Selected Teaching-Learning Terms: Working Definitions...

Aptitude One’s ability for learning a task, skill, concept, or body of knowledge

Assessment The act of measuring student learning

Authentic Assessment A measure of student learning that relies on “actual” student performance of the task, skill, or concept being measured.

Behavior Any action or reaction on the part of an individual

Block Scheduling A school scheduling pattern in which at least part of the daily schedule is organized into larger blocks of time (e.g., more than 60 minutes)

Bloom’s Taxonomy A classification of levels of intellectual behaviors important in learning It includes the levels of knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Carnegie Unit A numeric rubric designed for the purpose of assigning course credit Carnegie units are used by schools to establish a student’s grade-level classification, transfer grade-level placement, and graduation status.

Classroom Climate The “environment” that is experienced by students and by the teacher within a class or lab setting The climate may be “warm” or “cold”— inviting or distant.

Cognition The intellectual behaviors that make “Thinking” possible

Competency A successful demonstration of student performance reflecting a task performed by workers in a particular job or profession

Competency Testing Systematic measurement of a student’s ability to perform a prescribed task or skill that has relevance to a specific job or profession

Constructivism A teaching method in which learners actively “construct” their own knowledge and meaning from their experience

Contextualization Providing real-world relevance, meaning, and “connection” to the learning opportunity or activity

Criterion-Referenced Test Assessments that measure what a student “knows” or “can do” relative to a pre- determined standard or benchmark for a particular task, skill, or concept

Curriculum A planned, systematic course of study for a particular field, discipline, or subject

Curriculum Integration Melding together aspects of two or more subjects, e.g., animal science and biology, to enhance the student’s learning experience and deepen one’s knowledge and understanding of the course content

Curriculum Materials All of the resources at a teacher’s disposal that can be used to facilitate student learning for a given subject

Evaluation Assigning “value” to what has been assessed or measured about student learning

High Stakes Testing Assessments whose outcomes hold high- value for the student Frequently, these measures are used to determine a student’s readiness for advancement in grade, one’s eligibility for high school graduation, or one’s suitability for college admission.

Higher Order Thinking Skills Increasingly more complex and abstract levels of cognition or ways of thinking They include the behaviors of application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Instruction A set and/or series of teaching behaviors that are exercised with the objective of facilitating student learning

Interest Approach A pre-planned, purposeful act by the teacher that is intended to arouse and stimulate a student’s desire to learn more about a given subject Also called the “mental set” or the “anticipatory set”

Learning A change in behavior Ideally, the behavioral change is positive in nature

Learning Objectives Goals for the learner that describe what he or she will be able to do at the end of a lesson The objectives must include measurable behaviors that can be demonstrated by the learner

Learning Style How a person perceives and processes information Individuals have “preferred” learning styles, e.g., visual, kinesthetic (tactile), and auditory

Lesson Plan A written document that describes the systematic, orderly procedure that a teacher will follow when facilitating learning experiences

Lower Order Thinking Skills The simplest or most “basic” forms of cognition, including the behaviors knowing (remembering) and comprehension (understanding)

Motivation Anything such as a mood or desire that makes a person do something rather than not The reason(s) for doing anything

Practice The opportunity to apply one’s learning of a task, skill, or concept under either simulated or real conditions

Rubric A rating scale and list of criteria by which student knowledge, skills, and/or performance can be assessed

Standardized Test A systematic sample of student performance that is obtained under prescribed conditions and scored according to definite rules A student’s performance may be compared to a normative group for the purpose of assigning “relative” value, i.e., a norm-referenced test.

Student Achievement A student’s performance with respect to specified learning standards. An individual’s performance falls at some point along a continuum from no proficiency at all to perfect performance.

Teaching The act of facilitating student learning The work of a teacher

Unit Plan of Instruction A collection or series of lesson plans (usually 3 or more) that are aimed at teaching one major topic, idea, or concept.