Running head: FINAL ESSAY EXAM

Final Essay Exam

Amanda R. Rucker

EDUC 533 Educational Psychology

Professor Dr. Kristy Duckworth
East Texas Baptist University

July 1, 2015

Version 1.0

FINAL ESSAY EXAM

Final Essay Exam

All of the scenarios that I answered have applied to me directly at some point in my life.
The scenario that I was most passionate about is Annie, the fifth grader. I was exactly like her
growing up. I was told at a young age that I was not a good math student and that I should not be
in the honors class. This damaged my self-efficacy in that subject tremendously. To this day, I
have been known to still become anxious and worried when a math problem is handed to me. If I
could have gone back, I would not have allowed that teacher to control my feelings. I also
directly relate to motivation. As a college coach I will have a team with fifteen different attitudes
on it and I will have to come up with fifteen different ways to motivate them. I believe that
motivation is the key to success.
Prompt 1
Bandura has stated the social cognitive theory is a dynamic system that explains human
adaption, learning, and motivation. The theory addresses how people develop social, emotional,
cognitive, and behavioral capabilities; how people regulate their own lives; and what motivates
them (Woolfolk, 2015). Annies comment was a direct reflection of past experiences in her life.
She has evaluated her writing skills and has come to the conclusion that she cannot cognitively
be successful at writing. This has affected her emotional state and her self-efficacy. Woolfolk
(2015) stated that self efficacy is content specific, which means it varies depending on the
subject or task. Annie has felt that she was not competent in writing based on evaluations of
herself and others around her. However, Annie has known that she was great in physical
education or art, so her self-efficacy was high in those subject areas. Annie has found it easier to
burst out and say she could not do the writing, rather than sit down and try her hardest but fail.
Research has demonstrated that students with high self-efficacy exert greater levels of effort,
persistence, and resilience when engaged in challenging tasks (Woolfolk, 2015). I would have
used the triarchic reciprocal causality system to help Annie become more successful in writing.

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This system is the dynamic interplay among three kinds of influences: personal, environmental,
and behavioral (Woolfolk, 2015). If this system was used, I would have started out with
motivation. Motivation has been the key to learning forever, and once a teacher has figured out
what motivates a student, that is a step in the right direction. The teacher should have then set
small goals focused on the content material rather than the correct grammar of the paper. This
would have allowed Annie to see success in writing, and her self-efficacy would begin to
improve. The last step would have been to teach her how to self-evaluate and self-regulate. These
two monitoring techniques have allowed the student to evaluate their own work and feel
accomplished about that work. Self-regulating learners exercise agency as their engage in a
cycle with four main stages: analyze the task, set goals and devise plans, enact strategies, and
regulate learning by making needed adjustments (Woolfolk, 2015). The most important part of
this plan for Annie would have been to learn how to set and accomplish small goals. Annie has
needed to experience success in writing to help her self-efficacy improve. Another important part
of the plan for Annie would have been enacting tactics and strategies. These tools would have
helped her reach her goals easier and faster. I have also found that when students possess tools to
assist them, they have felt much more confident in what they were doing.
Prompt 2
Motivation has been defined in many different ways. Woolfolk (2015) has defined
motivation as an internal state that arouses, directs, and maintains behavior. The book has also
defined three different types of motivation; amotivation, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic
motivation. Amotivation has been defined as a complete lack of any intent to act no
engagement at all. Intrinsic motivation has been said to be the natural human tendency to seek
out and conquer challenges as we pursue personal interests and exercise capabilities. Extrinsic
motivation has been explained as the motivation created by external factors such as rewards and

FINAL ESSAY EXAM

punishments (Woolfolk, 2015). Very few people have possessed the quality of intrinsic
motivation. Most people have had a job because of pay, not just because they love it. However,
being extrinsically motivated has not always been a bad quality. That has been how some people
get into an activity or job, and then throughout that process they have learned to love it and
become intrinsically motivated. The behavioral approach to motivation has stated that student
motivation begins with an analysis of incentives and awards in the classroom (Woolfolk, 2015).
A reward has been defined as an object a student receives as a consequence of a certain behavior.
An incentive has been said to be an object that encourages or discourages a behavior (Woolfolk,
2015). This type of motivation has been used to directly motivate a childs behavior. The
humanistic interpretations of motivations have emphasized such intrinsic sources of motivation
as a persons needs for self-actualization, the inborn actualizing tendency, or the need for selfdetermination (Woolfolk, 2015). This type of motivation has been based on giving students
choices in projects, books, or topics, so that it taps into their intrinsic motivation. Cognitive
approaches to motivation have also emphasized intrinsic motivation. Woolfolk (2015) has stated
that cognitive theorists believe that behavior is determined by our thinking, not simply by
whether we have been rewarded or punished for the behavior in the past. Sociocutural views of
motivation have emphasized participation in communities of practice. People engage in
activities to maintain their identities and their interpersonal relations within the community
(Woolfolk, 2015). This type of motivation has suggested that we learn by watching more capable
people around us. However, the sociocultural approach has encountered problems in the schools.
One key issue in schools today has been, cultural correspondence whether school tasks and
activities connect with students funds of knowledge and prior experiences (Woolfolk, 2015).

FINAL ESSAY EXAM

The main difference in each of these approaches to motivation has been the answer to the
question What is motivation? (Woolfolk, 2015).
Prompt 5
Ellen has clearly been a problem student in the past. The next step I would have taken
with Ellen would be to take her outside the classroom and talk to her privately. Ellen has been
disrupting the learning environment of her peers, and as a teacher I would have to take action.
Ellen has wanted the attention from the disruption, and by having her removed, she will not gain
the extra attention from the other students. When Ellen and I have finally made it outside, I
would have used an I message. Woolfolk (2015) has stated that Basically, this means telling a
student in a straightforward, assertive, and nonjudgmental way what she or he is doing, how it
affects you as a teacher, and how you feel about it. I have found that this is the best approach in
this situation. Mr. Fourniers initial response has been classified as assertive. Woolfolk (2015)
has stated that Assertive teachers clearly state what they expect. To be most effective, the
teachers often look into students eyes when speaking and address the student by name. Mr.
Fournier seemed calm and assertive when he addressed Ellen. He also stated her name and
exactly what he wanted Ellen to do. If Mr. Fournier would have responded with a hostile
approach, it would have looked more like You never stay in your seat!! Hostile teachers have
been known to make you statements that degrade and embarrass the student, rather than telling
the student what action you desired them to have. (Woolfolk, 2015). Mr. Fournier responded in
the correct way by not looking for promises or apologies, but expecting a change in behavior
(Woolfolk, 2015). I have seen an assertive teacher to be the most effective teacher. The no-lose
method has been a great technique for teachers over the years. However, the steps in this method
have been shown to be too numerous to handle a volatile situation immediately. In this particular
problem, Mr. Fournier would have used this method after class when they had time to sit down

FINAL ESSAY EXAM

and discuss all the steps. The no-lose method was made up of six steps. In this approach the
needs of both the teacher and the student are taken into account in the solution. No one person is
expected to give in completely; all participants retain respect for themselves and each other
(Woolfolk, 2015). The six steps of this method included define the problem, generate many
possible solutions, evaluate each solution, make a decision, determine how to implement the
solution and evaluate the success of the solution (Woolfolk, 2015). This method has been a great
tool for teaching the correct behavior instead of just pointing out the poor behavior.
Prompt 6
Ms. Rogers has used a criterion-referenced grading system for her students. This grading
system has allowed for each student to theoretically receive an A if they meet the criteria. The
system has been shown to be reflective of the amount of material learned and how well the
students have learned it, instead of comparing them to other students (Woolfolk, 2015).
Criterion-referenced grading has the advantage of relating judgments about a student to the
achievement of clearly defined instructional goals (Woolfolk, 2015). The book has not stated
any disadvantages to this system, but some administrators have found that this grading system
has made it hard to evaluate teachers. This principal has clearly found a problem with Ms.
Rogers way of grading her students. He believed that it was an invalid grading system that failed
to differentiate between the students. I have not found this grading system to be inappropriate. I
have felt that students should be graded on their own knowledge and work. However the
principal might have been concerned because he was new and did not know the students or the
teachers very well. Instead of thinking that Ms. Rogers was a great teacher, he believed the
students work was not challenging enough. If this principal had gotten to know Ms. Rogers, he
would most likely have changed his opinion about her grading system. Ms. Rogers was not using
the norm-referenced grading system. The norm-referenced grading system has not allowed

FINAL ESSAY EXAM

students to earn a particular grade; instead the grade has been based on the outcome of their
classmates grades. There is good evidence that this type of grading damages relationships
among students and between teachers and students and also diminishes motivation for most
students (Woolfolk, 2015). One common method of norm-referenced grading has been called
grading on the curve. This has limited the number of good grades that can be given, so in the
grading game, most students will lose (Woolfolk, 2015).
Conclusion
These scenarios are very helpful to those who want to become educators. As a student
teacher last semester I have seen all of these problems live. I believe that this book is a great tool
for beginning and veteran teachers who are looking for different techniques or methods. I can
definitely see myself using the methods talked about in these situations whether I am in the
classroom or on the court.

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8
References

Woolfolk, A. (2015). Educational Psychology (13th ed., pp. 413-587). Pearson.

Appendix A
Points
Possible

SelfEvaluation

APA formatting / Grammar / Punctuation /

Usage / Spelling

30

27

Quality, depth, and support for the first

response

60

57

Quality, depth, and support for the second

response

60

57

Quality, depth, and support for the third

response

60

57

Quality, depth, and support for the fourth

response

60

57

Introduction, conclusion and evidence of

personal insight and/or learning

30

30

Total Points

300

285

Categories

Average of the two scores:

Instructor
Evaluation