Essay Quiz


1			Describe why achievement is an adolescent issue and how the normative cognitive, biological, and social changes of adolescence affect an individual's achievement orientation and long-term occupational plans. How do experiences in childhood affect an adolescent's educational and vocational behavior and plans? Also discuss the similarities and differences in how adolescents deal with autonomy, identity, sexuality, and achievement issues.




2			You are a teacher and have identified one of your students as a classic underachiever. The student's parents have requested a meeting with you to discuss the situation. Your task is to determine whether this student's underachievement is anxiety based or if it is socially based. Students who exhibit socially based underachievement might want to "fit in" by not showing their true level of intellectual capacity. Such students may use techniques such as "self-handicapping" as a way of self-protection (if they don't study, they can't feel bad about doing poorly on the test because it was probably because they didn't study, not that they lacked the ability to do well). Based on what you've learned, what will you share with these parents to assist them in supporting their child to reach his/her potential? How can you assess the reasons underlying the student's underachievement?




3			How might educators use awareness of a students' style of motivation (i.e., mastery versus performance) in order to encourage their best achievement? Also, how might educational programs take into account students' beliefs about intelligence with respect to it being either "fixed" or "malleable"? For example, a student who believes that intelligence is fixed will be motivated primarily to earn the best possible grade. In contrast, the student who believes intelligence is malleable is more likely to be motivated to actually learn and master the material. In your opinion, do schools, by their very structure and nature, encourage an overemphasis on "performance" as opposed to actual "learning"? If so, what could schools try to do to shift their focus back toward learning? How could they do this by paying attention to students' attributional styles and views on intelligence?




4			Research on attributional styles suggests that the causes that adolescents attach to success and failure have an effect on their degree of effort on subsequent evaluative situations. For example, a student who attributes her success to internal factors such as effort and ability is more likely to work hard on subsequent tasks, whereas a student who attributes her success to external factors such as luck and task difficulty will not necessarily be encouraged to maintain the same degree of effort on subsequent tasks. How can attributional style be incorporated in the classroom such that teachers become aware of its importance? What can teachers do to encourage healthier attributional styles? Do you believe that attributions of success can be modified to be healthier?




5			American youth score low in international comparisons of math and science proficiency, despite having educational funding that ranks among the world's highest. Up to 20 percent of freshman entering American four-year colleges and universities now require remedial coursework so that they are able to perform college-level work. To what can these dismal results be attributed? What must be happening in the educational systems of Singapore, Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong that America's educational system is failing to do? Can you think of ways to remedy this problem so that American students can regain an academically competitive foothold?




6			An interesting finding from recent research is that foreign-born adolescents, as well as those who are children of immigrants, tend to achieve more in school than do minority youngsters who are second- or third-generation Americans. This suggests that there are not only differences in educational achievement between groups but also that there are differences "within" cultural and ethnic groups. How can this finding be explained? Because the explanation cannot be attributed to racial and/or ethnic differences, what alternative explanation can be used to account for this unusual finding? (Hint: Think about acculturation processes and how those can influence achievement.)




7			Research indicates that socioeconomic status has a major influence on success in both academic and occupational pursuits. Describe the mechanisms by which SES influences motivation and achievement in academic and occupational domains, and how some youth are able to be resilient in the face of serious adversity.

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