Chapter 6, page 79
Problem 6.2: Evaluating teaching
A generally useful schemaA fourth-grade teacher is beginning a section of social studies in which the students will study
regions of the country. She wants to help them encode and retrieve what they are learning by
developing a generally useful schema that students can use across these topics. The first
region covered is New England, and the second is the Mid-Atlantic states. Intending to create
a generally useful schema, she creates these questions to help students organize their ideas:
New England- Summarize its history:
- Describe Boston
- Describe Providence.
- Why is agriculture not an important
industry? - Why is fishing an important industry?
- What are well-known attractions?
- What is its climate?
Mid-Atlantic States- Summarize its history:
- Describe New York City
- Describe Philadelphia
- Why is the Mid-Atlantic a financial
center? - How are the industries of New Jersey and
Pennsylvania different? - What are well-known attractions?
- What is its climate?
Evaluate the teacher’s questions. Has she succeeded in creating a generally useful schema?
Why or why not?Response: This teacher’s schema includes a common mistake that teachers and preservice
teachers make when trying to create generally useful schemas. Three of the questions are
appropriate for a generally useful schema: Questions 1, 6, and 7 are general questions that
can be asked about any region of the U.S. However, the other questions are not general
questions about any region, but rather specific questions about a specific region. To convert
these questions into a generally useful schema applicable to any geographical region, the
questions must become more general. Questions 2 and 3 could be converted to: Describe the
region’s two largest cities. Questions 4 and 5 should be changed to more general questions
about industry, such as: What are the major industries? How does its geography affect its
industries? The teacher might also want to include some other categories such as geography,
the people, and natural resources.
The teacher could opt to use questions, as she has done here, or she could shift to words
and phrases, such as: history, people, geography, climate, natural resources, major industries,
description of the two largest cities, and major attractions.