Answer to Question 1
High-stakes testing potentially contributes to an increased dropout rate. Focus in the
classroom is more on memorization and arriving at a single right or wrong answer.
Adolescents learn better by using questions more than answers, hypotheses more
than facts, and by using their own experiences. To address the potential unintended
consequences, the tests could be redesigned to coincide with adolescents' cognitive
skills, and schools could develop intellectually challenging activities that support
learning and teach critical thinking without resorting to rote processes.
Answer to Question 2
Technology has played an increasingly important role in adolescent cognition over
the past decade by expanding the information base available at an adolescent's
fingertips. Adolescents typically use the Internet, cell phones, iPods, digital cameras,
and Blackberries. Technology might further the cognitive development of
adolescents by pushing them more toward the use of deductive reasoning as they
scan through massive amounts of information on the Internet. It could limit
development because of the use of e-mail and the expression of egocentric thought.
Cyberbullying is also an issue.
Testing a Simple Hypothesis
The neural pathway responsible for the production and learning of song in the male canary.
Localizing the Source of High-Frequency Sounds
Tia, an African-American mother of two school-aged children
Testing near vision
Learning plant parts kindergarten