Educational Psychology 

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Educational Psychology Course Outline

The Changing Teaching Profession and You

Concepts Covered:

  • The Joys of Teaching
  • The Challenges to Teaching
  • Teaching is Different from the Past
  • How Educational Psychology can Help

The Learning Process

Concepts Covered:

  • Teachers’ Perspectives on Learning
  • Major Theories and Models of Learning

Student Development

Concepts Covered:

  • Why Development Matters
  • Physical Development During the School Years
  • Cognitive Development: Jean Piaget Theory
  • Social Development: Relationships, Personal Motives, and Morality
  • Moral Development: Forming a Sense of Rights and Responsibilities
  • Understanding the “Typical Student” Vs. Understanding Students

Student Diversity

Concepts Covered:

  • Individual Styles of Learning and Thinking
  • Multiple Intelligences
  • Gifted and Talented Students
  • Gender Differences in the Classroom
  • Differences in Cultural Expectations and Styles
  • Accommodating Diversity in Practice

Students with Special Educational Needs

Concepts Covered:

  • Three People on the Margins
  • Growing Support for People with Disabilities: Legislation and it’s Effects
  • Responsibilities of Teachers for Students with Disabilities
  • Categories of Disabilities – and their Ambiguities
  • Learning Disabilities
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Intellectual Disabilities
  • Behavioral Disorders
  • Physical Disabilities and Sensory Impairments
  • The Value of Including Students with Special Needs

Student Motivation

Concepts Covered:

  • Motives as Behavior
  • Motives as Goals
  • Motives as Interests
  • Motives Related to Attributions
  • Motivation as Self-Efficacy
  • Motivation as Self-Determination
  • Expectancy x Value: Effects on Students’ Motivation
  • TARGET: A Model for Integrating Ideas about Motivation

Classroom Management and the Learning Environment

Concepts Covered:

  • Why Classroom Management Matters
  • Preventing Management Problems by Focusing Students on Learning
  • Responding to Student Misbehavior
  • Keeping Management Issues in Perspective

The Nature of Classroom Communication

Concepts Covered:

  • Communication in Classrooms vs Communication Elsewhere
  • Effective Verbal Communication
  • Effective Nonverbal Communication
  • Structures of Participation: Effects on Communication
  • Communication Styles in the Classroom
  • Using Classroom talk to Stimulate Students’ Thinking
  • The Bottom Line: Messages Sent, Messages Reconstructed

Facilitating Complex Thinking

Concepts Covered:

  • Forms of Thinking Associated with Classroom Learning
  • Critical Thinking
  • Creative Thinking
  • Problem-Solving
  • Broad Instructional Strategies that Stimulate Complex Thinking
  • Teacher-Directed Instruction
  • Student-Centered Models of Learning
  • Inquiry Learning
  • Cooperative Learning
  • Examples of Cooperative and Collaborative Learning
  • Instructional Strategies: An Abundance of Choices

Planning Instruction

Concepts Covered:

  • Selecting General Learning Goals
  • Formulating Learning Objectives
  • Students as a Source of Instructional Goals
  • Enhancing Student Learning through a Variety of Resources
  • Creating Bridges among Curriculum Goals and Students’ Prior Experiences
  • Planning for Instruction and Learning

Teacher-Made Assessment Strategies

Concepts Covered:

  • Basic Concepts
  • Assessment for Learning: An Overview of the Process
  • Selecting Appropriate Assessment Techniques I: High Quality Assessments
  • Reliability
  • Absence of Bias
  • Selecting Appropriate Assessment Techniques II: Types of Teacher-Made Assessments
  • Selected Response Items
  • Constructed Response Items
  • Portfolios
  • Assessment that Enhance Motivation and Student Confidence
  • Teachers’ Purposes and Beliefs
  • Choosing Assessments
  • Providing Feedback
  • Self and Peer Assessment
  • Adjusting Instruction Based on Assessment
  • Communication with Parents and Guardians
  • Action Research: Studying Yourself and you Students
  • Grading and Reporting

Standardization and Other Formal Assessments

Concepts Covered:

  • Basic Concepts
  • High-Stakes Testing by States
  • International Testing
  • International Comparisons
  • Understanding Test Results
  • Issues with Standardized Tests

About the book

Educational Psychology

Educational Psychology has two major areas of focus: education theory, and the practicalities of classroom life. This course will attempt to blend those two areas of focus as often as possible, so that you—as the reader, student, and (future) teacher—can get the most out of the material.

About the authors:

Senior Contributing Authors

Kelvin Seifert, University of Manitoba
Rosemary Sutton, Cleveland State University

 
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