CTBA

Highly Ineffective

Highly Effective

Low-ability learners?

Learners with a low level of prior knowledge of the topic?

Learners with high motivation?

Describes teaching situations and asks the respondent to determine how effective each is for certain types of learners.

Name
This inventory appraises your beliefs about the effectiveness of particular classroom activities with students. There are no correct answers and your responses will only be shared with the researchers identified on the consent form. After answering the survey questions, any comments can be annotated below. There are 12 scenarios to respond to, each with three questions. The final question asks you to reflect on where in your education you encountered connections among disciplines. It should take you about 30 minutes to complete.
Critical Thinking Belief Appraisal (Raudenbush & Warburton, 2005) Survey
An English class is studying the sonnet, a form of English poetry. The teacher explains its history and structure, lists prominent sonnet writers, and asks individual students to read aloud several classic sonnets. To what extent would this activity be effective for*
Question 1
Highly Ineffective Highly Effective
Low-ability learners?
Learners with a low level of prior knowledge of the topic?
Learners with high motivation?
A social studies class is studying the Industrial Revolution. The teacher provides students with a list of inventions, explains the impact of these inventions during this period, and describes how they continue to influence the modern world. To what extent would this activity be effective for*
Question 2
Highly Ineffective Highly Effective
Low-ability learners?
Learners with a low level of prior knowledge of the topic?
Learners with high motivation?
A mathematics class is studying single-variable algebra. The teacher poses a problem requiring single-variable algebra, asks students to invent a way to write down the problem and then to compare their notations to the algebraic ones written on the board. To what extent would this activity be effective for*
Question 3
Highly Ineffective Highly Effective
Low-ability learners?
Learners with a low level of prior knowledge of the topic?
Learners with high motivation?
An Italian class is studying the vocabulary involved in ordering food in a restaurant. The teacher writes several new words on the board, defines them, asks students to repeat them, and provides a handout on which students add them to sample sentences. To what extent would this activity be effective for*
Question 4
Highly Ineffective Highly Effective
Low-ability learners?
Learners with a low level of prior knowledge of the topic?
Learners with high motivation?
A science class is studying the sun. The teacher asks students to write down several ways in which the sun influences everyday life and then to predict what would happen if the sun stopped shining. To what extent would this activity be effective for*
Question 5
Highly Ineffective Highly Effective
Low-ability learners?
Learners with a low level of prior knowledge of the topic?
Learners with high motivation?
An English class is studying For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway. The teacher overviews Hemingway's life and work, explains the history and significance of the novel, and describes Hemingway's influence on contemporary authors. To what extent would this activity be effective for*
Question 6
Highly Ineffective Highly Effective
Low-ability learners?
Learners with a low level of prior knowledge of the topic?
Learners with high motivation?
A social studies class is studying the Treaty of Versailles signed at the end of World War I. The teacher assigns students to write "letters from the future" to President Wilson arguing why the United States should or should not support the treaty. To what extent would this activity be effective for*
Question 7
Highly Ineffective Highly Effective
Low-ability learners?
Learners with a low level of prior knowledge of the topic?
Learners with high motivation?
A mathematics class is studying how to calculate the area of a triangle. The teacher assigns students to evaluate several possible formulas for calculating the area, determine which formula is the correct one, and explain why they answered as they did. To what extent would this activity be effective for*
Question 8
Highly Ineffective Highly Effective
Low-ability learners?
Learners with a low level of prior knowledge of the topic?
Learners with high motivation?
A Spanish class is studying the conjugation of verbs in the preterit, a form of past tense. The teacher provides a handout explaining the conjugation rules, conjugates several sample verbs on the blackboard, and then gives students a handout to practice them. To what extent would this activity be effective for*
Question 9
Highly Ineffective Highly Effective
Low-ability learners?
Learners with a low level of prior knowledge of the topic?
Learners with high motivation?
An English class is studying Jack London's short story to Build a Fire. The teacher asks students to read all but the last section and then write their own versions of the final section. To what extent would this activity be effective for*
Question 10
Highly Ineffective Highly Effective
Low-ability learners?
Learners with a low level of prior knowledge of the topic?
Learners with high motivation?
A French class is studying adjectives used to describe clothing. The teacher provides a handout featuring advertising photos with captions that include the adjectives, and then gives a second handout with intentionally incorrect captions, asking students to make corrections. To what extent would this activity be effective for*
Question 11
Highly Ineffective Highly Effective
Low-ability learners?
Learners with a low level of prior knowledge of the topic?
Learners with high motivation?
A mathematics class is studying how to convert fractions to decimals. The teacher explains how to make this conversion, completes sample problems using an overhead projector, and then gives an in-class assignment in which students solve similar problems. To what extent would this activity be effective for*
Question 12
Highly Ineffective Highly Effective
Low-ability learners?
Learners with a low level of prior knowledge of the topic?
Learners with high motivation?
Experiences making connections*
As a science or math teacher, you will be expected to help your students make deeper connections across STEM disciplines. Please describe one or two instances (with adequate detail) in your own college science or math classes that helped you make deeper connections across STEM disciplines. If there were none, do you have suggestions of where these deeper connections could have been made?