Does Taking Developmental Psychology Affect Students' Reactions to Aging?

something about the student's mot~vat~on and sk~ll and the teachers ablllty to lnsplre learnlng Most attribution theorles give perce~ved effort a prom~nent role in the bel~ef systems of people that concern the evaluat~on of self and others Indeed when asked why some students succeed when others of equal ab~l~ty fall students and teachers often reply that effort makes the difference (Welner Russell & Lerman 1978) The measurement of effort provides valuable inforrnatlon to the student and the Instructor who wants to perform more effectively Knowledge of effort with reference to actual achlevement permlts the student and the Instructor to recognize learn~ng problems attr~butable to poor motivation and those wh~ch are attrlbutable to poor study hab~ts or test tak~ng skills Study efficiency therefore 1s a concept of great usefulness to an educator who wants to Improve the learning performance of hls~her students Prescr~ptlve tactlcs suggest themselves when a student 1s class~fied accord~ng to test achlevement and study effort As early as possible In a course study efflc~ency could be measured then the student and the lnstructor could mutually attempt to Improve the learnlng of the student For example ~f study skills are a problem (high effort low achlevement) a technique such as the SQ3R method m~ght be recommended (Rob~nson 1970) If motlvatlon is a problem (low effort-low achlevement) act~ve rather than passlve learn~ng assignments might be ass~gned to the student (Holland & Tarlow 1980) Improved study eff~clency most certainly complements and encourages better teaching and it may help form that rare sltuat~on wherein students and instructors evaluate each other h~ghly References Chaikin A L & Cooper J Evaluation as a function of correspondence and hedonlc relevance Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 1973 9, 257-264 Chandler T A The questionable status of student evaluat~ons of teachlng Teaching of Psychology 1978 5 150 152 Coherl J & Cohen P Applied multiple regressionlcorrelation analysis for the behavioral sciences Hillsdale NJ Lawrence Erbaum Associates 1975 Daniels R L & Steven J P The Interaction between the nternal external locus of control and two methods of college instruction An~erican Educational Research Journal 1976 13 103 1 13 Dowaliby F J & Schumer H Teacher centered versus student centered mode of college classroom instruct~on as related to manlfest anxiety Journal of Educabonal Psychology 1973 64 12'5-1 32 Edwards A L Mulbple regression and the analysis of vanance and covariance San Francisco W H Freeman 1979 Holland M K & Tarlow G Uslng psychology Principles of behavior and your life Boston Little Brown 1980 Jones E E & Davis K E Fron acts todispositions The attribution process ~n person perceptton In L Berkowitz (Ed ) Advances in expenmental social psychology (Vol 2) New York Academic Press 1965 McKedchie W J Student ratings of faculty A reprlse Amderne 1979 65 384-397 Roblnc,on F P Effective study New York Harper & Row 1970 We~ner B Russell D & Lerman D Affective consequences of causal ascription In Harvey J H lckes W & Kidd R F New directions in attnbubon research (Vo 2) New York Wlley 1978