Sample Objective Questions
(1) Which of the following is incorrect regarding "transfer of learning"?
(a) In our highly complex, rapidly changing Information Age, the ability to transfer or generalize from the familiar to the less familiar, from the old to the new, is a necessity for our adaptation to the technological demands of the 21st century.
(b) If the transfer situation is so different that the use of learning encounters some barrier or difficulty, we speak of "problem solving"
(c) When the new situation is greatly different than the original learning, we speak of creativity.
(d) Transfer of learning is most easily seen in situations identical to those in which the original learning occurred.
(e) When someone is called a Renaissance Man/Woman today, it is meant that he/she does not just have broad interests or a superficial knowledge of several fields, but rather that his/her knowledge is profound, and often that he/she also has proficiency or accomplishments in at least some of these fields, and has demonstrated unusual mastery in the transfer of learning.
(2) Which of the following technologies is best suited to promote collaboration between teachers as they work on developing curriculum or between students as they work on class projects?
(a) Wiki
(b) Kindle
(c) Doodle
(d) Elluminate
(e) Picasa
(3) Consider these following quotes from students:
When I look at a math problem, my mind goes completely blank. I feel stupid, and I can’t remember how to do even the simplest things."
"I've hated math ever since I was nine years old, when my father grounded me for a week because I couldn’t learn my multiplication tables."
"In math there’s always one right answer, and if you can’t find it you've failed. That makes me crazy."
"Math exams terrify me. My palms get sweaty, I breathe too fast, and often I can't even make my eyes focus on the paper. It’s worse if I look around, because I’d see everybody else working, and know that I’m the only one who can’t do it."
"I've never been successful in any math class I've ever taken. I never understand what the teacher is saying, so my mind just wanders."
These statements reflect math anxiety and mathphobia. Which of the following is NOT true with respect to this phenomenon?
(a) In our society it is commonly accepted that math is difficult, obscure, and of interest only to “certain people,” i.e., nerds and geeks – not a flattering
(b) In the United States, the study of math carries with it a stigma, and people who are talented at math or profess enjoyment of it are often treated as though they are not quite normal.
(c) In Russian or German culture, mathematics is viewed as an unessential part of literacy, and an educated person would not be chagrined to confess ignorance of basic mathematics.
(d) For nearly seventy years, teaching methods have relied on a behaviorist model of learning, a paradigm which emphasizes learning-by-rote; that is, memorization and repetition. In mathematics, this meant that a particular type of problem was presented, together with a technique of solution, and these were practiced until sufficiently mastered. The student was then hustled along to the next type of problem, with its technique of solution, and so on. The ideas and concepts which lay behind these techniques were treated as a sideshow, or most often omitted altogether.
(e) A common misconception is that aptitude for mathematics is inborn.
(4) Which of the following describes the effect of Sputnik on education in the 1960s
(a) Sputnik was as a “focusing event” that put a spotlight on education. Congress responded a year later with the National Defense Education Act, which increased funding for education at all levels, including low-interest student loans to college students, with the focus on scientific and technical education.
(b) Though Sputnik was a relatively simple satellite compared with the more complex machines to follow, its beeping signal from space galvanized the United States to enact reforms in science and engineering education so that the nation could regain technological ground it appeared to have lost to its Soviet rival.
(c) Sputnik’s radio signal highlighted not only the fact that the Soviet Union had beaten the United States into space, it also made it clear the Soviets possessed rocket technology strong enough to launch nuclear bombs at the United States. The United State government decided to provide extra incentives to improve science, mathematics and engineering education to bolster national defense.
(d) a & b
(e) a, b, c
(5) Which of the following is NOT true of Science Curriculum in California?
(a) The spiral curriculum (or tycoil curriculum) is promoted as allowing students to revisit a subject matter's content at the different levels of development of the subject matter being studied.
(b) The focus of Integrated Coordinated Science course is student learning through scientific inquiry structured to address the California Content Standards for Earth Sciences, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology and will provide building blocks for lifelong learning as well as hands-on laboratory experiences.
(c) The University of California and CSU A-G requirements for science are: D. Laboratory Science - 2 years Required (3+ recommended): Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Integrated Coordinated Science 2 & 3, AP Chemistry, AP Biology
(d) The populartiy of Integrated Coordinated Science is expanding in California High Schools
(e) All of the above are true.