Deck 14: Meeting the Diverse Needs of Students

Question 1

A teacher who uses a critical pedagogy practice to directly address cultural bias and deconstruct societal stereotypes would:

A) embed diverse perspectives into the classroom (e.g. Muslim perspectives).
B) ensure that students from diverse backgrounds understood mainstream perspectives.
C) provide additional English language support for students from non-English speaking backgrounds.
D) provide opportunities for all students to share aspects of their culture.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

According to the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS, 2013), in 2011-2012 the number of notifications of suspected child abuse and neglect made to state and territory authorities in Australia was:

A) 50 000.
B) 150 000.
C) 250 000.
D) 350 000.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

According to Tomlinson (2001), the three major components of differentiated classrooms do not include:

A) content.
B) process.
C) product.
D) objectives.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

In a meta-analysis of data from the United States, Barton (2004) found that a school factor that correlated with student achievements was:

A) having young and enthusiastic teachers.
B) technology-assisted curriculum.
C) classes of less than 25 students.
D) teachers with four or more years of tertiary education.

Question 5

Is the following statement True or False? 'Over the decades various approaches have been developed to cater for individual differences and many of these have been very successful.'

Question 6

'In this process of personalising learning (Keamy & Nicholas, 2007) teachers must ... each student's unique interests, experiences and abilities, needs and backgrounds' (NSW Department of Education and Training, 2008). The words missing from this statement are:

A) appreciate and include.
B) respect and respond to.
C) diagnose and deal with.
D) recognise and value.

Question 7

An ideal differentiated classroom does not have:

A) mainly summative assessment.
B) instruction based on student readiness.
C) a range of modes of instruction.
D) individual achievement as a major goal.

Question 8

A recently graduated teacher reaches the mid-point of the first year of teaching and realises that up until that point the teaching used has mainly been whole-class instruction. Explain why this should be of concern to the teacher and provide a detailed description of five steps that the teacher could take to gradually move towards a more differentiated classroom.

Question 9

Using reading materials at different levels based upon student readiness is a strategy for differentiating:

A) content.
B) process.
C) product.
D) objectives.

Question 10

Is the following statement True or False? 'Research has shown that identifying students' learning styles produces better achievement outcomes.'

Question 11

Why would many teachers find it difficult to cater for students' diverse needs and abilities by preparing separate activities for each student in the class?

Question 12

Applying Gardner's (1983) theory of model intelligences, a teacher who takes students outside to hop around a basketball court and then measure the distance they were able to hop is encouraging students to use:

A) bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence.
B) naturalistic intelligence.
C) logical mathematical intelligence.
D) intrapersonal intelligence.

Question 13

Research has found that the brain inputs information through the senses so teachers need to:

A) involve students in activities that compare, contrast and classify.
B) provide challenges of new learning.
C) provide familiar routines but also novelty and discovery activities.
D) involve students in emotional aspects of learning.

Question 14

Subban (2006) considers that a conceptual framework for differential instruction can be directly linked to the Sociocultural Theory of Learning developed by:

A) Piaget.
B) Bruner.
C) Gardner.
D) Vygotsky.

Question 15

Students whose preferred learning style is psychological prefer to:

A) work while listening to music.
B) finish a task before moving on to the next.
C) take a step-by-step approach.
D) be physically active.

Question 16

Studies of the gender differences in the brain have found that:

A) males have more cortical areas devoted to verbal functioning.
B) reading and writing come more easily to the male brain.
C) males use half the brain space that females use.
D) females have more cortical areas devoted to spatial-mechanical functioning.

Question 17

A student with a disability who struggles to build and maintain friendships, communicate and manage change is most likely to have:

A) a hearing impairment.
B) an intellectual disability.
C) an autism spectrum disorder.
D) a vision impairment.

Question 18

How did Tomlinson (1999) define the term 'differentiated classroom'?

Question 19

Which of the following statements would not show that a teacher has a high level of awareness of diverse student needs?

A) I try to engage all students in learning activities.
B) I have high expectations of students regardless of their backgrounds.
C) I treat all students the same.
D) I am aware of cultural biases in my classroom behaviour.

Question 20

A characteristic that is not normally an indication of giftedness is:

A) above-average general ability.
B) a tendency to extraversion.
C) high motivation to achieve in certain areas.
D) high levels of creativity.

Question 21

You find that the class to which you have been allocated for a five-week placement comprises twenty boys and only eight girls. Four of the boys and three of the girls have only recently arrived in Australia and have some limitations with their spoken and written English. On your introductory visits to the classroom prior to beginning the placement you notice that the English speaking boys take up a great deal of the teacher's attention and some girls seem disinterested in lessons. There is some teasing of the newly arrived students about being 'different'. With reference to what you have learnt about differentiating teaching to enhance the learning of boys and girls, and students from diverse cultural backgrounds, explain the strategies you would use in your teaching to address these inequalities.

Question 22

Describe two strategies you could use to enhance your teaching of students from diverse cultural backgrounds.