Educational Psychology:

Theory and Practice

Chapter 1
Educational Psychology:
A Foundation for Teaching
 Organizing Questions

 What Makes a Good Teacher?

 What Is the Role of Research in
Educational Psychology?
 What Research Methods Are Used in
Educational Psychology?
 What Makes a Good Teacher?

 Knowing the Subject Matters

 Mastering Teaching Skills
 Can Good Teaching Be Taught?
 The Intentional Teacher
 Knowing the Subject Matters

Good teachers know

subject matter well
and are prepared
with a variety of
examples that bring
lessons to life.
 Mastering Teaching Skills

 Managing the Classroom

 Assessing Prior Knowledge
 Motivating Students
 Accounting for Learner Characteristics
 Mastering Teaching Skills

 Assessing Learning Outcomes

 Reviewing Information
 Communicating Ideas Effectively
 Can Good Teaching Be Taught?
“An outstanding teacher
does nothing that any
other teacher cannot also
do—it is just a question
of knowing the
principles of effective
teaching and how to
apply them.” (p. 5)
 Determinants of good teaching

 Self-Knowledge and Self-Regulation

 Decision Making
 Reflection
 Application of Education Research
 Components of Good Teaching

 Knowledge of the Subject and Teaching

Resources
 Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving
Skills
 Knowledge of Students and their
Learning
 Teaching and Communication Skills
 The Intentional Teacher

“Intentional teachers are

those who are constantly
thinking about the
outcomes they want for
their students and about
how each decision they
make moves children
toward those outcomes.”
(p.7)
Characteristics of the Intentional Teacher

 Purposeful Lesson Plans

 Experiments with Novel Techniques
that Arouse Student Curiosity
 Accounts for Multiple Ability Levels
 Uses Class Time Wisely
Characteristics of the Intentional Teacher

 Teacher Efficacy
 Open to Criticism
 Reflective
 The (Un)Intentional Teacher

“…there are teachers

with twenty years of
experience and there
are teachers with one
year of experience 20
times.” (p. 9)
Research in Educational Psychology
The goal of research in
educational psychology
is to test ideas about
factors believed to
contribute to learning.
 Educational Psychology Researchers

 Test Ideas Using Sound Research

Methodology
 Discover or Refine Principles and
Theories that Enhance Predictability and
Control in Educational Settings
 Action
Reprimand Tom.
Ignore Tom
Send Tom to the office
Tell the class that it is everyone's responsibility
to maintain a good learning environment and
that if any student is behaves, 5 minutes will
be subtracted from recess
Explain to the class that Tom's
behavior is interfering with lessons
that all students need to know and
that his behavior goes against the
rules the class set for itself at the
beginning of the year
Theory
A reprimand is a form of punishment.
Tom will behave to avoid punishment.
Attention may be rewarding to Tom. Ignoring
him would deprive him of this reward
Being sent to the office is punishing. It also
deprives Tom of the (apparent) support of his
classmates
Tom is misbehaving to get his classmates'
attention. If the whole class loses out when he
misbehaves, the class will keep him in line
The class holds standards of behavior
that conflict with both Tom's behavior
in class and the class's reaction to
it. By reminding the class of its own
needs (to learn the lesson) and its
own rules set at the beginning of the
year, the teacher might make Tom
see that the class does not really support
 The Experimental Method
 In an experiment, researchers can
create special treatments and analyze
their effects on one or more variables
 Treatment is a special program that
is the subject of an experiment
 Variable is something that can have
more than one value.
 The Experimental Method

 Laboratory Experiments
Experiment in which conditions are
highly controlled
 Field Experiments
 practical treatments are evaluated over

relatively long periods in real classes

under realistic conditions
Internal and External Validity

E
I X
N Laboratory T
T Experiments E
E R
R N
N A
A L
L
Internal and External Validity

I E
N X
T Field T
E Experiments E
R R
N N
A A
L L
Characteristics of Experimental Research

 Random Assignment
 Experimental Group
 Control Group

 An Attempt to Equalize All Factors

Except the Treatment for the
Experimental and Control Groups
 Establishes Cause and Effect
 Creates artificial Conditions
 Correlation Method
 Calculates Relations Between Variables As
They Naturally Occur
 Positive correlation: high levels of one variable
correspond to high levels of another one
 Negative correlation: high levels of one variable

correspond to high levels of another one

 No correlation: there is no relationship between

high/low levels of one and high/low levels of the

other
 Does Not Establish Cause and Effect
 Correlation Method Examples

 Positive Correlation
 Hours of Study Per Week and Grades
 Negative Correlation
 Days Absent and Grades
 No Correlation
 Math Achievement in Taroudant is Probably
Unrelated to Achievement Motivation in
Tangiers.
 Descriptive Research
 Study aimed at identifying and
gathering detailed information about
something of interes
 Survey Method
 Interview
 Ethnography
 Descriptive Research Methods

 Provides Rich Detail

 Works with Natural Situations
 May Lack explanatory adequacy
 Action Research
 A Particular Form of Descriptive
Research Carried Out by Educators in
their Own Classrooms or Schools
 Can Provide Deeper Insight from
Front-Line Teachers than Research
Conducted by Outsiders
 Lacks Objectivity
 Teacher Wisdom
“…it is best to apply the research
principles with a hefty dose of common
sense and a clear view of what is being
taught to whom and for what purpose.” (p.
15)

Research + Common Sense = Effective

Teaching
End of Chapter 1