MTLE secondary pedagogy subtest ONE

MTLE secondary pedagogy subtest ONE 1. A tenth-grade teacher decides to have students engage in a series of debates on several school-related topics, such as the school dress code and extending the school day. This type of activity is particularly appropriate for tenth-grade students primarily because students at this age have typically developed the ability to: - recognize multiple perspectives on an issue. One change in cognition during adolescence is that students' thinking becomes less egocentric. Most adolescents' thinking becomes multidimensional rather than limited to a single issue. Adolescents have the ability to view a topic through more complicated lenses and multiple perspectives because they have developed the ability to reason abstractly. 2. Which of the following behaviors among students in a middle school is most closely related to the process of identity formation? - forming cliques whose members consistently dress and behave in distinctive or unconventional ways One way adolescents develop a clear sense of self is to "try on" different roles in various settings. They have a strong desire to assert some form of individuality and independence but also have an increased need to "fit in." As part of a clique, they have the sense of belonging and social approval they desire as they experiment with different hairstyles, clothing, and behaviors to discover what makes them unique. 3. In a middle school, suspensions due to fights among students have increased in recent years. Research suggests that school staff can best reduce this type of behavior by emphasizing which of the following approaches? - providing students with explicit training and practice in the use of conflict resolution skills Conflict resolution is a structured process in which the goal is for both sides to walk away satisfied that an issue has been addressed and fairly served. Studies have shown that teaching adolescents the communication skills and creative and analytic thinking to prevent, manage, and peacefully resolve conflict helps reduce aggressive orientations and incidences of violence and disciplinary referrals. Conflict resolution skills provide adolescents with the ability to discuss a dispute without it escalating into a fight. 4. A middle school student with a poor self-concept in a particular academic area is most likely to experience which of the following difficulties in that area? - estimating his or her competence and ability accurately The self-concept evolves through constant self-evaluation in different situations. Young children tend to have positive and optimistic views of themselves. As they mature, students become more realistic, but are not accurate judges of their abilities. At the middle school level, some students suffer from an illusion of incompetence due in part to their tendency to compare their performance in different content areas (e.g., their performance in mathematics with their performance in language arts or science) and with the performance of other students in their classes. 5. Compared with the moral development of middle school students, the moral development of older adolescents is more likely to have progressed to: - an understanding of morality in which behaviors and decisions are more closely aligned with their personal values and beliefs. Most middle school students have reached a level of moral development where peers have a significant influence on students' decisions and actions. Middle school students also begin to realize that rules are created by other people and begin to question authority. Older adolescents tend to be less rebellious since they have begun to establish their own identity in the world and their own belief system. It is at this level that students begin to participate in activities, make choices, and match their behavior to this identity and belief system. 6. A high school teacher often has students debate issues related to current topics of study. The teacher has decided to instruct students in recognizing logical fallacies (e.g., red herrings, ad hominem, slippery slope). Instruction in this area is likely to be most effective in promoting which of the following cognitive abilities? - analytical reasoning Answer to question 6 Correct Response: D. (Objective 0001) Analytical reasoning is the ability to examine an argument to discern whether the argument follows a logical progression. Recognizing logical fallacies supports students' ability to analyze the logic of an argument rather than taking another's point at face value. For example, a red herring logical fallacy is a comment intended to distract or divert attention from the topic at hand. A red herring is used when one student is debating topic A and another student brings up topic B, thus changing the focus of the debate to topic B. In the same manner, recognizing logical fallacies helps students construct their own well-reasoned arguments that follow logical progressions. 7. The regular use of substances such as alcohol or drugs has been shown by medical research to affect the learning and development of high school students primarily by: - altering the way the brain processes and retains information. The brain relies on chemicals called neurotransmitters to get messages from one part of the brain to another. Each neurotransmitter attaches to its own kind of receptor to allow messages to travel through the brain on the right path. Alcohol and drug use interferes with the normal paths that neurotransmitters use, which can reset the way the brain reacts. Ultimately this affects how the brain processes and retains information and how students think, learn, remember, and concentrate. 8. A middle school teacher's class is highly diverse in terms of students' cultural and ethnic backgrounds, ability levels, and socioeconomic status. In a class with this degree of diversity, which of the following factors is likely to have the greatest positive influence on students' learning? - Continues...