Teaching Methods and Pedagogy

What is the underlying idea of the fourth paragraph?

Directions: The reading passage is divided into four paragraphs. Select, from the options given, part idea of each paragraph and see whether these part ideas, taken together, lead to the main idea of the whole passage.

Data of educational psychology are obtained through various methods. These methods range in reliability from extremely low to very high. In addition to the questionable validity of the information obtained by research, there are certain risks of inference involved when the results of laboratory investigations are extrapolated to classroom applications. Every classroom is unique in many ways and there are certain risks in generalizing from the laboratory to the classroom as well as from one type of classroom to another.
Educational psychologists and educators in the field would do a service to the profession if they would cross-validate laboratory studies in the classroom and pool the results from such studies in several schools to determine the generality of their findings.
Conventional textbooks are quite unsatisfactory for the student who wishes to critically evaluate the reliability of the methods used in obtaining the information presented. The book, which presents enough of the methodology of the studies from which all of the data presented are derived, would be able to cover a very limited area of subject matter and a small number of studies. It is necessary, therefore, for textbooks to become authoritarian in tenor and subject-matter oriented if they are to be useful to the student who is largely a consumer of research data. Data presented in textbook fashion must be accepted largely on faith — faith in the veracity of the presentations and in the reliability of the research methods used.
The student who is critical will want to go back to the original studies to check on the original methods and data on issues which are crucial for him. There are books of readings available in which selected studies are presented in their complete forms. These constitute useful supplements to the subject-matter oriented textbook. A textbook should be perceived by the student as a presentation of the best available information to date, organized and interpreted within a limited frame of reference.

What is the underlying idea of the opening paragraph?

Directions: The reading passage is divided into four paragraphs. Select, from the options given, part idea of each paragraph and see whether these part ideas, taken together, lead to the main idea of the whole passage.

Data of educational psychology are obtained through various methods. These methods range in reliability from extremely low to very high. In addition to the questionable validity of the information obtained by research, there are certain risks of inference involved when the results of laboratory investigations are extrapolated to classroom applications. Every classroom is unique in many ways and there are certain risks in generalizing from the laboratory to the classroom as well as from one type of classroom to another.
Educational psychologists and educators in the field would do a service to the profession if they would cross-validate laboratory studies in the classroom and pool the results from such studies in several schools to determine the generality of their findings.
Conventional textbooks are quite unsatisfactory for the student who wishes to critically evaluate the reliability of the methods used in obtaining the information presented. The book, which presents enough of the methodology of the studies from which all of the data presented are derived, would be able to cover a very limited area of subject matter and a small number of studies. It is necessary, therefore, for textbooks to become authoritarian in tenor and subject-matter oriented if they are to be useful to the student who is largely a consumer of research data. Data presented in textbook fashion must be accepted largely on faith — faith in the veracity of the presentations and in the reliability of the research methods used.
The student who is critical will want to go back to the original studies to check on the original methods and data on issues which are crucial for him. There are books of readings available in which selected studies are presented in their complete forms. These constitute useful supplements to the subject-matter oriented textbook. A textbook should be perceived by the student as a presentation of the best available information to date, organized and interpreted within a limited frame of reference.

What is the underlying idea of the whole passage?

Directions: The reading passage is divided into four paragraphs. Select, from the options given, part idea of each paragraph and see whether these part ideas, taken together, lead to the main idea of the whole passage.

Data of educational psychology are obtained through various methods. These methods range in reliability from extremely low to very high. In addition to the questionable validity of the information obtained by research, there are certain risks of inference involved when the results of laboratory investigations are extrapolated to classroom applications. Every classroom is unique in many ways and there are certain risks in generalizing from the laboratory to the classroom as well as from one type of classroom to another.
Educational psychologists and educators in the field would do a service to the profession if they would cross-validate laboratory studies in the classroom and pool the results from such studies in several schools to determine the generality of their findings.
Conventional textbooks are quite unsatisfactory for the student who wishes to critically evaluate the reliability of the methods used in obtaining the information presented. The book, which presents enough of the methodology of the studies from which all of the data presented are derived, would be able to cover a very limited area of subject matter and a small number of studies. It is necessary, therefore, for textbooks to become authoritarian in tenor and subject-matter oriented if they are to be useful to the student who is largely a consumer of research data. Data presented in textbook fashion must be accepted largely on faith — faith in the veracity of the presentations and in the reliability of the research methods used.
The student who is critical will want to go back to the original studies to check on the original methods and data on issues which are crucial for him. There are books of readings available in which selected studies are presented in their complete forms. These constitute useful supplements to the subject-matter oriented textbook. A textbook should be perceived by the student as a presentation of the best available information to date, organized and interpreted within a limited frame of reference.

What is the underlying idea of the second paragraph?

Directions: The reading passage is divided into four paragraphs. Select, from the options given, part idea of each paragraph and see whether these part ideas, taken together, lead to the main idea of the whole passage.

Data of educational psychology are obtained through various methods. These methods range in reliability from extremely low to very high. In addition to the questionable validity of the information obtained by research, there are certain risks of inference involved when the results of laboratory investigations are extrapolated to classroom applications. Every classroom is unique in many ways and there are certain risks in generalizing from the laboratory to the classroom as well as from one type of classroom to another.
Educational psychologists and educators in the field would do a service to the profession if they would cross-validate laboratory studies in the classroom and pool the results from such studies in several schools to determine the generality of their findings.
Conventional textbooks are quite unsatisfactory for the student who wishes to critically evaluate the reliability of the methods used in obtaining the information presented. The book, which presents enough of the methodology of the studies from which all of the data presented are derived, would be able to cover a very limited area of subject matter and a small number of studies. It is necessary, therefore, for textbooks to become authoritarian in tenor and subject-matter oriented if they are to be useful to the student who is largely a consumer of research data. Data presented in textbook fashion must be accepted largely on faith — faith in the veracity of the presentations and in the reliability of the research methods used.
The student who is critical will want to go back to the original studies to check on the original methods and data on issues which are crucial for him. There are books of readings available in which selected studies are presented in their complete forms. These constitute useful supplements to the subject-matter oriented textbook. A textbook should be perceived by the student as a presentation of the best available information to date, organized and interpreted within a limited frame of reference.

What is the underlying idea of the third paragraph?

Directions: The reading passage is divided into four paragraphs. Select, from the options given, part idea of each paragraph and see whether these part ideas, taken together, lead to the main idea of the whole passage.

Data of educational psychology are obtained through various methods. These methods range in reliability from extremely low to very high. In addition to the questionable validity of the information obtained by research, there are certain risks of inference involved when the results of laboratory investigations are extrapolated to classroom applications. Every classroom is unique in many ways and there are certain risks in generalizing from the laboratory to the classroom as well as from one type of classroom to another.
Educational psychologists and educators in the field would do a service to the profession if they would cross-validate laboratory studies in the classroom and pool the results from such studies in several schools to determine the generality of their findings.
Conventional textbooks are quite unsatisfactory for the student who wishes to critically evaluate the reliability of the methods used in obtaining the information presented. The book, which presents enough of the methodology of the studies from which all of the data presented are derived, would be able to cover a very limited area of subject matter and a small number of studies. It is necessary, therefore, for textbooks to become authoritarian in tenor and subject-matter oriented if they are to be useful to the student who is largely a consumer of research data. Data presented in textbook fashion must be accepted largely on faith — faith in the veracity of the presentations and in the reliability of the research methods used.
The student who is critical will want to go back to the original studies to check on the original methods and data on issues which are crucial for him. There are books of readings available in which selected studies are presented in their complete forms. These constitute useful supplements to the subject-matter oriented textbook. A textbook should be perceived by the student as a presentation of the best available information to date, organized and interpreted within a limited frame of reference.

What is the underlying idea of the passage?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

There is considerable evidence that time is a factor in learning. There seems to be something going on during periods of rest, particularly immediately following practice, that influence the consolidation and retention of that which has been practised. We do not know just what goes on or how it operates, but the evidence is quite clear that some type of spacing of repetitions facilitates learning and has an even more favourable effect on retention. 
One experimenter set out to discover whether the method of spaced repetitions was more effective than that of massed repetitions for the purpose of learning ordinary meaningful material. Thirty short selections in history and the same number in economics represented the material to be studied. Each assignment was read through five times, either at one sitting, one right after the other (massed reading), or once a day for five successive days (spaced readings).  Subjects and conditions were so rotated as to cancel out practice and fatigue effects for the two conditions. At varying intervals after the original readings, the subjects wrote all that could be recalled of the selections read. The amounts retained after varying time intervals were also determined.
The results show some interesting differences. When tested immediately after the original readings, 66 per cent of the material read five times in one day was recalled as compared with 64 per cent of the material read once daily for five successive days. This difference is not significant. When tested two weeks later, only 13 per cent of the material read five times in succession was recalled, whereas 47 per cent of that read daily for five days was reproduced. After one month, 11 per cent and 33 per cent respectively, were recalled (Austin 1921). In this particular experiment, for immediate recall, massed repetitions were as effective as spaced, but for retention over a period of time a different story is told. The material learned by the massing of repetitions is forgotten much more rapidly. Two weeks or a month after the original readings almost three times as much of the material read daily for five days is recalled as of that which was read five times in succession.
Not all the experimental studies on this topic have shown differences as marked as those cited, but the overwhelming majority has shown an advantage of some form of distributed practice as compared with the massing of repetitions. There is some evidence that the advantages of spaced repetitions are greater for the learning of more difficult than for that of very easy material and that they are greater for relatively meaningless as compared with more meaningful material. While it is hard to make any blanket recommendations, it would seem that for most forms of motor learning the spacing of repetitions is better than massing them. In most rote ideational learning, spacing probably has an advantage over massing. In the development of concepts and in problem solving involving common mental sets, the massing of practice is best, but where a shift in mental set is required spacing has an advantage. (Sawrey and Telford in Education Psychology)

Give the best summary of the second paragraph.

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

There is considerable evidence that time is a factor in learning. There seems to be something going on during periods of rest, particularly immediately following practice, that influence the consolidation and retention of that which has been practised. We do not know just what goes on or how it operates, but the evidence is quite clear that some type of spacing of repetitions facilitates learning and has an even more favourable effect on retention. 
One experimenter set out to discover whether the method of spaced repetitions was more effective than that of massed repetitions for the purpose of learning ordinary meaningful material. Thirty short selections in history and the same number in economics represented the material to be studied. Each assignment was read through five times, either at one sitting, one right after the other (massed reading), or once a day for five successive days (spaced readings).  Subjects and conditions were so rotated as to cancel out practice and fatigue effects for the two conditions. At varying intervals after the original readings, the subjects wrote all that could be recalled of the selections read. The amounts retained after varying time intervals were also determined.
The results show some interesting differences. When tested immediately after the original readings, 66 per cent of the material read five times in one day was recalled as compared with 64 per cent of the material read once daily for five successive days. This difference is not significant. When tested two weeks later, only 13 per cent of the material read five times in succession was recalled, whereas 47 per cent of that read daily for five days was reproduced. After one month, 11 per cent and 33 per cent respectively, were recalled (Austin 1921). In this particular experiment, for immediate recall, massed repetitions were as effective as spaced, but for retention over a period of time a different story is told. The material learned by the massing of repetitions is forgotten much more rapidly. Two weeks or a month after the original readings almost three times as much of the material read daily for five days is recalled as of that which was read five times in succession.
Not all the experimental studies on this topic have shown differences as marked as those cited, but the overwhelming majority has shown an advantage of some form of distributed practice as compared with the massing of repetitions. There is some evidence that the advantages of spaced repetitions are greater for the learning of more difficult than for that of very easy material and that they are greater for relatively meaningless as compared with more meaningful material. While it is hard to make any blanket recommendations, it would seem that for most forms of motor learning the spacing of repetitions is better than massing them. In most rote ideational learning, spacing probably has an advantage over massing. In the development of concepts and in problem solving involving common mental sets, the massing of practice is best, but where a shift in mental set is required spacing has an advantage. (Sawrey and Telford in Education Psychology)

What is the best summary of the opening paragraph?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

There is considerable evidence that time is a factor in learning. There seems to be something going on during periods of rest, particularly immediately following practice, that influence the consolidation and retention of that which has been practised. We do not know just what goes on or how it operates, but the evidence is quite clear that some type of spacing of repetitions facilitates learning and has an even more favourable effect on retention. 
One experimenter set out to discover whether the method of spaced repetitions was more effective than that of massed repetitions for the purpose of learning ordinary meaningful material. Thirty short selections in history and the same number in economics represented the material to be studied. Each assignment was read through five times, either at one sitting, one right after the other (massed reading), or once a day for five successive days (spaced readings).  Subjects and conditions were so rotated as to cancel out practice and fatigue effects for the two conditions. At varying intervals after the original readings, the subjects wrote all that could be recalled of the selections read. The amounts retained after varying time intervals were also determined.
The results show some interesting differences. When tested immediately after the original readings, 66 per cent of the material read five times in one day was recalled as compared with 64 per cent of the material read once daily for five successive days. This difference is not significant. When tested two weeks later, only 13 per cent of the material read five times in succession was recalled, whereas 47 per cent of that read daily for five days was reproduced. After one month, 11 per cent and 33 per cent respectively, were recalled (Austin 1921). In this particular experiment, for immediate recall, massed repetitions were as effective as spaced, but for retention over a period of time a different story is told. The material learned by the massing of repetitions is forgotten much more rapidly. Two weeks or a month after the original readings almost three times as much of the material read daily for five days is recalled as of that which was read five times in succession.
Not all the experimental studies on this topic have shown differences as marked as those cited, but the overwhelming majority has shown an advantage of some form of distributed practice as compared with the massing of repetitions. There is some evidence that the advantages of spaced repetitions are greater for the learning of more difficult than for that of very easy material and that they are greater for relatively meaningless as compared with more meaningful material. While it is hard to make any blanket recommendations, it would seem that for most forms of motor learning the spacing of repetitions is better than massing them. In most rote ideational learning, spacing probably has an advantage over massing. In the development of concepts and in problem solving involving common mental sets, the massing of practice is best, but where a shift in mental set is required spacing has an advantage. (Sawrey and Telford in Education Psychology)

Which of the following best summarizes the third paragraph?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

There is considerable evidence that time is a factor in learning. There seems to be something going on during periods of rest, particularly immediately following practice, that influence the consolidation and retention of that which has been practised. We do not know just what goes on or how it operates, but the evidence is quite clear that some type of spacing of repetitions facilitates learning and has an even more favourable effect on retention. 
One experimenter set out to discover whether the method of spaced repetitions was more effective than that of massed repetitions for the purpose of learning ordinary meaningful material. Thirty short selections in history and the same number in economics represented the material to be studied. Each assignment was read through five times, either at one sitting, one right after the other (massed reading), or once a day for five successive days (spaced readings).  Subjects and conditions were so rotated as to cancel out practice and fatigue effects for the two conditions. At varying intervals after the original readings, the subjects wrote all that could be recalled of the selections read. The amounts retained after varying time intervals were also determined.
The results show some interesting differences. When tested immediately after the original readings, 66 per cent of the material read five times in one day was recalled as compared with 64 per cent of the material read once daily for five successive days. This difference is not significant. When tested two weeks later, only 13 per cent of the material read five times in succession was recalled, whereas 47 per cent of that read daily for five days was reproduced. After one month, 11 per cent and 33 per cent respectively, were recalled (Austin 1921). In this particular experiment, for immediate recall, massed repetitions were as effective as spaced, but for retention over a period of time a different story is told. The material learned by the massing of repetitions is forgotten much more rapidly. Two weeks or a month after the original readings almost three times as much of the material read daily for five days is recalled as of that which was read five times in succession.
Not all the experimental studies on this topic have shown differences as marked as those cited, but the overwhelming majority has shown an advantage of some form of distributed practice as compared with the massing of repetitions. There is some evidence that the advantages of spaced repetitions are greater for the learning of more difficult than for that of very easy material and that they are greater for relatively meaningless as compared with more meaningful material. While it is hard to make any blanket recommendations, it would seem that for most forms of motor learning the spacing of repetitions is better than massing them. In most rote ideational learning, spacing probably has an advantage over massing. In the development of concepts and in problem solving involving common mental sets, the massing of practice is best, but where a shift in mental set is required spacing has an advantage. (Sawrey and Telford in Education Psychology)

What is the best summary of the opening paragraph?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

Data of educational psychology are obtained in various methods. These methods range in reliability from extremely low to very high. In addition to the questionable validity of the information obtained by research, there are certain risks of inference involved when the results of laboratory investigations are extrapolated to classroom applications. Every classroom is unique in many ways and there are certain risks in generalising from the laboratory to the classroom as well as from one type of classroom to another.
Educational psychologists and educators in the field would do a service to the profession if they would cross-validate laboratory studies in the classroom and pool the results from such studies in several schools to determine the generality of their findings.
Conventional textbooks are quite unsatisfactory for the student who wishes to critically evaluate the reliability of the methods used in obtaining the information presented. The book, which presents enough of the methodology of the studies from which all of the data presented are derived, would be able to cover a very limited area of subject matter and a small number of studies. It is necessary, therefore, for textbooks to become authoritarian in tenor and subject-matter oriented if they are to be useful to the student who is largely a consumer of research data. Data presented in textbook fashion must be accepted largely on faith—faith in the veracity of the presentations and in the reliability of the research methods used.
The student who is critical will want to go back to the original studies to check on the original methods and data on issues which are crucial for him. There are books of readings available in which selected studies are presented in their complete forms. These constitute useful supplements to the subject-matter oriented textbook. A textbook should be perceived by the student as a presentation of the best available information to date, organised and interpreted within a limited frame of reference.

What is the central idea of the passage?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

Data of educational psychology are obtained in various methods. These methods range in reliability from extremely low to very high. In addition to the questionable validity of the information obtained by research, there are certain risks of inference involved when the results of laboratory investigations are extrapolated to classroom applications. Every classroom is unique in many ways and there are certain risks in generalising from the laboratory to the classroom as well as from one type of classroom to another.
Educational psychologists and educators in the field would do a service to the profession if they would cross-validate laboratory studies in the classroom and pool the results from such studies in several schools to determine the generality of their findings.
Conventional textbooks are quite unsatisfactory for the student who wishes to critically evaluate the reliability of the methods used in obtaining the information presented. The book, which presents enough of the methodology of the studies from which all of the data presented are derived, would be able to cover a very limited area of subject matter and a small number of studies. It is necessary, therefore, for textbooks to become authoritarian in tenor and subject-matter oriented if they are to be useful to the student who is largely a consumer of research data. Data presented in textbook fashion must be accepted largely on faith—faith in the veracity of the presentations and in the reliability of the research methods used.
The student who is critical will want to go back to the original studies to check on the original methods and data on issues which are crucial for him. There are books of readings available in which selected studies are presented in their complete forms. These constitute useful supplements to the subject-matter oriented textbook. A textbook should be perceived by the student as a presentation of the best available information to date, organised and interpreted within a limited frame of reference.