Study Guide--Chapter 8--Slavin (1997).		      Page 1

** Questions marked with asterisks are not necessarily answered directly in the text; you may need to expand on the information provided in the book.

1.  Why did the teacher in the introduction make the kids come up with their own way to determine the volume of the cylinders?  How was what the teacher did supported by constructivist theories of learning?

2.  What are the historical roots of constructivist theories of learning?

3.  How do top-down and bottom-up processing to teaching differ?

4.  How do cooperative learning, generative learning, and discovery learning relate to constructivist approaches?

5.  How can discovery learning be used in the classroom?  (See "Theory into Practice", p. 274-275).

6.  How does self-regulated learning relate to the "vision of the ideal student" according to constructivist views?

7.  How is Vygotsky's idea of scaffolding used in assisted, or mediated, learning?  How can parents and teachers use it?  

8.  What does the APA suggest about learning and motivation?  (See also Table 8.1, pp. 278-279).

9.  What is the purpose of reciprocal teaching?  How does it change as the student learns?  How can it be used in the classroom?  See "Theory into Practice", p. 279-283

10.  Briefly describe the four constructivist approaches to mathematics teaching.

11.  What has research on constructivist methods shown?  

12.  How is cooperative learning used in the classroom?  

13.  What is STAD?  How does it work? (See also "Theory into Practice", pp. 287-288) How is it different from TAI?  From CIRC?

14.  How is the jigsaw method used to learn material?  

15.  How do learning together and group investigation work?  

16.  How does cooperative scripting work?  See also "Theory into Practice", p. 289.
17.  What are the two categories of cooperative learning?  

18.  What has research on cooperative learning methods shown?  

19.  What is problem solving?  How is means-end analysis used to solve problems?  

20.  How is extracting relevant information important in problem solving?  How is representing the problem important?

21.  What are obstacles to problem solving?  

22.  How do incubation and suspension of judgment aid problem solving?  

23.  Why is it important to have an appropriate climate to solve problems?  ** What are examples of this?

24.  How is analysis important for creative problem solving?  Thinking skills?

25.  What are ways to teach problem solving through real-life applications?  (See "Theory into Practice", pp. 296-297).

26.  What is the purpose of the Instrumental Enrichment problem?  How does it work?  Has it been successful?  Support your answer.

27.  What other methods have been used to teach thinking skills?  

28.  Why is teaching critical thinking skills important?