Understanding Educational Psychology

Understanding Educational Psychology

Today’s educational system is highly complex. There is no single learning approach or style that works for everyone.
That’s why psychologists working in the field of education are focused on identifying and studying learning methods to better understand how people absorb and retain new information.
Educational psychologists apply theories of human development to understand individual learning styles and inform the instructional process. While interaction with teachers and students in school settings is an important part of their work, it isn’t the only facet of the job. Learning is a lifelong endeavor. People don’t only learn at school, they learn at work, in social situations and even doing simple tasks like household chores or running errands. Psychologists working in this subfield examine how people learn in a variety of settings to identify approaches and strategies to make learning more effective.

Psychologists working in education study the social, emotional and cognitive processes involved in learning and apply their findings to improve the learning process. Some specialize in the educational development of a specific group of people such as children, adolescents or adults, while others focus on specific learning challenges such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or dyslexia.
No matter the population they are studying, these professionals are interested in outcomes, teaching methods, the instructional process and different learning styles.
How much does the time of day when new information is introduced influence whether a person retains that information? What does culture have to do with how we process new ideas? How does age affect our ability to develop new skills, like language? How is in-person learning different from remote learning using technology? How does the choice of a media platform make a difference in learning?
These are all questions that educational psychologists are asking — and answering — in settings as diverse as government research centers, schools, community organizations and learning centers.

The Teaching Learning Process

The Teaching Learning Process: Intro, Phases, Definitions, Theories and Models etc...

1. 1. THE TEACHING- LEARNING PROCESS Yenna Monica D. P MST EdTech (Edu221B T-L Process)
2. 2. Curriculum  Total Learning Experience Teaching and Learning are actions necessary to accomplish a goal in Education.
3. 3. Teaching  Creating a situation or selecting life-like situation to enhance learning  Showing, telling, giving instruction, making someone understand in order to learn  Imparting knowledge and skills required to master a subject matter (traditionalist) Effective teaching is one that will bring about the intended learning outcome. “YOU CANNOT GIVE WHAT YOU DO NOT HAVE”
4. 4. Teaching  Teaching is perceived as stimulating, directing, guiding the learner and evaluating the learning outcomes of teaching (based on progressive and humanist education)  A process that enables the learner to learn on his own Teacher Person who teaches, controls learning, dispenser of knowledge, an ultimate authority, a director of learning Teacher’s role: give the learner the responsibility to learn “the decision maker in the teaching process”
5. 5. Teaching Process PLAN EVALUATE IMPLEMENT Feedbacks and Reflection
6. 6. Planning Phase  The needs of the learner  The achievable goals and objectives to meet the needs  Selection of content to be taught  Motivation to carry out the goal  Strategies most fit to carry out the goals  Evaluation Process to measure learning outcome
7. 7. Considerations when Planning  Learner  Availability of Materials  Time Requirements of Particular Activity  Strategy need to achieve the objective  Teacher
8. 8. Implementation Phase  Implementation – to put into action the different activities in order to achieve the objectives through the subject matter  Use of different teaching styles and strategy are included in the phase “To accomplish the plan” Interaction of the teacher and the learner IMPORTANT!
9. 9. Evaluation Phase OBJECTIVE LEARNING OUTCOME PLANS IMPLEMENTATION MATCH SUCCESSFUL LYACHIEVED PLAN EVALUATE IMPLEMENT Feedbacks and Reflection Continuous process of feedback and reflection is made in this three phases of teaching Reflection is the process embedded in teaching where the teacher inquires into his action and provides deep and critical Feedback is the reflection of the feedback
10. 10. Basic Assumptions (based on the diagram):  Teaching is goal-oriented with the change of behavior as the ultimate end  That teachers are the ones who actively shape their own action  That teaching is rational and a reflective process  That teachers by their actions can influence learners to change their own thinking or desired behavior, thus teaching is a way of changing behavior, through the intervention of the teacher
11. 11. Good Teaching is…  Well planned and activities are interrelated  Provides learning experiences or situation that will ensure understanding, application and critical thinking based on the theory/ies of learning  Where the learner is stimulated to think and reason  Utilizes prior learning and its application to new situation  Governed by democratic principles  Embeds a sound evaluation process
12. 12. Learning  Change in an individual’s behavior caused by experiences or self activity  Implies that learning can only happen through the individual’s activity or his own doing  Can be intentional or unintentional “TO TEACH, IS TO MAKE SOMEONE LEARN” Two Principal Types of Learning Process: - Behavioral Learning theories - Cognitive Learning theories
13. 13. Behavioral Learning Theory  Emphasizes observable behavior such as new skills, knowledge, or attitudes which can be demonstrate  Observable and measurable  If the individual has changed behavior, he has learned
14. 14. Cognitive Learning Theory  Concerned with human learning in which unobservable mental processes are used to learn and remember new information or acquired skill  Related to concept of meaningful learning through cognitive models - DISCOVERY Learning (Jerome Bruner) - RECEPTION Learning (David Ausubel) - EVENTS of Learning (Robert Gagne)
15. 15. Discovery Learning  States that individuals learn from his own discovery of the environment  Learners are inherently curious, thus they can be self motivated until they find answers to the problem  Gave rise to the emerging theory of constructivism and self-learning  Learning is flexible, exploratory and independent.
16. 16. Reception Learning  Though learners are inherently curious, they may not be able to know what is important or relevant and they need external motivation in order to learn Both emphasizes that prior learning is important in order to learn new things as knowledge is continuously changing once it is in the learner’s mind
17. 17. Events of Learning 1. Motivation Phase 2. Apprehending Phase 3. Acquisition Phase 4. Retention Phase 5. Recall Phase 6. Generalization Phase 7. Feedback Phase Internal Events
18. 18. Learning based on the theory of Learning…  Does not take place in an empty vessel  A social process where interaction with other learners and teachers are needed  Result of individual experiences and self activity  Both observable and measurable  Takes place when all the senses are utilized  Will be enhanced when the learner is stimulated, directed, guided and feedback is given immediately  Each learner has its own learning style
19. 19. Teaching and Learning  One cannot succeed without the support and success of the other  Teaching style of the teacher should jibe with the learner’s learning style  Learner is the center of teaching  Knowledge of the learner and his learning style should be considered  Learners become complex individuals capable of learning on their own, the repertoire of teaching should also increase GO TOGETHER! Teaching is the cause Learning is the
20. 20. Learning in Teaching Teaching for Learning Ways of Teaching and Learning: - different teaching methods and strategies can be clustered accdg to the number of students to be/being taught For larger group teaching – lecture, expository, panel discussion, seminar, forum, demonstration, combination of lecture-demo For smaller group – role playing, buzz session, work shop, process approach, discovery learning, cooperative learning For individualized teaching – modular instruction, e-teaching, programmed instruction
21. 21. Ways of Teaching • Traditional teaching methods: -inductive method, -deductive method, -type study method, -project method, -laboratory method, -Q&A or Socratic method -lecture method • Improved Teaching methods: -integrative technique, -discovery approach, -process approach, -conceptual approach, -mastery learning, -programmed instruction, -e-learning, -simulation, -case-based teaching, -conceptual teaching, -cooperative teaching
22. 22. Ways of Learning • Trial and Error – related to stimulus response theory of learning • Conditioning – Classical conditioning theory of Pavlov • Insight – higher level of intelligence is being utilized • Observation and imitation through modeling
23. 23. Teaching and Learning in the Curriculum… ! Crucial Issue: How the student should learn how to learn •Teaching and Learning give life to the curriculum. •Value placed in teaching will reap the same value in learning •A good curriculum can be judged by the kind of teaching and the quality of learning derived from it.
24. 24. The Teaching-Learning Process END

Educational psychology

Educational psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of human learning. The study of learning processes, from both cognitive and behavioral perspectives, allows researchers to understand individual differences in intelligence, cognitive development, affect, motivation, self-regulation, and self-concept, as well as their role in learning. The field of educational psychology relies heavily on quantitative methods, including testing and measurement, to enhance educational activities related to instructional design, classroom management, assessment, which serve to facilitate learning processes in various educational settings across the lifespan.^[1]
Educational psychology can in part be understood through its relationship with other disciplines. It is informed primarily by psychology, bearing a relationship to that discipline analogous to the relationship between medicine and biology. It is also informed by neuroscience. Educational psychology in turn informs a wide range of specialities within educational studies, including instructional design, educational technology, curriculum development, organizational learning, special education and classroom management. Educational psychology both draws from and contributes to cognitive science and the learning sciences. In universities, departments of educational psychology are usually housed within faculties of education, possibly accounting for the lack of representation of educational psychology content in introductory psychology textbooks.^[2]
The field of educational psychology involves the study of memory, conceptual processes, and individual differences (via cognitive psychology) in conceptualizing new strategies for learning processes in humans. Educational psychology has been built upon theories of operant conditioning, functionalism, structuralism, constructivism, humanistic psychology, Gestalt psychology, and information processing.^[1]
Educational psychology has seen rapid growth and development as a profession in the last twenty years.^[3] School psychology began with the concept of intelligence testing leading to provisions for special education students, who could not follow the regular classroom curriculum in the early part of the 20th century.^[3] However, "school psychology" itself has built a fairly new profession based upon the practices and theories of several psychologists among many different fields. Educational psychologists are working side by side with psychiatrists, social workers, teachers, speech and language therapists, and counselors in attempt to understand the questions being raised when combining behavioral, cognitive, and social psychology in the classroom setting.^[3]

IMPORTANCE OF ECLECTIC APPROACH IN EDUCATION

IMPORTANCE OF ECLECTIC APPROACH IN EDUCATION 

 INTRODUCTION

               Philosophy of education can refer to either the academic field of applied philosophy or to any of educational philosophies that promote a specific type or vision of education, and/or which examine the definition, goals and meaning of education. Education and philosophy are closely inter-related. If philosophy is love of knowledge then education is acquisition of knowledge. For a long time education was regarded as a disciplinary process and learning by attempt was important for student. After that child-centered education laid an emphasis on presenting education according to the child’s interest. Today these two contradictory forms come to a compromise. Interest has been admitted as the fundamental truth for attraction of the child, and once interest is created; even attempt would not be uninteresting to him. But neither is complete in itself; hence, co-ordination between two is necessary. The study of educational philosophy helps an educationalist to critically evaluate his own practices and make necessary changes in his practice. Philosophy has the potential for provoking revolutionary changes, revises and rejects some of our beliefs, develops analytical and logical skills and reasoning. Educational philosophy clarifies concept and analyses propositions, beliefs and theories of education. A philosophy vision is essential to understand the new trends in the educational systems especially the contemporary educational movements.

MEANING OF ECLECTICISM

            Eclecticism has been derived from the verb root “elect”. To elect means to choose and pick up. The good ideas, concept and principles from various schools of thought have been chosen, picked up and blended together to make a complete philosophy. Thus eclecticism is a philosophy of choice. Eclecticism is nothing but fusion of knowledge from all sources. It is a peculiar type of educational philosophy which combines all good ideas and principles from various philosophies. Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases. It can sometimes seem inelegant or lacking in simplicity, and eclectics are sometimes criticized for lack of consistency in their thinking. It is, however, common in many fields of study.
NEED OF ECLECTIC PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATION

            We live in such an era when dogmatic adherence to a particular philosophy is foolish and is quite harmful. The world is changing very fast. Values are changing rapidly. We require a dynamic outlook and mental flexibility to have an all-round adjustment and optimal development. No philosophy contributes to all aspects of education. Idealism based on spirituality. Naturalism based on materialism. Pragmatism is between the two. While idealism is famous for its high and lofty aims of education, pragmatism is famous for its brilliant principles and curriculum, naturalism for its method of education. No philosophy is full-fledged to provide all things. But we want an integral education for complete living. If we synthesis all good ideas and principles with the best materials of all these philosophies we have to adopt an eclectic approach by harmonizing the conflicting ideologies and blend them together. We have to find unity in diversities through eclectic approach. 

Philosophy of education

Philosophy of education can refer either to the application of philosophy to the problem of education, examining the definition, goals and meaning of education, or to any particular vision of or approach to education.
As an academic field, philosophy of education is "the philosophical study of education and its problems...its central subject matter is education, and its methods are those of philosophy".^[1] "The philosophy of education may be either the philosophy of the process of education or the philosophy of the discipline of education. That is, it may be part of the discipline in the sense of being concerned with the aims, forms, methods, or results of the process of educating or being educated; or it may be metadisciplinary in the sense of being concerned with the concepts, aims, and methods of the discipline."^[2] As such, it is both part of the field of education and a field of applied philosophy, drawing from fields of metaphysics, epistemology, axiology and the philosophical approaches (speculative, prescriptive, and/or analytic) to address questions in and about pedagogy, education policy, and curriculum, as well as the process of learning, to name a few.^[3] For example, it might study what constitutes upbringing and education, the values and norms revealed through upbringing and educational practices, the limits and legitimization of education as an academic discipline, and the relation between educational theory and practice.
Instead of being taught in philosophy departments, philosophy of education is usually housed in departments or colleges of education, similar to how philosophy of law is generally taught in law schools.^[1] The multiple ways of conceiving education coupled with the multiple fields and approaches of philosophy make philosophy of education not only a very diverse field but also one that is not easily defined. Although there is overlap, philosophy of education should not be conflated with educational theory, which is not defined specifically by the application of philosophy to questions in education. Philosophy of education also should not be confused with philosophy education, the practice of teaching and learning the subject of philosophy.
Philosophy of education can also be understood not as an academic discipline but as a normative educational theory that unifies pedagogy, curriculum, learning theory, and the purpose of education and is grounded in specific metaphysical, epistemological, and axiological assumptions. These theories are also called educational philosophies. For example, a teacher might be said to follow a perennialist educational philosophy or to follow a perennialist philosophy of education.

Ethical Principles for the Teaching Profession

Teaching may be regarded as a profession in its own right, and one that demands a great deal of professional expertise. But it also requires its own code of ethics, which may be expressed in a set of ethical principles. These constitute a code of ”quality control” for the profession and those who practise it, a response to the trust shown by society at large.

Professional Ethics

Many professions throughout the ages have set themselves ethical guidelines that express the attitudes and sense of responsibility that members are required to show towards their work, articulating the common values and principles that they should possess with respect to their profession.

The teaching profession is based on the concept of teachers as experts who have been assigned specialized tasks by society, which has also prepared them for such tasks by providing them with the necessary high level of education. The profession then demands that the representatives selected to perform these tasks should demonstrate high ethical standards in all situations, even though the tasks may frequently be difficult to define precisely or call for rapid decisions. lt is essential for society to be able to rely on persons of this kind to exercise a high level of professional skill.

The sense of responsibility attached to the practising of a profession is based on knowledge and vocational skills on the one hand and on the values and norms that form the foundation of the work on the other. Both are essential, and neither can replace the other. Good ethical principles cannot compensate for poor professional skills, and good professional skills cannot make up for a lack of ethical principles. Thus teachers should feel obliged by their sense of responsibility to pay constant attention to the maintaining of their professional skills, and also to show particular sensitivity in the perception of ethical problems and readiness to observe the highest standards of professional ethics when resolving such situations.

Any consideration of the ethics of the teaching profession calls for a distinction to be made between legal and ethical matters. The basic duties and responsibilities of teachers are defined in the relevant legislation and norms, while the content of the teaching is laid down in the curriculum. By contrast, however, the ethics of the profession are not based on compulsion or external supervision but on an internalized concept of the moral obligations attached to the work. One major point of departure for the ethical principles set out here has been the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The results of a teacher's work are often visible only after a considerable time lag, in that good Iearning experiences tend to promote lifelong learning. Teachers can play a significant role in both the generation of positive Iearning experiences and the reinforcement of learners' self-esteem. Thus a teacher's work is a matter of providing opportunities for upbringing, instruction and Iearning for the ultimate benefit of individual learners. ln addition, a teacher is expected to meet up to society's requirements concerning the implementation of the goals of teaching, which means that, on account of changes taking place in society, many teachers are obliged in the course of their work to take care of things for which they cannot bear sole responsibility.

The change in the role of teachers has brought them closer to the learners, but it has also increased their responsibility for the learners' development and has frequently led them into closer cooperation with others who are also responsible for this development. Teachers have a great deal of  power and responsibility in matters concerned with the evaluation of learners, for instance, and it is only by fully internalizing the ethical principles involved that they can avoid abusing their position in this respect.

A high standard of professional ethics is one of the most important resources available to teachers, guiding their work and their interactive relations at the professional level. The work of teaching should include consideration and evaluation of the ethics of one's own goals and motives. ln this sense the purpose of the present account of a teacher's professional ethics is to codify and promote the sense of what is ethically right that has always been a part of educational work.

NPTEL

NPTEL is an acronym for National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning which is an initiative by seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras and Roorkee) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) for creating course contents in engineering and science. NPTEL as a project originated from many deliberations between IITs, Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) during the years 1999-2003. A proposal was jointly put forward by five IITs (Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur, Kharagpur and Madras) and IISc for creating contents for 100 courses as web based supplements and 100 complete video courses, for forty hours of duration per course. Web supplements were expected to cover materials that could be delivered in approximately forty hours. Five engineering branches (Civil, Computer Science, Electrical, Electronics and Communication and Mechanical) and core science programmes that all engineering students are required to take in their undergraduate engineering programme in India were chosen initially. Contents for the above courses were based on the model curriculum suggested by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the syllabi of major affiliating Universities in India.

• The basic objective of science and engineering education in India is to devise and guide reforms that will transform India into a strong and vibrant knowledge economy. In this context, the focus areas for NPTEL project have been i) higher education, ii) professional education, iii) distance education and iv) continuous and open learning, roughly in that order of preference.


• Manpower requirement for trained engineers and technologists is far more than the number of qualified graduates that Indian technical institutions can provide currently. Among these, the number of institutions having fully qualified and trained teachers in all disciplines being taught forms a small fraction. A majority of teachers are young and inexperienced and are undergraduate degree holders. Therefore, it is important for institutions like IITs, IISc, NITs and other leading Universities in India to disseminate teaching/learning content of high quality through all available media. NPTEL would be among the foremost and an important step in this direction and will use technology for dissemination.


• India needs many more teachers for effective implementation of higher education in professional courses. Therefore, methods for training young and inexperienced teachers to enable them carry out their academic responsibilities effectively are a must. NPTEL contents can be used as core curriculum content for training purposes.


• A large number of students who are unable to attend scholarly institutions through NPTEL will have access to quality content from them.

All those who are gainfully employed in industries and all other walks of life and who require continuous training and updating their knowledge can benefit from well-developed and peer-reviewed course contents by the IITs and IISc.