Overview of Educational Psychology What is Educational Psychology? –Educational psychology is the study of human behavior applied to the teaching and learning process Human behavior is an individual’s action in a given situation –Educational psychology relies heavily on findings generated through the scientific method of research –Knowledge about educational settings and behaviors informs teaching practices ©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Reasons to Study Human Behavior Behavior is dynamic, complex, and occurs at a rapid and continuous pace. Behavior follows patterns and can be predictable. Some regularities are known to most people. (ex. Crying child consoled by caregiver) Some regularities are: –Subtle –Difficult to analyze –Not attended to The science of psychology helps to systematically notice and explain behavior. ©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Three Applications of Psychology to Education 1.Provides model of teaching a learning process 2.Integrates principles of classroom management 3.Provides perspectives on the causes of behavior ©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Six Characteristics of classroom environment (according to Doyle, 1996) Multidimensional Simultaneous Immediate Unpredictable Public History ©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Factors that impact learning? 9JDDk

Transactional Model of Teaching Many Factors combine to influence student achievement. Family Student/Teacher characteristics Student/Teacher behavior Community School/State policies ©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Classroom management Vs9Gk

Good Classroom Management Four basic assumptions: Rules need to be understood and accepted Engage students in meaningful activities Establish a productive learning environment vs. one that focuses on behavior control. Develop inner self-control in students ©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Tenants of Science Science is the identification, description, and exploration of naturally occurring phenomena Observation is the process of recording something Questions are phrased in a way that they are testable Hypothesis is a proposed answer to research question Replication increases confidence by yielding same results Parsimony in which the simpler of two theories is preferred ©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Facts, Principles, and Theories Facts –Disconnected pieces of information Principles –Expand upon and connect several facts Theories –Comprehensive collections of principles Subsume many facts Broad-based Explanations have wide application ©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Theories should have Internal validity External validty

Types of Research ©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Experimental Independent variable Dependent variable Random assignment Control group Often preferable but not always possible – why?

Single subject Why would this be used? Baseline phase Treatment phase

Correlational Correlational coefficient - > 40 is generally explorable

Observational/ Qualitative Participant observer

Teacher-Initiated research How can you use your own ongoing research to aid you in being an effective teacher?