Educational

Psychology


Department of Psychology
Shaanxi Normal University

Zhao Wei Ph.D
Lecture 1
Educational Psychology:
A Foundation for Teaching
Main Contents
What is Educational Psychology?
How to be a good teacher and a good teaching?
The Research methods
The purpose of Research in Ed Psych
What research Methods are used in Ed Psych



Part 1
What is Educational Psych?

Case studies: P1
Case one:
Question about the case in the textbook:
Why was Ellen Mathis baffled?
Why did Leah say that his success on
teaching writing was based on Ed Psych?
What kinds of knowledge of EP did he use in
his writing class?

What is educational Psych?
"Educational psychology is distinct from other
branches of psychology because it has the
understanding and improvement of education as
its primary goal" (Wittrock, 1992, p. 138).
study what people think and do as they teach
and learn a particular curriculum in a particular
environment where education and training are
intended to take place" (Berliner,1992, p. 145).
An academic definition would perhaps say that
educational psychology is the study of learners,
learning, and teaching.
More understandings:
the accumulated knowledge, wisdom,
and seat-of-the-pants theory that teacher
should possess to intelligently solve the
daily problems of teaching.
cannot tell teachers what to do, but it can
give them the principles to use in making
a good decision and a language to
discuss their experiences and thinking.
What makes a good teacher
and good teaching?
Lets take a minute to remember the names
of the best teachers about you ever had
when you were in the pre-school, primary
school and secondary school? What was it
about these teachers that make you
remember them over the years? What effects
did they have on you?
What makes a good teacher
and good teaching?
warmth, humor, and the ability to care about
people
planning, hard work, and self-discipline
leadership, enthusiasm, a contagious love of
learning, and speaking ability


But these qualities are not enough



What makes a good teacherand
good teaching?
Case two : Video Show
(Two classes teaching with the same contents
are showed to the students, discuss which
teacher did better and why?
What kind of knowledge of EP were used in the
classes )
Good Teacher and
Good Teaching
A good teacher are committed to their students.
Dealing with a wide range of student ability and challenges
understand their subjects and their students thinking
Using new technologies and techniques appropriately to
accomplish important goals, not just entertain the students.
taking good care of the emotional needs of their students.

In short, good teachers carefully plan and teach the
basic procedures for living and learning in their classes.
They can efficiently correct and collect homework, regroup
students, give directions, distribute materials, and deal with
disruptions etc.
seven areas of professional knowledge an expert
teachers know (Lee Shulman,1987) :
The academic subjects they teach.
General teaching strategies that apply in all
subjects .
The curriculum materials and programs
appropriate for their subject and grade level.
Subject-specific knowledge for teaching.
Knowing the characteristics and cultural
backgrounds of learners.
The setting in which students .
The goals and purposes of teaching.
As a good teacher, He/She
needs
Knowing the subjects matters, and
Teaching Skill.
Mastering the Teaching Skills
Effective instruction is not a simple matter of
one person with more knowledge transmitting
that knowledge to another. Effective
instruction demands the use of many
strategies.
Example of mastering the
teaching skills
Reading task:
(read page 4 )

Creative thinking:
How do you teach a class
of fourth-graders to
learning statistics?

Questions:
What kinds of teaching
strategies were used by
Paula Ray
What did Paula Ray do?
(1)She must make sure that the class is orderly and that students
know what behavior is expected of them.
(2)She must find out whether students have the pre-requisite
skills;
(3)She must engage students in activities that lead them toward
an understanding of statistics,
(4)The lessons should also take into account the intellectual and
social characteristics of students in the fourth grade and the
intellectual, social, and cultural characteristics of these particular
students.
(5)To see whether students are learning what is being taught,
(6)After the series of lessons on statistics ends, Paula should
review this topic from time to time to en-sure that it is
remembered.
So
What makes a good teacher is the
ability to carry out all the tasks
involved in effective instruction
(Reynolds, 1995)
Warmth, enthusiasm, and caring
are essential, as is subject matter
knowledge. But it is the successful
accomplishment of all the tasks of
teaching that makes for instructional
effectiveness..
Part Two


Research Methods of
Educational Psychology
The purpose of Research in Ed Psych
What research Methods are used in Ed Psych

Brainstorm:
Group Work:

What is the role of the research in Ed Psych?

List the reasons as many as possible.
The purposes of research in educational
psychology
1. is to carefully
examine obvious
as well as less than
obvious questions,
using objective
methods to test
ideas about the
factors that
contribute to
learning (see Gage,
1994)

.
Understanding:
Common senses in teaching VS Answer Based on Research.
Taking Turns


What method
should a teacher use
in selecting students
to participate in a
primary grade reading
class?
Common
Sense
Answer Based
on Research
Understanding:
Common senses in teaching VS Answer Based on Research.
Classroom Management.

Students are engaged
in an appropriate and
educationally
meaningful task, but
still, some students
are repeatedly out of
their seats without
permission, wandering
around the room.
What should the
teacher do?
Common
Sense

Answer Based
on Research

Understanding:
Common senses in teaching VS Answer Based on Research.
Skpping Grades.

Should a school
encourage
exceptionally
bright students to
skip grades or to
enter college early?

Common
Sense

Answer Based
on Research

Understanding:
Common senses in teaching VS Answer Based on Research
In the textbook p11

Mr. Harris teaches an eighth-grade social studies
class. He has a problem with Tom, who frequently
misbehaves. Today, Tom makes a paper airplane and
flies it across the room when Mr. Harris turns his
back, to the delight of the entire class. What should
Mr. Harris do?
Educational psychologists spend their
time to discover the obvious. So that
teachers are able to use them to
understand their teaching better.


The products of this research
A principle explains the
relationship between factors, such as the
effects of alternative grading systems on
student motivation.
Laws are simply principles that
have been thoroughly tested and found to
apply in a wide variety of situations.
A theoryis a set of related
principles and laws that explains a broad
aspect of learning, behavior, or another
area of interest.
The purposes of research in educational
psychology
2. Using Research to
Understand and Improve
Teaching
Research Methods used in
Educational Psychology
1. Experiments
Case: page 18
Leppers study:
Questions:
Subjects?
Experimental Group? Control Group?
Procedures ?
Results ?
Explanation of the results?
1.Experiments
Some Important concepts:
Subject
Random assignment
Treatment
Experimental Group
Control Group
(Internal validity)
(External validity)
Significant Tests
2.Correlational Studies.

Case: Lahadernes study p 21
Questions:
Subjects;
Factors: (variables)
Results
Explanation
Important concepts in Co relational
studies

Co relational studies
positive correlation
negative correlation
uncorrelated variables
The advantage and disadvantage of
co relational methods:
Advantage:

allowing the
researcher to study
variables as they
are, without
creating artificial
situations

Disadvantage

telling us that two
variables are
related, they do not
tell us what causes
what

3. Descriptive Studies.
purpose is simply to describe events
in a particular class or several classes.
Descriptive Studies.
survey
interview
participant observation
case studies
Action research

Research Methods
In many cases, both descriptive and
experimental research occur together

The chose of the research methods
depends on the question you are
going to study.


The End of Lecture 1