FSHD 323Fall 2013Chapter 8: Academic AchievementDefine, recognize and provide examples of:- Divergent thinking: ability to find multiple possible solutions to a problem. Uses creative thinking consisting of both verbal and figural parts. Fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration. - Convergent thinking: ability to give the correct answer to standard questions that do not require creativity. Single answer to a problem. Speed and accuracy. See problem from different perspective, unique association between parts of the problem and take a novel approach. - Ability grouping: tracking students by academic ability into groups for all subjects or certain classes and curriculum within a school. Taught at a level that is most appropriate for their level of understanding. - Cooperative learning: direct instruction comes first, and then students work on the assignment together. Learn more and retain it longer. - Stereotype threat: anxiety that results when individuals feel that they are behaving in ways that confirm stereotyped expectations of a group with which they identify. Fear of being judged on the basis of a negative stereotype. Applies across diverse groups.- Self-fulfilling prophecy: process by which expectations or beliefs lead to behaviors that help ensure that you fulfill the initial prophecy or expectation.- Intervention and prevention programs:Prevention: prevent decline of cognitive skills theorized to occur in preschool children who were relatively disadvantaged in society. Intervention- focused on school age children who already demonstrated learning difficulties Key concepts- Define creativity. What cognitive abilities does it require?Thinking that is novel and produces ideas that are of value- What is the relationship between creativity and intelligence?Not related according to traditional IQ tests; they are separate constructs. Threshold hypothesis: intelligence appears to be a necessary, but not sufficient condition for creativity. Correlation disappears for IQ’s above threshold of around120. Small correlations between IQ and creativity tests.FSHD 323Fall 2013Convergent thinking is intelligence, while divergent thinking is creativity. Speed and accuracy of the cognitive behavior are in intelligence testingCreativity is based on flexibility, originality and innovation. - Describe practices to foster creative thinking.Allowing your child to see things differently. Branching out and taking risks is critical. Thinking that is novel and produces ideas that are of value. Find out what their interests areMeasure creativity are based upon the ideas of originality, fluency or flexibility. Active learning creativity tests- defines creative thinking as thinking that is novel and produces ideas that are of value. We need to encourage children to be creative, experiment and try new things, and think about situations in fresh ways.- Describe research conclusions on class size.Thought to influence student learning. Smaller classes increase student learning.Increase student achievement by an amount equivalent to about 3 additional months of schooling. Tennessee study in 1980. Large class size can have significant long-term effects. Small classes outperformed their classmates who were assigned to regular classes. Evidence from surveys stating that smaller classes can benefit students. No clear evidence that class size in middle or high school promotes better learning. Grades 4, 8, 12 smaller classes were not associated with better tests scores on reading. Reducing class sizes should NOT be the first priority in education today- it is not true for older students as it was for younger. Small class size gives teachers a change to interact more with students. May not make a difference if students are not provided with well-trained and enthusiastic teachers, appropriate and challenging curriculums, and physical environments intheir classrooms for support learning. When teachers are qualified and enthusiastic, then smaller classes are a good thing. - Describe the “boy problem” in school and the “girl problem” in science and mathGirls are less likely than boys to chose carriers in science, technology, engineering and math. Lower ability and less interest. Girls not take just as muchscience and math classes as boys and perform at a similar level. Spatial relationships favor boys.Girls are more likely those boys to be anxious about their ability to perform well in math. Girls who have friends who do well in school are more likely to take advanced math classes; girls social environment. Parents attitude and beliefs are another important factor. Girls may provide less effort or dislike for the subject. (do not want to deal with anxiety of stereotype threat, goal in life to helpFSHD 323Fall 2013people and science and math is not in that category.Boy problem: blame on curriculum- emphasizes reading and writing, which are subjects where girls usually outperform boys. Do not interest or appeal to boys as much as girls. Boys spend more time with video games that do not require reading skills, less developed. Developmental trajectory of male and female brains is different. Boys from middle class or upper middle class families are performing better in school than they have in past (not true for minority boys from disadvantaged families). Boy problem has to do with the fact that in some ways it is more difficult for a boy to be successful in school than it is for a girl. Problem to the curriculum- biological differences - Define the environmental cumulative deficit hypothesis and relate it to the poverty-based achievement gap. In other words, how does it count for poverty effects on achievement?The negative effects of underprivileged rearing conditions that increase the longer children remain in these conditions.- Describe some of the short and long-term benefits of high quality early educationIssues of group size and the ratio of caregivers to children and the issue of best practices compensation for staff. - Teacher-Student interactionWell-behaved, high achieving students get more respect from teachers Children adopt teachers positive or negative views and start to live up to themStrongest effect when teachers emphasize competition and publicityExpectations have a greater