I. What are instructional objectives and how are they used?

SELF-CHECK ITEM: Practice writing instructional objectives, perform a task analysis, and use backward planning to create a unit of study. Develop a behavior content matrix with one cognitive and affective objective.

QUESTION 1: Practice writing instructional objectives, perform a task analysis, and use backward planning to create a unit of study.

POSSIBLE ANSWER: The unit of study is personality. The unit objective, written in terms of condition-performance-criterion, is that in an organized debate, students will be able to defend one of the theories of personality against student proponents of rival theories. The theories to be mastered are Psychodynamic, Humanistic, Cognitive, and Learning theories of personality, clearly specifying the strengths and weaknesses of each approach in a 50-minute period.

An example of a task analysis, related to the above objective, is the ability to compare and contrast Psychodynamic and Humanistic theories of personality. To accomplish the objective, thorough knowledge of Freud’s stages of personality development is necessary, along with the related terms: fixation, regression, and libido. In addition, students must understand the relation between ego and the mechanisms of defense. Similarly, students must be familiar with, to a lesser degree, the theoretical perspectives of C.G. Jung, Karen Horney, and Alfred Adler. They must also be thoroughly familiar with the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and the tenets of Carl Rogers’ personality theory.

The component skill necessary to accomplish the task is the metacognitive skill of organizing thoughts so that strengths and weakness of a theory can be extracted and comparisons can be generated between any two theoretical perspectives. Further, students must be prepared to defend their theory against criticism by proponents of other theories in a debate. Therefore, students must also be prepared to defend their theory in a public forum.

In the final stage of task analysis, component skills must be assembled back into the complete process being taught. As such, students will get together the last 15 minutes of each class session in their assigned groups (e.g., proponents of psychoanalysis). In each group session, students will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each theory studied that day and role-play defending and critiquing the theory in preparation for the unit-ending debate.

QUESTION 2: Develop a behavior content matrix with one cognitive and affective objective.

POSSIBLE ANSWER:

SELF-CHECK ITEM: List the six primary purposes for evaluating student learning. Give an example of each purpose.

POSSIBLE ANSWER: The six primary purposes are:

• Feedback to students: Evaluations, such as exam scores, should provide information about student comprehension of important concepts taught in class.
• Feedback to teachers: Evaluations provide feedback to instructors about how well students learned lessons in class, and whether instruction was presented properly so that it is learned by students.
• Information to parents: Evaluations provide parents with feedback about their children’s performance. Parents can use this information to help students with concept mastery as necessary or seek professional help (e.g., professional tutors), should their children have difficulty mastering certain concepts.
• Information for selection and certification: Evaluations, such as SAT scores, are used as part of a battery of information for post-secondary education selection.
• Information for accountability: Evaluations can provide local, state, and federal authorities with information on the success of schools to meet local and national learning objectives. Schools not meeting these objectives may be held accountable in some way for not meeting learning objectives.
• Incentives to increase student effort: Evaluation results (e.g., exam scores) provide incentive for students motivated to achieve in the academic arena, especially those desiring to pursue post-secondary education. Grades can be powerful secondary reinforcers.

SELF-CHECK ITEM: Construct a four-square matrix comparing formative and summative testing on one axis and norm-referenced and criterion-referenced testing on the other axis. In each square, write a brief description of optimal conditions for using each combination.

POSSIBLE ANSWER:

SELF-CHECK ITEM: Write a variety of test items, including multiple choice, true-false, completion, matching, short essay, and problem solving questions.

POSSIBLE ANSWER:

1. Multiple choice: The first president of the United States was:
1. Benjamin Franklin
2. Thomas Jefferson
3. George Washington
4. Abraham Lincoln
2. True or False: The first president of the United States was Benjamin Franklin.
1. True
2. False
3. Completion: The first president of the United States was ______________________.
4. Matching: Match the president with the order of his presidency by drawing a line between the president’s name and the order of presidency.

a. George Washington	3rd
b. Thomas Jefferson	1st
c. Abraham Lincoln	14th
	16th

5. Short essay: Write a brief essay explaining the relationship between George Washington and Robert E. Lee.
6. Problem solving: A customer approaches a sales clerk with an item costing $10.99. How much does the item cost if the tax is 6%? How much change does the customer get if she gives the sales clerk a $20 bill?

SELF-CHECK ITEM: Describe an authentic assessment example. Make a list of items that might be included in a portfolio. Create rubrics for a specific performance.

QUESTION 1: Describe an authentic assessment example.

POSSIBLE ANSWER: An example of an authentic assessment is to design a campaign to help teenagers stop smoking for a health education class.

QUESTION 2: Make a list of items that might be included in a portfolio.

POSSIBLE ANSWER: A portfolio might include items like initial and final drafts of a composition, artwork, book reports, computer printouts, and journal entries.

QUESTION 3: Create rubrics for a specific performance.

POSSIBLE ANSWER: The specific performance in question is conducting an experiment to test the hypothesis that rats reinforced to trip a light switch on a partial schedule will maintain the behavior longer than rats not reinforced or rats continually reinforced for every depression of the light switch.

Rubrics:
30 points - setting up the experimental conditions
20 points - training the rats to trip the switch
50 points - analyzing the data and writing the paper
0 points - not completing the analysis and the final paper by the assigned due date

SELF-CHECK ITEM: Describe the advantages and disadvantages of letter grades, absolute grading standards, grading on the curve, contract grading, and mastery grading.

POSSIBLE ANSWER: Grades are a traditional form of academic evaluation. Grades make it simple for teachers to evaluate students in a standardized fashion. Further, teachers can make absolute standards in advance so that students know exactly what performance is expected to attain a specific grade. However, there are quite a few disadvantages, particularly with absolute standards. One disadvantage is that student scores may depend on the difficulty of tests they are given. True or False items are easier than multiple choice or essay items, and difficulty depends much on the items teachers choose. Second, grade ranges typically are different, particularly for failing (F), which can range from zero to 59.

Relative grading standards (grading on a curve) have the advantage of placing students’ scores in relation to one another, without regard for the difficulty of a particular test. However, they have the disadvantage of limiting the number of As and Bs, making it particularly difficult to attain As and Bs in high achieving classes. Grading on a curve also tends to create competition because once an A is earned, the availability of As for other students decreases.

Contract and mastery grading rely on pre-existing agreements as to what level of performance must be attained for a specific grade to be achieved. Contract grading creates a contract between the educator and student, so that if the student does not attain the criterion, the grade in question cannot be achieved. The advantage is that the student knows exactly what must be accomplished and is not limited by the availability of a scarce number of As and Bs as in the example of grading on a curve. However, the disadvantage is the potential of inflation of As rewarded. Mastery learning is a strategy that offers students grades as a reward for task mastery. The advantage is that focus is removed from relative standards in grading and placed on task mastery. Therefore, the primary advantage is the ability of all motivated students to earn As. Further, because students are given opportunities to re-work assignments with feedback, learning is facilitated, with greater future benefits for students as learners. However, a disadvantage is that other schools, particularly post-secondary schools, may not rely on such a system, and students succeeding with mastery learning environments may not be prepared to excel in more traditional environments. Further, teachers may reward effort and persistence over quality.

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