Doing classroom research: a revision test

Multiple-choice test

Choose the best answer
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  1. What's wrong with asking:
    Did this lesson help you? Please tick Yes, No, or Maybe.
    1.   We won't know how little or how much it helped.
    2.   Students will always tick Maybe.
    3.   Students will always say Yes.
    4.   The scale is wrong.
  2. What's wrong with this:
    "I want to see whether I can improve the pace of my lessons by talking less or having shorter activities so I will do both in the next three lessons and measure the pace of the lesson."
    1.   Talking less will not affect the pace.
    2.   We can't measure pace in a lesson.
    3.   Two variables are in play so we will not know which one had the effect.
    4.   Nothing.
  3. We should avoid terms like difficult or interesting in Yes-No-response questions because:
    1.   we can't measure the outcomes.
    2.   they are routinely misunderstood.
    3.   they are gradable.
    4.   they are vague.
  4. If we use a before-and-after technique in an analytical survey of a group then we are conducting:
    1.   a survey with a separate control group.
    2.   a synchronous survey.
    3.   a survey which uses the group itself as a control.
    4.   a survey which will not tell us what changed.
  5. It is important to make a scale consistent in terms of what we want to measure being positive (scoring better than the mean) or negative (scoring below the mean) because:
    1.   we want to measure things.
    2.   we need to have clear questions for people to answer.
    3.   we have to give people the option to pick the middle ground.
    4.   not doing this makes the analysis very difficult.
  6. I want to see if a two Dogme lessons a week reduces my learners' inhibitions concerning speaking in front of the whole class so I'll run:
    1.   a descriptive survey.
    2.   an experiment.
    3.   an analytic survey.
    4.   a test.
  7. Qualitative data are sometimes useful to:
    1.   determine whether our hypothesis was correct.
    2.   find out exactly what our learners think so we can make changes.
    3.   make judgements about the success of an experiment.
    4.   set the agenda for a proper descriptive or analytic survey.
  8. I want to find out what my learners think about the coursebook so I'll do:
    1.   an experiment.
    2.   an analytic survey.
    3.   a set of tests.
    4.   a descriptive survey.
  9. I want to make sure that all four reading texts I am using in this experiment are at the same level of difficulty so I'll:
    1.   analyse the word class percentages in the text.
    2.   count the words in each sentence to make sure they are roughly the same length.
    3.   make sure there are the same number of active and passive voice clauses in each text.
    4.   put the texts through a word processor and get a Flesch reading ease figure.
  10. Conclusions should be:
    1.   based on the hypotheses.
    2.   disprovable.
    3.   tentative.
    4.   ones which show causality.
  11. post hoc ergo propter hoc means:
    1.   small changes may have large effects.
    2.   after this therefore because of this.
    3.   after a change we have an effect.
    4.   all changes have effects.
  12. Comparing learners' answers to questions such as Does this activity help you to learn better? may be unsuccessful because:
    1.   learners never know what helps them learn.
    2.   learners will always say Yes.
    3.   the question requires people to guess.
    4.   the question asks for insight into a personal cognitive processes.
  13. Hypotheses should be:
    1.   disprovable.
    2.   based on the data we collect.
    3.   variable.
    4.   ambitious.
  14. I tried a new technique for a listening text and my class performed much better on a comprehension test than they usually do. This shows:
    1.   that it's a good technique for all listening lessons.
    2.   that the new technique definitely worked.
    3.   that something has caused a change.
    4.   that trying new things always helps.
  15. Presenting results diagrammatically is often helpful because:
    1.   numbers are difficult to understand.
    2.   it is often easier to see patterns.
    3.   we get better results.
    4.   it's prettier that way.