special_ed.htm

Teaching-Learning Style Preferences of Special Education Teacher Candidates

About You

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The following information will help use better understand the information that you provide us.

Gender: Male Female

Your Age:

Race: African American Asian Hispanic Native American White Other

What is your major?
Special Education
Elementary Education
Secondary Education
Early Childhood Education
Speech Pathology
Other

What is your classification?
Freshman
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
Graduate Student
Other

Principles of Adult Learning Scale

Directions: The following survey contains several things that a teacher of adults might do in a classroom. You may personally find some of them desirable and find others undesirable. For each item please respond to the way you most frequently practice the action described in the item. Your choices are Always, Almost Always, Often, Seldom, Almost Never, and Never. If the item does not apply to you, select never.

1. I allow students to participate in developing the criteria for evaluating their performance in class.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

2. I use disciplinary action when it is needed.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

3. I allow older students more time to complete assignments when they need it.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

4. I encourage students to adopt middle-class values.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

5. I help students diagnose the gaps between their goals and their present level of performance.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

6. I provide knowledge rather than serve as a resource person.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

7. I stick to the instructional objectives that I write at the beginning of a program.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

8. I participate in the informal counseling of students.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

9. I use lecturing as the best method for presenting my subject material to adult students.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

10. I arrange the classroom so that it is easy for students to interact.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

11. I determine the educational objectives for each of my students.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

12. I plan units which differ as widely as possible from my students' socio-economic backgrounds.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

13. I get a student to motivate himself/herself by confronting him/her in the presence of classmates during group discussions.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

14. I plan learning episodes to take into account my students' prior experiences.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

15. I allow students to participate in making decisions about the topics that will be covered in class.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

16. I use one basic teaching method because I have found that most adults have a similar style of learning.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

17. I use different techniques depending on the students being taught.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

18. I encourage dialogue among my students.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

19. I use written tests to assess the degree of academic growth in learning rather than to indicate new directions for learning.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

20. I utilize the many competencies that most adults already possess to achieve educational objectives.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

21. I use what history has proven that adults need to learn as my chief criteria for planning learning episodes.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

22. I accept errors as a natural part of the learning process.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

23. I have individual conferences to help students identify their educational needs.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

24. I let each student work at his/her own rate regardless of the amount of time it takes him/her to learn a new concept.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

25. I help my students develop short-range as well as long-range objectives.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

26. I maintain a well-disciplined classroom to reduce interferences to learning.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

27. I avoid discussion of controversial subjects that involve value judgements.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

28. I allow my students to take periodic breaks during the class.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

29. I use methods that foster quiet, productive, deskwork.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

30. I use tests as my chief method of evaluating students.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

31. I plan activities that will encourage each student's growth from dependence on others to greater independence.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

32. I gear my instructional objectives to match the individual abilities and needs of the students.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

33. I avoid issues that relate to the student's concept of himself/herself.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

34. I encourage my students to ask questions about the nature of their society.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

35. I allow a student's motives for participating in continuing education to be a major determinant in the planning of learning objectives.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

36. I have my students identify their own problems that need to be solved.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

37. I give all students in my class the same assignment on a given topic.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

38. I use materials that were originally designed for students in elementary and secondary schools.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

39. I organize adult learning episodes according to the problems that my students encounter in everyday life.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

40. I measure a student's long-term educational growth by comparing his/her total achievement in class to his/her expected performance as measured by national norms from standardized tests.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

41. I encourage competition among my students.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

42. I use different materials with different students.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

43. I help students relate new learning to their prior experiences.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

44. I teach units about problems of everyday living.

Always Almost Always Often Seldom Almost Never Never

Philosophy of Adult Education Inventory

Each of the 15 items on the Inventory begins with an incomplete sentence, followed by five different options that might complete the sentence. For each option, select the number that most closely indicates how you feel about that option. The scale goes from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 7 (Strongly Agree) with a neutral point at 4 if you do not have any opinion or are not sure about a particular option. Continue through all the items, reading the sentence stem and indicating how strongly you agree or disagree with each of the options. Please respond to every option even if you feel neutral about it. There are no "right" or "wrong" ratings.

1. In planning an educational activity, I am most likely to:

(a) identify, in conjunction with learners, significant social and political issues and plan learning activities around them.

Strongly Disagree-------------------------Neutral------------------------Strongly Agree

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

(b) clearly identify the results I want and construct a program that will almost run itself.