understanding in this

question because they are required to simply recall facts about INTASC without

explaining its personal uses or any of the other criteria to go deeper into the

facets. Students instead must only explain INTASC, nothing deeper.

Rules Followed:



equal

• Avoid extraneous clues



Why Meaningful?

• INTASC is what students use to guide their internship and develop a portfolio of

their work. It is important that students recognize what INTASC is what its goals

are, before they can effectively use this to reflect upon their work.

Learning Outcome: Identify, evaluate, and utilize various forms of assessment

___________ 5. One of the purposes of assessing students is to monitor a student’s

progress

Correct Answer: True, assessing students allows teachers the opportunity to determine if

a student is moving forward or backward in the classroom. This is one of the most

important reasons teachers assess students because it allows the teachers to guide student

learning and ensure that the learning objectives are being met.

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

Hoff, Ashton 5

• Knowledge: this question is designed to test what students know about the

purpose of assessment they are asked to identify that this is a purpose of assessing

students without going a step beyond anything other than memorizing. Therefore

this question relies solely on the lowest level of Bloom’s levels.


• Explanation: students are required to have a broad knowledge of the purposes of

assessment and to recall these facts for this particular question. They are not

required to move deeper because this question is in no way personal or takes on a

point of view of another; instead it focuses completely on the student’s ability to

recall data.

Rules Followed:



• Avoid extraneous clues to the answers



Why Meaningful?

• Assessing students is one of the most important jobs a teacher can do, because it

allows both the teacher and the student to see their progress and what they need to

review. Beginning teachers, especially, need to recognize the purposes of

assessment so they can defend why they assess and develop a method of grading

their students.

Hoff, Ashton 6

Multiple Choice

Directions: Read each question and all the answers thoroughly and then identify the

choice that best completes the statement or answers the questions below. For each

question there is only one correct answer. Place the correct answer (A-D) in capital

letters in the box provided next to each numbered question. Each multiple choice

question will be worth a total of 3 points. The entire multiple choice section is worth 15

points.

Learning Outcomes: Develop a repertoire of teaching strategies and material that are



1. Which of the following is a History Alive! Strategy designed to illicit

quality whole class discussion, by giving students the confidence to

participate?

a. Visual Discovery

b. Experiential Exercises

c. Response Groups

d. Interactive Notebooks

Correct Answer: C; Response groups is the correct answer because it the only one of

these specifically created to give students confidence to participate in whole class

discussion. The other strategies are all part of history alive but they rely more on

student’s individual knowledge rather than a group discussion.

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Knowledge, Comprehension: Students are required to know the definition,

description of the above strategies and identify them. In addition it covers

comprehension because they are required to distinguish a particular strategy

from the list. For these reasons this question is designed to test only the

lowest levels of understanding.


• Explanation, Interpretation: Students have to recall specific facts about

each of the strategies and then think about the real world application of that

strategy in the classroom. They have to know the definition but then also

show how these ideas can be used in the classroom

Rules Followed:

• Avoid using the alternative “all of the above” and use “none of the above”

with extreme caution

• The relative length of the correct answer should not provide a clue to the

answer

• All distracters should be plausible and attractive to the uninformed

Hoff, Ashton 7

• An item should contain only one correct or clearly best answer

• Put as much wording as possible in the stem of the item

• Design each item to measure an important learning outcome

Why Meaningful?

• The History Alive strategies have been used in a variety of classroom setting with

success. Response groups is a great way to overcome the problems usually faced

with traditional classroom discussion—student reluctance because they don’t feel

confident in their answers. Teachers have to have a plan to overcome these issues

and response groups are one way to do this.

Learning Outcomes: Examine major curricular and instructional issues in social studies

(history and social science education)

2. According to Harry Wong, which of the following is advocated as a

classroom management strategy?

a. Historical inquiry

b. Non-verbal cues

c. Incorrect modeling

d. Threats

Correct Answer: B; Harry Wong advocates the use of non-verbal cues in his writings as

an effective classroom management strategy. This allows students to know they need to

stop the inappropriate behavior without embarrassing or calling too much attention to

them. The other answers are clearly wrong because they advocate either inappropriate

actions according to wrong or are not a classroom management strategy at all.

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Knowledge, Comprehension: This question tests what students recall about

classroom management by knowing specific facts. In addition they must distinguish

wrong answers from the correct response, requiring them to extend their thinking into

the second step in the Taxonomy


• Explanation: The question only requires students to know the data, in other words

what does Harry Wong say without any other facets of understanding. Students just

have to spit back the data they learned about the classroom management strategy.

Rules Followed:

• Avoid using the alternative “all of the above” and use “none of the above”

with extreme caution

• The relative length of the correct answer should not provide a clue to the

answer



Hoff, Ashton 8


• State the stem of the item in simple, clear language

Why Meaningful?

• Effective classroom management is something that all teachers have to have in

their classrooms. Without the teacher having a certain amount of control over the

classroom they are unable to teach the content the students need. It is vital for all

teachers to understand what good ways to deter behavior are and what strategies

are not successful to be a great teacher.




3. This strategy that uses examples, non-examples, and attributes to reach a

definition is known as:

a. 3-2-1 Processor

b. Think Aloud

c. Diamond 9

d. Concept Attainment

Correct Answer: D; this strategy is explicitly laid out in the stem of this question with

the examples, non examples and is used when trying to reach a definition. The other

answers all detail other strategies and none of them specifically deal with reaching a

definition like concept attainments do.

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Knowledge, Comprehension: In the above question students have to identify the

following strategies and recall their definition. In addition students must use their

comprehension skills by understanding why the other answers are not the correct

choice; because they have to distinguish the right answer from the wrong they

enter these two domains of understanding.


• Explanation: Students only have to use this facet of understanding because they

are supporting their answer with facts and data they had previously learned. They

don’t make the question personal or apply it to a new situation.

Rules Followed:


• State the stem in simple, clear language

• Present a clearly formulated problem in the stem of the item



Hoff, Ashton 9

• Avoid using the alternative “all of the above” and use “none of the above” with

extreme caution

Why Meaningful?

• Concept attainment is a great strategy when introducing new, difficult vocabulary

because it allows students to guide their own learning by examining both the true

examples of the concept and what it is not. This is a great way for teachers to

allow students to learn a new concept.




4. Which of these strategies is used to allow students to prioritize a list of

events?

a. Causation Cards

b. Diamond 9

c. 3-2-1 Processor

d. Think Alouds

Correct Answer: B; Diamond 9s are a strategy teachers can use when students have a

list of concepts that they wish to prioritize. The other answers are incorrect because they

are not used to specifically prioritize. Think Aloud’s are used to model metacognition, 3-

2-1 processors help students process new information, and causation cards are used to

show the causes of a Revolution. Since none of these are used to prioritize diamond 9 is

the correct response.

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Knowledge and Comprehension: Students use their knowledge by knowing the

basic definition of these four strategies. They then are asked to use their

comprehension when they must distinguish the difference between the four and

pick out the correct choice.


• Explanation: Students are only using the basic recalls of the facts. They are not

required to do any of the understandings that would take them deeper into the

facets of understanding. They simply have to know the definition of the strategies

and memorize them; there is no application or adapting a point of view.

Rules Followed:


• Put as much of the wording as possible in the stem of the item



• The relative length of the correct answer should not provide a clue to the answer

Hoff, Ashton 10

Why Meaningful?

• A Diamond 9 is one of the best tools a teacher can use to allow students to

prioritize their thoughts. If students are presented with a list of items it is often

complicated for them to list what information they find relevant vs. that

information that is irrelevant. Diamond 9s can help this process by allowing

students this scaffold to guide their thinking.




5. Which of these History Alive! Strategies encourages students to experience

key social studies concepts with short memorable activities

a. Experiential Exercises

b. Response Groups

c. Visual Discovery

d. Social Studies Skill Builder

Correct Answer: A; History Alive uses experiential to create short memorable activities

where students use physical movements to experience the emotions of a moment in social

studies. Response Groups and Social Studies Skill Builders are designed to extend

student thinking in other ways while Visual Discovery involves specific images. For

these reasons response A is the best.

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Knowledge, Comprehension: Students have to know the History Alive

techniques to correctly answer this question, and know the basic definition and

explanation of each strategy. They must choose the right choice from the other

plausible answers and recall what each strategy does.


• Explanation: The main reason that this falls into the first facet of understanding

only is that students are not asked to make a personal connection or shape this

into a new dimension. Therefore, because they are simply dealing with facts and

data they are only using this first level.

Rules Followed:

• Present a single clearly formulated problem in the stem of the item


• State the stem of the item in simple, clear language



• The relative length of the correct answer should not provide a clue to the answer

• Avoid using the alternative “all of the above” and use “none of the above” with

extreme causation

Hoff, Ashton 11

Why Meaningful?

• History Alive strategies are some of the best strategies to use to engage students

in the learning of history. They have been used in a number of classroom settings

so they are proven to work. In addition they are practical and easy to understand

so beginning teachers can use them easily in their classrooms.

Hoff, Ashton 12

Short Answer

Directions: Read the statement below completely and thoroughly then fill in the blank

using the words provided in the word bank. Each word will only be used once and there

are some words that won’t be used at all. Choose the word that BEST completes the

statement or answers the question. Each short answer question will be worth a TOTAL

of three points. The short answer section is worth a combined 15 points.

Word Bank

Learning Outcomes: Examine major curricular and instructional issues in social studies

(history and social science education)

1. Which of the following are 2 methods of effective classroom management according to

Harry Wong?

1.

2.

Correct Answer: Proximity and Eye Contact, In The First Days of School these are two

of the methods Harry and Rosemary Wong advocated as being effective classroom

management strategies. They say that eye contact and proximity can often curb bad

behavior without calling too much attention to the student and embarrassing them in the

class.

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Knowledge, Comprehension: This question is designed to focus on the first two

sections of Bloom’s Taxonomy, because it requires them to recall facts about

Wong’s classroom management and then summarize two of those concepts here.

Causes of a Revolution Eye Contact Think Aloud

Chronology of Historical Illicit Group Discussion Threats

Events

Concept Attainment KWL Chart 3-2-1 Processor

Diamond 9 Nagging

Digitalizer Promote Writing Skills

Digital Native Proximity

Digital Technocrat SCIM-C

Hoff, Ashton 13

They are required to sift through their minds and distinguish which two methods

Wong advocated and identify them in the question.


• Explanation: Question requires that students have a knowledge and recall of

facts and data about Wong. They are not required to apply these to real world

situations but just identify and list them in the space above. Therefore this only

deals with the first facet of understanding.

Rules Followed:

• The item should measure a meaningful and specific learning outcome

• Item should require a single, brief response

• The reading level of the item should be commensurate with the student’s reading

level

• Direct question format is preferable to incomplete sentence format

• Item phraseology should not provide clues as to the item’s answer

Why Meaningful?

• Teachers have to have good classroom management to effectively teach their

students. These two strategies, proximity and eye contact, should be some of the

first things a teacher does to curb bad behavior and ensure that students know

their behavior is inappropriate. These strategies don’t take time out of class and

are great ways to curb student behavior before a teacher loses control of the

classroom.




2. A strategy that asks students what they know, want to know, and what they learn after

an activity is known as ________________ .

Correct Answer: KWL chart: this is the correct answer, the K part of the worksheet is

what student already knows about a topic, the W asks what the student hopes or wants to

learn, and the L is what they learned from the activity. This is the only potential answer

for this question because it is the only strategy that fits this technique.

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Knowledge, Comprehension: This question is lowest level of Bloom’s

Taxonomy because it requires students to know this strategy and recall it on the

test. The students are asked to understand the facts but only at a bare minimum

without applying it to any new situations. This falls under comprehension because

students are asked to understand the strategy in that they have to know what it is

and how it is used.


Hoff, Ashton 14

• Explanation: Students only use this facet of understanding because they are

recalling what a kwl chart is for the test. They just have to memorize facts and

provide that information on the test without grasping the actual meaning of how

to use a kwl chart or evaluate it as a strategy in terms of them, which would

indicate deeper understanding.

Rules Followed:

• The item should require a single brief response

• The blank should represent a key word/phrase/concept, not trivia details

• Use only a single or at most two, blanks per item and locate the blanks near the

ends of the item

• Blanks should be the same length

• The reading level of the item should be commensurate with the student’s reading

level

Why Meaningful?

• This is an important strategy to know, because it provides both an anticipatory set

and a complete closure all in one chart. In addition this strategy allows teachers

to assess prior knowledge. If in the K section students have already mastered

certain content, then a teacher would not need to dwell or spend much time on this

topic. Furthermore this is a good strategy to have on hand because it guides

students and is one of our small strategies that fosters active learning




3. A strategy teachers can use when teaching students to analyze primary documents is

the ________________ method.

Correct Answer: SCIM-C: although there are a variety of strategies one could use to

fully analyze primary documents, SCIM-C is the only one that appears in the Word Bank

listed above and is the primary method we have learned about throughout this semester.

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Knowledge, Comprehension: The above question only requires students to recall

basic concepts and specific facts about the SCIM-C method. They only have to

identify the method and understand its use; because students have to understand

how the SCIM-C method is used they are also using comprehension by explaining

one way they can use this strategy in their own teaching.


• Explanation: According to Wiggins and McTighe this question relies solely on

the explanation because it only requires the tester to know broad knowledge and

facts about the strategy without any application of its use or replicating the

process.

Hoff, Ashton 15

Rules Followed:



ends of the item



Why Meaningful?

• Analyzing primary documents is difficult for many students without some form of

scaffolding. Although it is very important for students to examine primary

sources for hands on history, it is often something they struggle with. SCIM-C is

one strategy used so that students can have a guide while they are trying to delve

more deeply into a primary document. In addition because it asks students to

compare sources it can also serve as a base for an essay.




4. What are two specific examples of how you could use Causation/Significance Cards

in the classroom?

1.

2.

Correct Answer: Causes of a Revolution, Chronology of Events: Causation and

Significance Cards are designed to teach students Causes and Significance. They can be

used to teach the causes of an event or how that event can be laid out in a timeline.

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Knowledge, Comprehension, and Application: Unlike the other questions, this

requires the student to think about how they would use causation cards and give

specific examples. This shows an application because they are taking this

strategy and moving it into a practical situation (the classroom). They are asked

to know the basics of the concept, understand what it means, and then relate it to

how they might use this method.


• Explanation, Interpretation, Application: This question directly represents

application because it requires the student to use what they know about the

strategy and adapt it to the classroom environment. They are describing two ways

to use causation cards, and although they are using a word bank they must use the

ideas and processes to determine two functions of the cards.

Rules Followed:

Hoff, Ashton 16


• The direct question format is preferable to the incomplete sentence format

• Avoid using textbook language, or sentences directly from a text

• The item should measure a meaningful and specific learning outcome

Why Meaningful?

• This question asks students to develop an application for the real world.

Strategies are useless unless they are able to put them into practice. These are but

two ways causation/significance cards could be used and teachers should be able

to take strategies given and demonstrate ways that they could be used to teach

history. Without this link the strategies would be useless.

Learning Outcome: Utilize appropriately a range of technologies within the social

studies classroom to encourage historical inquiry and the doing of social studies

5. A person who has grown up with technology such as computers, MP3s, phones and

the internet is known as a ________________.

Correct Answer: Digital Native; this is the definition of a digital native; someone who

uses has grown up around technology and is proficient in its use. There is no other

concept that fits that definition as completely as digital native, especially considering the

other options in the word bank

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Knowledge: For this particular question, students only have to recall specific

facts by giving the definition of a digital native. They have to know the principles

but they don’t really have to understand what the principle means or separate it

from other concepts.


• Explanation: students are only being asked for particular facts. They must use

their broad knowledge of the concept without any attachment to grasp the

meaning of the concept or delving deeper into the facets of understanding.

Because this is a definition of a term it only covers the very lowest levels of

understanding.

Rules Followed:

• The item should require a single brief response



ends of the item


Why Meaningful?

• If you look at this definition of a digital native as a person who has grown up with

technology you will also recognize that many of the students that beginning

Hoff, Ashton 17

teachers will move into teaching fall into this category. Respecting one another as

individuals is one of the first steps to making connections with our students, so

realizing that this is their world provides us with knowledge about where they are

coming from. It is important to recognize that their knowledge of digital

technology is going to shape the way they see literacy, research, and other aspects

of Social Studies education.

Hoff, Ashton 18

Matching

Directions: Fill in the blank next to each item with the correct corresponding letter in

capital letters (A-M). For each item there is only one correct answer. NO option will be

used more then once and some options will NOT be used at all. Each matching question

will be worth 2 points. The matching section is worth twenty total points.

Learning Outcome: Students will be able to examine major curricular and instructional

issues in social studies (history and social science education).

Theme Items

___ 1. Theme 1

___ 2. Theme 2

___ 3. Theme 3

___ 4. Theme 4

___ 5. Theme 5

___ 6. Theme 6

___ 7. Theme 7

___ 8. Theme 8

___ 9. Theme 9

___ 10. Theme 10

Options

A. Anthropology and Multiculturalism

B. Civic Ideals and Practices

C. Culture

D. Economic and Consumption Science

E. Global Connections

F. Humanities and the Social Sciences

G. Individual Development and Identity

H. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions

I. People, Places, and Environment

J. Power, Authority, and Governance

K. Production, Distribution, and

Consumption

L. Science, Technology and Society

M. Time, Continuity, and Change

Correct Answer: 1-C, 2-M, 3-I, 4-G, 5-H, 6-J, 7-K, 8-L, 9-E, 10-B…each of these

corresponds to the correct NCSS Theme. These themes are put out by the National

Council of Social Studies and serve as a curriculum guide for Social Studies. Option D,

Hoff, Ashton 19

Economic and Consumption Science is similar to NCSS theme 7 but isn’t one of the ten

designated themes. Option A, Anthropology and Multiculturalism, and Option F,

Humanities and the Social Sciences correspond with the disciplinary connections used in

school courses rather than the ten established themes.

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Knowledge: This set of matching falls under this category in the taxonomy

because it requires the learner to know basic concepts and specific facts. The

learner is asked to match the ten NCSS themes with their specific names. They

are required to know basic facts without delving into deeper domains of

understanding. They are not asked to explain or do any kind of inferring which

would fall under comprehension. They aren’t asked to apply changes or

manipulate problems by predicting or solving, indicating there was no application,

and students aren’t asked to complete any analysis by breaking down material.

For these reasons this matching set falls strictly under the low level of the

knowledge domain.


• Explanation: Students are asked to provide an account of the facts and data by

matching up the ten NCSS themes. This falls under the domain of explanation

because students are doing basic understanding involving facts and things they

simply would have to memorize. Students are not asked to make the facts

personal, adapt it for different contexts, see the big picture, find value or empathy,

or awareness of their own point of view; because these components are not

present in this question, students are operating at the lower level of thinking,

explanation without moving into deeper facets.

Rules Followed:

• Include only homogenous materials in each matching exercise: all of the above

are NCSS themes

• In the directions clearly provide rationale for matching: directions stated that each

option was only used once and that there were more options than items

• Used a larger number of responses than premises: There are 13 options while

only 10 themes

• Place items on the left and number them, place options on the right with a letter

• Arrange items and options in a systematic order: the options are alphabetical

while the items are numbered

• Limited a matching to ten or fifteen items: there are 10 NCSS themes above

• All items and options are on a single page

Hoff, Ashton 20

Why is this meaningful?

• The ten NCSS themes serve as a guide for Social Studies teachers. The National

Council of Social Studies is a national organization respected for the materials

they put out for Social Studies teachers. Social Studies is designed to promote

better citizenship and these themes can be broken down to a variety of disciplines

such as anthropology, economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, and many

more. In a sense, the ten themes are able to capture all the disciplines of Social

Studies into these categories.

Hoff, Ashton 21

Essay

Directions: Answer the following question on your own piece of paper. Your essay

should be well constructed with an introduction/conclusion (a paragraph each), a body

(two to three paragraphs), and supporting evidence. Be sure to think carefully about

your answer BEFORE you begin writing by completing a pre-writing activity (e.g.

graphic organizer, web diagram, etc.) The essay is worth a total of 35 points (see the

rubric below for more specific details)

Learning outcome: recognize characteristics of school culture and classroom climate that

affect the teaching and learning process; identify school, parental, and community

expectations of teachers; identify, recognize, and reflect upon the characteristics of

effective teaching.

Reflect upon YOUR experience as a student aide; what factors (school, community,

parental, classroom climate, etc.) have YOU observed affecting the teaching and learning

process in a positive or negative way? Support your answer with specific examples from

your field experience.

Rubric: Prewriting Exercise (7 points)

• Was there a creation of a graphic organizer, web, outline, or some sort of pre-

writing exercise?

o Students should outline how they will answer the question and establish

the three paragraphs they will be exploring—It Must Follow What

Students Actually Write About!

Writing (13 points)

• Is there an introductory paragraph to the essay?

o Students should complete a paragraph introducing the essay with an

appropriate thesis. In other words have they laid out what they will talk

about in the next few paragraphs

• Is there a body to the essay?

o Has the student demonstrated that they can include at least two to three

paragraphs in the body and supported each with supporting evidence—

make sure to develop your argument in these paragraphs and include

specific examples

o Make sure it makes sense—don’t just ramble on but include things you

have actually seen and that have shaped the way you think about teaching

and learning

• Is there a conclusion paragraph to the essay?

o Students should complete this conclusion to wrap up the essay and detail

any reflections they want to add before completing their argument

Hoff, Ashton 22

Content (15 points)

• Has the student included specific examples they have observed?

o This essay must include things you have seen in your field placement and

detail SPECIFICALLY how they impacted teaching and learning

• Does the student make clear connections to the impact on teaching and learning?

o This essay is designed to see what factors you observed in the schools and

how they impacted your teaching and learning—in other words what

impact did it have on you, your cooperating teacher, or the students

• Is the essay personally connected to the student writing it?

o Remember this isn’t the time to compare things you have seen in other

classrooms or heard about from other people but what YOU observed so

keep that in mind as you reflect

Model Answer

Pre-Writing

Factors that

impact Teaching

and Learning

Parents

Always mean well

but when grades

came out

experienced

parents who

wanted additional

help for their

child—said that

student should be

given quiet

environment and

other concessions

not available to

other students,

moral dilemma

about what to do?

School

So many duties

(lunch, hall,

assemblies) to

consider it is as if

a teacher never

has the

opportunity o

think about their

teaching and

properly reflect—I

wondered Did I

get a master’s

degree to watch

people eat, or

make sure they

take off their hat?

Hoff, Ashton 23

Essay—Model Answer

During my time in my field experience I have had my eyes opened to many

factors that impact the teaching and learning process usually for the worse. It is these

factors that are often sources of frustration and a hindrance and make one wonder why

they even went into the profession at all. Although there were many of these factors the

two I noticed most prominently were school duties and parental involvement.

At first glance it might seem as if school duties, like lunch duty, hall duty, etc. are

a necessary evil and that every job has its downside. However in my field placement I

think it has hindered and helped the teaching and learning process in different ways. It

hinders because it takes away precise time for teachers to plan and develop activities for

their classroom. In my opinion this is a real problem because in an ideal world a

teacher’s sole concern should be a commitment to their student’s education. In other

ways it helps the teaching and learning process because it allows the teachers to learn

more about their students. Who are these people outside of my classroom? Who do they

sit with and date etc.? When we learn more about people we find it easier to help them

because we are respected each other as individuals. In my opinion this is one of the most

important ways these duties can help teachers and the way they should justify them when

they thing about why they are doing this.

Another example of something that can hinder of help the teaching and learning

process is parental involvement. In some instances this can be extremely beneficial

because when parents are involved they can help their child in numerous ways.

However, ‘helicopter’ parents that refuse to place any blame on their child can hinder the

process of learning because it puts teachers on the defensive. For example in my field

placement I saw both examples. Once we caught a student cheating on a homework

assignment and promptly emailed her father. Instead of yelling at us for making a big

deal out of a homework assignment, her father was extremely supportive and told us to

take whatever action we thought was appropriate. In addition he also said he was

committed to his daughter’s education and would discuss the matter with her at home.

The daughter was going to learn a valuable lesson and we could continue teaching

without fear of isolating the student’s parent. Although this example highlights how

Hoff, Ashton 24

parents can benefit the learning process, they can also hold back teachers by placing

unfair demands. I observed this behavior as well in my field placements when a parent

was unhappy with her daughter’s grade. Her daughter was truly struggling in an honors

level class and was unable to drop the class because they thought she could succeed at

this higher level. However when she began to fail her mom felt that she should be given

additional concessions, such as additional time and quiet environment to take tests. This

seems like an easy concession to make but this would have been unfair to the other

students who worked just as hard and would have benefited from additional time on the

exam. This was a profound lesson for me to learn about how a parent could hinder their

child’s learning by placing unreasonable demands on both the child (demanding she stay

in honors) and the teacher by giving them a moral dilemma to deal with.

Even though all these factors impacted the learning and teaching process in

different ways they were important concepts to learn. I am fortunate that I was able to

see how these situations played out in my field experience because they have made me a

better teacher and have better prepared me for situations I might encounter. In the end

there are many factors that influence teaching and learning; school duties and parental are

but a few examples of how they played out in my field placement.

Hoff, Ashton 25

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, and Analysis: this question allows

the writer to illustrate their point of view by relating their assertions with real

world examples from their own teaching experiences. They have to show a real

world application by showing how they observed these factors in their own field

experience. They are also delving into analysis by relating these concepts to

specific examples from their teaching, and separate out whether this is impacting

teaching, learning, and in what way—positive or negatively. They are using all of

Bloom’s Taxonomy because they have to have knowledge of basic facts

definitions, defend and explain themselves, apply this to a situation they

experienced, and break down whether these factors positively or negatively

impact teaching and learning as a process.


• Explanation, Interpretation, Application, Perspective, Empathize; this essay

question is unique from many, because it requires the student to reflect upon a

personal experience. They must step back from and review their experiences to

think about what shaped teaching and learning. They have to see things from

other perspectives to truly reflect on their experiences and see the bigger picture.

Focus on specific examples that fit into the macro idea of these experiences shape

teaching and learning. They are applying their examples to real world settings

and describing how factors influence others not only themselves in this process.

This question involves delving into some of the deepest facets of understanding

because the student must empathize and take on a new perspective from just

themselves.

Rules Followed:

• The item should measure a meaningful and complex learning outcome

• Make sure the essay question is carefully focused on the complex learning

outcome

• The content and length of essay question response should be conveyed to the

student

• The use of optional questions should be avoided (no answer 5 out of 7)

Why Meaningful?

• Reflection is one of the most important things for a beginning teacher to

participate in because it allows them to look back on their early beliefs and see

how they have evolved into their new ideas and concepts. In addition these

factors are important to recognize because they will appear in a variety of schools

in a number of classrooms and are not unique to my field experience.

how-to test items

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