Lecture 11

Question 1

School transitions

Answer 1

Associated with a (temporary) drop in school achievement, self-image, and higher rates of emotional and behavioural problems

Question 2

Mainstreaming

Answer 2

The integration of adolescents who have educational handicaps into regular classrooms

Question 3

Big fish-little pond effect

Answer 3

The effect that individuals who attend school with high-achieving peers feel worse about themselves than high-achievers with low-achieving peers (although they feel better, they may learn less)

Question 4

A strong correlation between teachers’ expectations and students performance

Answer 4

1. Often the expectations are representative
2. Teacher expectations create self-fulfilling prophecies

Question 5

Delay of gratification

Answer 5

The ability to wait longer to get a better reward, instead of a lesser reward immediately

Question 6

Self-handicapping strategies

Answer 6

Deliberately behaving in ways that will likely interfere with doing well to have an excuse for failing

Question 7

Mastery motivation

Answer 7

Motivation to succeed based on the rewards one will receive from mastering a task (this will work better in school)

Question 8

Performance motivation

Answer 8

Motivation to succeed based on the rewards one will receive for successful performance

Question 9

Growth mindset

Answer 9

The belief that intelligence is malleable and can be grown over time

Question 10

Three factors predict student achievement

Answer 10

1. Their mindset
2. Oriented towards mastery or performance
3. Self-efficacy

Question 11

Self-efficacy

Answer 11

The beliefs an individual holds about the causes for his or her successes and failures

Question 12

Learned helplessness

Answer 12

The belief that an individual is not able to influence events through his or her own efforts

Question 13

Cumulative change theory

Answer 13

Transitions will be harder for children who experience several life changes at the same time (e.g., puberty, change in residence, start dating, family disruption), the more life changes the worse

Question 14

Person-environment fit theory

Answer 14

Negative changes in motivation and engagement after the school transition results from a mismatch between the environment and the adolescents’ needs

Question 15

The students’ needs

Answer 15

Need for autonomy –> teachers more controlling, fewer autonomous choices
Need for relatedness –> less personal relationship with teachers
Need for competence –> focus on performance not mastery, strict grading

Question 16

Research on grades and feedback

Answer 16

Written feedback gives better performance and higher task interest. However, high achievers stayed interested in the task as long as they knew they would get a grade for it