Educational Psychology - Amazon Web Services

359 Pages·2011·3.41 MB·English

Educational Psychology
By:
Kelvin Seifert

Educational Psychology
By:
Kelvin Seifert
Online:
< http://cnx.org/content/col11302/1.2/ >
C O N N E X I O N S
RiceUniversity,Houston,Texas
This selection and arrangement of content as a collection is copyrighted by Kelvin Seifert. It is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
Collection structure revised: May 11, 2011
PDF generated: May 11, 2011
For copyright and attribution information for the modules contained in this collection, see p. 335.
Table of Contents
Preface ...............................................................................................1
1 The changing teaching profession and you
1.1 The joys of teaching .........................................................................3
1.2 Are there also challenges to teaching? .......................................................5
1.3 Teaching is di(cid:27)erent from in the past ........................................................5
1.4 How educational psychology can help .......................................................10
1.5 Chapter Summary and References ..........................................................11
2 The learning process
2.1 Teachers’ perspectives on learning ..........................................................15
2.2 Major theories and models of learning ......................................................18
2.3 Chapter summary and references ...........................................................31
3 Student development
3.1 Why development matters ..................................................................35
3.2 Physical development during the school years ...............................................37
3.3 Cognitive development: the theory of Jean Piaget ..........................................40
3.4 Social development: relationships, personal motives, and morality ...........................43
3.5 Moral development: forming a sense of rights and responsibilities ...........................48
3.6 Understanding (cid:16)the typical student(cid:17) versus understanding students .........................52
3.7 Chapter summary and references ...........................................................53
4 Student diversity
4.1 Individual styles of learning and thinking ...................................................57
4.2 Multiple intelligences .......................................................................59
4.3 Gifted and talented students ................................................................61
4.4 Gender di(cid:27)erences in the classroom .........................................................62
4.5 Di(cid:27)erences in cultural expectations and styles ..............................................65
4.6 Accommodating diversity in practice .......................................................69
4.7 Chapter summary and references ...........................................................69
5 Students with special educational needs
5.1 Three people on the margins ...............................................................75
5.2 Growing support for people with disabilities: legislation and its e(cid:27)ects ......................76
5.3 Responsibilities of teachers for students with disabilities ....................................77
5.4 Categories of disabilities(cid:22)and their ambiguities ............................................80
5.5 Learning disabilities ........................................................................80
5.6 Attention de(cid:28)cit hyperactivity disorder .....................................................82
5.7 Intellectual disabilities ......................................................................84
5.8 Behavioral disorders ........................................................................87
5.9 Physical disabilities and sensory impairments ...............................................89
5.10 The value of including students with special needs .........................................91
5.11 Chapter summary and references ..........................................................91
6 Student motivation
6.1 Motives as behavior ........................................................................95
6.2 Motives as goals ............................................................................99
6.3 Motives as interests .......................................................................101
6.4 Motives related to attributions ............................................................103
6.5 Motivation as self-e(cid:30)cacy .................................................................104
6.6 Motivation as self-determination ...........................................................109
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6.7 Expectancy x value: e(cid:27)ects on students’ motivation ........................................113
6.8 TARGET: a model for integrating ideas about motivation .................................114
6.9 Chapter summary and references ..........................................................116
7 Classroom management and the learning environment
7.1 Why classroom management matters ......................................................121
7.2 Preventing management problems by focusing students on learning ........................123
7.3 Responding to student misbehavior ........................................................131
7.4 Keeping management issues in perspective .................................................135
7.5 Chapter summary and references ..........................................................136
8 The nature of classroom communication
8.1 Communication in classrooms vs communication elsewhere .................................139
8.2 E(cid:27)ective verbal communication ............................................................141
8.3 E(cid:27)ective nonverbal communication ........................................................143
8.4 Structures of participation: e(cid:27)ects on communication ......................................145
8.5 Communication styles in the classroom ....................................................148
8.6 Using classroom talk to stimulate students’ thinking .......................................151
8.7 The bottom line: messages sent, messages reconstructed ...................................154
8.8 Chapter summary and references ..........................................................156
9 Facilitating complex thinking
9.1 Forms of thinking associated with classroom learning ......................................159
9.2 Critical thinking ...........................................................................161
9.3 Creative thinking ..........................................................................162
9.4 Problem-solving ...........................................................................163
9.5 Broad instructional strategies that stimulate complex thinking .............................167
9.6 Teacher-directed instruction ...............................................................169
9.7 Student-centered models of learning .......................................................176
9.8 Inquiry learning ...........................................................................176
9.9 Cooperative learning ......................................................................177
9.10 Examples of cooperative and collaborative learning .......................................178
9.11 Instructional strategies: an abundance of choices .........................................180
9.12 Chapter summary and references .........................................................180
10 Planning instruction
10.1 Selecting general learning goals ...........................................................185
10.2 Formulating learning objectives ..........................................................190
10.3 Students as a source of instructional goals ................................................197
10.4 Enhancing student learning through a variety of resources ................................200
10.5 Creating bridges among curriculum goals and students’ prior experiences .................202
10.6 Planning for instruction as well as for learning ...........................................207
10.7 Chapter summary and references .........................................................208
11 Teacher-made assessment strategies
11.1 Basic concepts ...........................................................................213
11.2 Assessment for learning: an overview of the process ......................................214
11.3 Selecting appropriate assessment techniques I: high quality assessments ...................215
11.4 Reliability ...............................................................................218
11.5 Absence of bias ..........................................................................218
11.6 Selecting appropriate assessment techniques II: types of teacher-made assess-
ments ......................................................................................219
11.7 Selected response items ..................................................................222
11.8 Constructed response items ..............................................................228
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11.9 Portfolios ................................................................................237
11.10 Assessment that enhances motivation and student con(cid:28)dence ............................239
11.11 Teachers’ purposes and beliefs ..........................................................240
11.12 Choosing assessments ...................................................................240
11.13 Providing feedback ......................................................................241
11.14 Self and peer assessment ................................................................242
11.15 Adjusting instruction based on assessment ..............................................242
11.16 Communication with parents and guardians .............................................243
11.17 Action research: studying yourself and your students ....................................243
11.18 Grading and reporting ..................................................................244
11.19 Chapter summary and references ........................................................246
12 Standardized and other formal assessments
12.1 Basic concepts ...........................................................................249
12.2 High-stakes testing by states .............................................................254
12.3 International testing .....................................................................263
12.4 International comparisons ................................................................263
12.5 Understanding test results ...............................................................264
12.6 Issues with standardized tests ............................................................272
12.7 Chapter summary and references .........................................................275
13 Appendices
13.1 Appendix A: Preparing for licensure ......................................................279
13.2 Appendix B: Deciding for yourself about the research .....................................289
13.3 Appendix C: The re(cid:29)ective practitioner ..................................................307
Index ...............................................................................................329
Attributions ........................................................................................335
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Preface1
Dr. Kelvin Seifert: Why I wanted this book to be part of the Global
Textbook Project
I have taught educational psychology to future teachers for nearly 35 years, during which I used one or
another of the major commercial textbooks written for this subject. In general I found all of the books
well-written and thorough. But I also found problems:
(1) Thoughtheydi(cid:27)eredindetails,themajortextbooksweresurprisinglysimilarinoverallcoverage. This
fact, coupled with their large overall size, made it hard to tailor any of the books to the particular
interestsorneedsofindividualsorgroupsofstudents. Toooften,buyingatextbookwaslikehavingto
buy a huge Sunday newspaper when all you really want is to read one of its sections. In a similar way,
commercial educational psychology textbooks usually told you more than you ever needed or wanted
to know about the subject. As a format, the textbook did not allow for individualization.
(2) Educational psychology textbooks were always expensive, and over the years their costs rose faster
thanin(cid:29)ation,especiallyintheUnitedStates,wheremostofthebookshavebeenproduced. Currently
every major text about educational psychology sells for more than USD 100. At best this cost is a
stress on students’ budgets. At worst it puts educational psychology textbooks beyond the reach of
many. The problem of the cost is even more obvious when put in worldwide perspective; in some
countries the cost of one textbook is roughly equivalent to the average annual income of its citizens.
(3) In the competition to sell copies of educational psychology textbooks, authors and publishers have
gradually added features that raise the cost of books without evidence of adding educational value.
Educational psychology publishers in particular have increased the number of illustrations and pho-
tographs, switched to full-color editions, increased the complexity and number of study guides and
ancillary publications, and created proprietary websites usable fully only by adopters of their particu-
lar books. These features have sometimes been attractive. My teaching experience suggests, however,
that they also distract students from learning key ideas about educational psychology about as often
as they help students to learn.
By publishing this textbook online with the Global Textbook Project, I have taken a step toward resolving
these problems. Instructors and students can access as much or as little of the textbook as they really
need and (cid:28)nd useful. The cost of their doing is minimal. Pedagogical features are available, but are kept
to a minimum and rendered in formats that can be accessed freely and easily by anyone connected to the
Internet. In the future, revisions to the book will be relatively easy and prompt to make. These, I believe,
are desirable outcomes for everyone! (cid:21)Kelvin Seifert
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