I. General Information

1. Course Title:
Educational Psychology

2. Course Prefix & Number:
PSYC 2435

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 3

Lecture Hours: 3

Lab Hours: 0

4. Course Description:

This course investigates the psychology of learning as an interdisciplinary blend of psychology and education by focusing on how cognition and learning can be applied to the lives of students. This course facilitates the student’s understanding of the educational journey of a typical student. Learners will investigate methods of teaching, theories of learning, and assessment methods. Students interested in child development, parents of children currently in school, and students interested in understanding their own educational process, can explore how psychology can be applied in the classroom, through a lens of diversity and cultural sensitivity.

5. Placement Tests Required:

6. Prerequisite Courses:

9. Co-requisite Courses:

There are no corequisites for this course.

II. Transfer and Articulation

1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:

Bemidji State University, Educational Psychology Ed 3110, 3 creditsz
St. Cloud State University, Introduction to Educational Psychology CEEP 361, 3 credits
Minnesota State University Moorhead, Educational Psychology ED 294, 3 credits
Anoka Ramsey Community College, Educational Psychology Psyc 2265, 3 credits
Metropolitan State University, Educational Psychology Psyc 385, 4 credits
MN State Community and Technical College Fergus Falls, Educational Psychology Psyc 2294, 3 credits

III. Course Purpose

2. MN Transfer Curriculum (General Education) Courses - This course fulfills the following goal area(s) of the MN Transfer Curriculum:

• Goal 5 – History and the Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Goal 7 – Human Diversity

IV. Learning Outcomes

1. College-Wide Outcomes

College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies	Students will be able to:
Demonstrate interpersonal communication skills	Discuss course content and personal experiences in a manner that is cognizant of, and respectful of, other learners’ perspectives.
Apply abstract ideas to concrete situations	Apply psychological theories to understand human behavior. Students will study how to apply best teaching practices related to topics of study to four different levels of development (early childhood, elementary school, middle school, and high school).
Discuss/compare characteristics of diverse cultures and environments	Discuss and compare topics of diversity central to understanding the connections between educational psychology and diversity.

2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of the course:

• Demonstrate communication skills necessary for living and working effectively in a society with great population diversity. MnTC Goal 7
• Understand the development of and the changing meanings of group identities in the United States, history and culture. MnTC Goal 7
• Demonstrate an awareness of the individual and institutional dynamics of unequal power relations between groups in contemporary society. MnTC Goal 7
• Analyze their own attitudes, behaviors, concepts and beliefs regarding diversity, racism, and bigotry. MnTC Goal 7
• Describe and discuss the experience and contributions (political, social, economic, etc.) of the many groups that shape American society and culture, in particular those groups that have suffered discrimination and exclusion. MnTC Goal 7
• Discuss how variations in culture, in socioeconomic status and ethnic background need to be taken into account in education. MnTC Goal 7
• Define learning, describe five approaches to studying learning; compare classical and operant conditioning and apply behavior analysis to education. MnTC Goal 5
• Describe the methods, theories, and practices that educational psychologists use to understand issues of teaching and learning . MnTC Goal 5
• Examine social institutions and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures. MnTC Goal 5
• Use and critique alternative explanatory systems or theories. MnTC Goal 5
• Identify & communicate alternative explanations for contemporary social issues. MnTC Goal 5
• Discuss what intelligence is, how it is measured and the neuroscience of intelligence.   MnTC Goal 5
• Discuss controversies and current issues as they relate to educational psychology. MnTC Goal 5
• Describe and define various types of disabilities and disorders and discuss approaches to teaching children with disabilities or disorders. MnTC Goal 5
• Define and describe what gifted means and discuss approaches to teaching children who are gifted. MnTC Goal 5
• Discuss the legal framework and technology advances for children with disabilities MnTC Goal 5
• Define and identify the nature and purpose of standardized, aptitude, and achievement tests, as well as discuss the key issues involved in testing and the role of the teacher in the testing process. MnTC Goal 5

V. Topical Outline

Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.

1. Lecture Sessions

1. Educational Psychology: A Tool for Effective Teaching
• Exploring Educational Psychology
• Historical Background
• Teaching: Art and Science
• Effective Teaching
• Professional Knowledge and Skills
• Commitment, Motivation and Caring
• Research in Educational Psychology
• Why Research Is Important
• Research Methods
• Program Evaluation Research, Action Research, and the Teacher-as-Researcher
• Quantitative and Qualitative Research
2. Cognitive and Language Development
• An Overview of Child Development
• Exploring What Development Is
• Processes and Periods
• Developmental Issues
• Development and Education
• Cognitive Development
• The Brain
• Piaget’s Theory
• Vygotsky’s Theory
• Language Development
• What Is Language?
• Biological and Environmental Influences
• How Language Develops
3. Social Contexts and Socioemotional Development
• Contemporary Theories
• Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory
• Erikson’s Life-Span Development Theory
• Social Contexts of Development
• Families
• Peers
• Schools 
• Socioemotional Development
• The Self
• Moral Development
• Coping With Stress
4. Individual Variations
• Intelligence
• What Is Intelligence?
• Intelligence Tests
• Theories of Multiple Intelligences
• The Neuroscience of Intelligence
• Controversies and Issues in Intelligence
• Learning and Thinking Styles
• Impulsive/Reflective Styles
• Deep/Surface Styles
• Personality and Temperament
• Personality
• Temperament
5. Sociocultural Diversity
• Culture and Ethnicity
• Culture
• Socioeconomic Status
• Ethnicity
• Bilingualism
• Multicultural Education
• Empowering Students
• Culturally Relevant Teaching
• Issues-Centered Education
• Improving Relations Among Children from Different Ethnic Groups
• Gender
• Exploring Gender Views
• Gender Stereotyping, Similarities, and Differences
• Gender-Role Classification
• Gender in Context
• Eliminating Gender Bias
6. Learners Who Are Exceptional
• Children with Disabilities
• Learning Disabilities
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
• Mental Retardation
• Physical Disorders
• Sensory Disorders
• Speech and Language Disorders
• Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
• Educational Issues Involving Children with Disabilities
• Legal Aspects
• Technology
• Children Who Are Gifted
• Characteristics
• Nature/Nuture, Developmental Changes and Domain-Specific Giftedness
• Educating Children Who Are Gifted
• Characteristics
• Nature/Nuture, Developmental Changes and Domain-Specific Giftedness
• Educating Children Who Are Gifted
7. Behavioral and Social Cognitive Approaches
• What Is Learning?
• What Learning Is and Is Not
• Approaches to Learning
• Review, Reflect, and Practice
• Behavioral Approaches to Learning
• Classical Conditioning
• Operant Conditioning
• Applied Behavior Analysis in Education
• What Is Applied Behavior Analysis?
• Increasing Desirable Behaviors
• Decreasing Undesirable Behaviors
• Evaluating Operant Conditioning and Applied Behavior
• Analysis
• Social Cognitive Approaches to Learning
• Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory
• Observational Learning
• Cognitive Behavior Approaches and Self-Regulation
• Evaluating the Social Cognitive Approaches
8. The Information-Processing Approach
• The Nature of the Information-Processing Approach
• Information, Memory, and Thinking
• Cognitive Resources: Capacity and Speed of Processing Information
• Mechanisms of Change
• Review, Reflect, and Practice
• Attention
• What Is Attention?
• Developmental Changes
• Memory
• What Is Memory?
• Encoding
• Storage
• Retrieval and Forgetting
• Review, Reflect, and Practice
• Expertise
• Expertise and Learning
• Acquiring Expertise
• Expertise and Teaching
• Metacognition
• Developmental Changes
• The Good Information-Processing Model
• Strategies and Metacognitive Regulation
9. Complex Cognitive Processes
• Conceptual Understanding
• What Are Concepts?
• Promoting Concept Formation
• Thinking
• What Is Thinking?
• Reasoning
• Critical Thinking
• Decision Making
• Creative Thinking
• Problem Solving
• Steps in Problem Solving
• Obstacles to Solving Problems
• Developmental Changes
• Developmental Changes
• Problem-Based Learning and Project-Based Learning
• Transfer
• What Is Transfer?
• Types of Transfer
• Cultural Practices and Transfer
10. Social Constructivist Approaches
• Social Constructivist Approaches to Teaching
• Social Constructivism in the Broader Constructivist Context
• Situated Cognition
• Teachers and Peers as Joint Contributors to Students’ Learning
• Scaffolding
• Cognitive Apprenticeship
• Tutoring
• Cooperative Learning
• Structuring Small-Group Work
• Composing the Group
• Team-Building Skills
• Structuring Small-Group Interaction
• Social Constructivist Programs
• Fostering a Community of Learners
• Schools for Thought
11. Learning and Cognition in the Content Areas
• Expert Knowledge and Pedagogical Content Knowledge
• Reading
• A Developmental Model of Reading
• Approaches to Reading
• Cognitive Approaches
• Social Constructivist Approaches
• Writing
• Developmental Changes
• Cognitive Approaches
• Social Constructivist Approaches
• Mathematics
• Developmental Changes
• Controversy in Math Education
• Cognitive Processes
• Some Constructivist Principles
• Technology and Math Instruction
• Science
• Science Education
• Constructivist Teaching Strategie
• Social Studies
• What Is Social Studies?
• Constructivist Approaches
12. Planning, Instruction, and Technology
• Planning
• Instructional Planning
• Time Frames and Planning
• Teacher-Centered Lesson Planning and Instruction
• Teacher-Centered Lesson Planning
• Direct Instruction
• Teacher-Centered Instructional Strategies
• Evaluating Teacher-Centered Instruction
• Learner-Centered Lesson Planning and Instruction
• Learner-Centered Principles
• Some Learner-Centered Instructional Strategies
• Evaluating Learner-Centered Strategies
• Technology and Education
• The Technology Revolution and the Internet
• Standards for Technology-Literate Students
• Teaching, Learning, and Technology
13. Motivation, Teaching, and Learning
• Exploring Motivation
• What Is Motivation?
• Perspectives on Motivation
• Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation
• Attribution
• Mastery Motivation and Mindset
• Self-Efficacy
• Goal Setting, Planning, and Self-Monitoring
• Expectations
• Values and Purpose
• Social Motives
• Social Relationships
• Sociocultural Contexts
• Students Who Are Low Achieving and Have Low
• Expectations for Success
• Students Who Protect Their Self-Worth by Avoiding Failure
• Students Who Procrastinate
• Students Who Are Perfectionists
• Students with High Anxiety
• Students Who Are Uninterested or Alienated
• Achievement Processes
• Motivation, Relationships, and Sociocultural Contexts
• Exploring Achievement Difficulties
14. Managing the Classroom
• Why Classrooms Need to Be Managed Effectively
• Management Issues in Elementary and Secondary School Classrooms
• The Crowded, Complex, and Potentially Chaotic Classroom
• Getting Off to the Right Start
• Emphasizing Instruction and a Positive Classroom Climate
• Management Goals and Strategies
• Designing the Physical Environment of the Classroom
• Principles of Classroom Arrangement
• Arrangement Style
• Creating a Positive Environment for Learning
• General Strategies
• Creating, Teaching, and Maintaining Rules and Procedures
• Getting Students to Cooperate
• Classroom Management and Diversity
• Being a Good Communicator
• Speaking Skills
• Listening Skills
• Nonverbal Communication
• Dealing with Problem Behaviors
• Management Strategies
• Dealing with Aggression
15. Standardized Tests and Teaching
• The Nature of Standardized Tests
• Standardized Tests and Their Purposes
• Criteria for Evaluating Standardized Tests
• Aptitude and Achievement Tests
• Comparing Aptitude and Achievement Tests
• Types of Standardized Achievement Tests
• High-Stakes State Standards-Based Tests
• Standardized Tests of Teacher Candidates
• The Teacher’s Roles
• Preparing Students to Take Standardized Tests
• Understanding and Interpreting Test Results
• Using Standardized Test Scores to Plan and Improve Instruction
• Issues in Standardized Tests
• Standardized Tests, Alternative Assessments, and High-Stakes Testing
• Diversity and Standardized Testing
16. Classroom Assessment and Grading
• The Classroom as an Assessment Context
• Assessment as an Integral Part of Teaching
• Making Assessment Compatible with Contemporary Views of Learning and Motivation
• Contemporary Views of Learning and Motivation
• Creating Clear, Appropriate Learning Targets
• Establishing High-Quality Assessments
• Current Trends
• Traditional Tests
• Selected-Response Items
• Constructed-Response Items
• Alternative Assessments
• Trends in Alternative Assessment
• Performance Assessment
• Portfolio Assessment
• Grading and Reporting Performance
• The Purposes of Grading
• The Components of a Grading System
• Reporting Students’ Progress and Grades to Parents
• Some Issues in Grading
• Praxis Questions for each of the above areas of study