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Study Guide

Field 071: Educational Technology Specialist

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Sample Constructed-Response Item

Competency 0007 
Pedagogical Content Knowledge

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You and a third-grade teacher are collaborating on how to integrate educational technology into classroom instruction to enhance student learning outcomes in reading.

Using your knowledge of educational technology concepts, principles, and practices, write a response of approximately  400 to 600  words in which you:

Sample Strong Response to the Constructed-Response Assignment (446 words)

A third-grade instructional goal would be training students in the use of interactive whiteboard technology to enhance their comprehension of non-fiction texts utilizing text features.

An interactive whiteboard would be a valuable technology tool to use for promoting students' use of text features  such as  heading, subheading, table of contents, illustration, caption, chart, glossary . With an interactive whiteboard, customized, developmentally-appropriate learning activities related to the use of text features can be created. Appropriate reading skills software can be used via the whiteboard's connected PC. The connected PC web browser allows access to Internet lessons designed to enhance students' ability to use text features.

This technology can be used within an instructional unit on text features as third-grade students would interact with the projection on the board to learn how chapter headings will help them locate desired information in a non-fiction text. To introduce this skill, I would create T-charts containing brief informational paragraphs on the left side and, for each paragraph, a choice of two chapter heading suggestions on the right side. During a whole class activity, students would take turns reading each paragraph aloud, highlighting key words and phrases in the paragraph that support one of the two headings and agreeing on the better heading for that paragraph. By highlighting key paragraph information, students would discover if the information supports the choice of heading.

The teacher and I would customize activities based on students' individual learning needs and reading levels. For example, students might engage in a labeling activity. Projected on the white board would be images of the text features accompanied by a text feature word bank. Students would label each text feature with the support of the word bank. For a student with fine motor skill difficulties, the objective could be accomplished by using a matching activity on the whiteboard. The student would draw lines to match images of text features to the names of text features. Accelerated students could use the interactive whiteboard to create additional activities for other students to work on.

By using a student response system with interactive whiteboard technology, the teacher and I could embed formative assessments of student learning. For the series of lessons on text features, we would create or access a variety of reviews and quizzes to monitor student progress. A formative review or quiz would be projected on the whiteboard and students would answer questions using handheld response devices. The teacher and I would examine assessment data and use it to inform subsequent instructional planning for the purpose of addressing students' difficulties and/or providing greater challenges for students. Frequent formative assessments would allow for real-time adjustment of learning activities to improve student learning in reading.

Performance Characteristics for Constructed-Response Item

The following characteristics guide the scoring of responses to the constructed-response assignment.

Completeness The degree to which the response addresses all parts of the assignment
Accuracy The degree to which the response demonstrates the relevant knowledge and skills accurately and effectively
Depth of Support The degree to which the response provides appropriate examples and details that demonstrate sound reasoning

Score Scale for Constructed-Response Item

A score will be assigned to the response to the constructed-response item according to the following score scale.

Score Point Score Point Description
4 The "4" response reflects a thorough command of the relevant knowledge and skills:
  • The response thoroughly addresses all parts of the assignment.
  • The response demonstrates the relevant knowledge and skills with thorough accuracy and effectiveness.
  • The response is well supported by relevant examples and details and thoroughly demonstrates sound reasoning.
3 The "3" response reflects a general command of the relevant knowledge and skills:
  • The response generally addresses all parts of the assignment.
  • The response demonstrates the relevant knowledge and skills with general accuracy and effectiveness.
  • The response is generally supported by some examples and/or details and generally demonstrates sound reasoning.
2 The "2" response reflects a partial command of the relevant knowledge and skills:
  • The response addresses all parts of the assignment, but most only partially; or some parts are not addressed at all.
  • The response demonstrates the relevant knowledge and skills with partial accuracy and effectiveness.
  • The response is partially supported by some examples and/or details or demonstrates flawed reasoning.
1 The "1" response reflects little or no command of the relevant knowledge and skills:
  • The response minimally addresses the assignment.
  • The response demonstrates the relevant knowledge and skills with minimum accuracy and effectiveness.
  • The response is minimally supported or demonstrates significantly flawed reasoning.
U The response is unscorable because it is unrelated to the assigned topic or off task, unreadable, written in a language other than English or contains an insufficient amount of original work to score.
B No response.