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Intro to Educational Psychology & Research Methods

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Misconceptions of Teaching

•  Teaching is a process of transmitting knowledge to learners

•  Majoring in an academic subject provides all the knowledge needed to teach the subject

•  To learn to teach, experience in classrooms is all that is necessary

Effective Instruction

Student Characteristics

Teacher Knowledge Mode of Instruction

Teacher Characteristics

• Motivation • Enthusiasm • Scaffolding • Modeling • Reflection • Behavior Management • Mentorship

• Individual Differences • Learner Efficiency • Metacognitive Ability • Background Knowledge • Motivation • Goals • Self-Efficacy

• Content Knowledge • Cognitive Theories • Behavioral Theories • Teaching Strategies

• Direct Instruction • Cooperative Learning • Discovery Learning • Constructivist Approaches

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Self-Regulated Learning The ability to control all aspects of one’s learning, from advance planning to how one evaluates performance afterward 3 Core Components •  Metacognitive awareness

–  Knowledge about cognition/Regulation of cognition •  Strategy use

–  Selectively choosing then evaluating strategies •  Motivational control

–  Goals, self-efficacy, effort

Experiments

Lab Experiments

Field Experiments

Single Case Experiments

High internal validity--differences attributed to treatments--control

High external validity--results have direct relevance to natural settings--real world

Manipulation of Variables

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Correlational Studies •  A relationship between two variables •  NO CAUSATION! •  Correlations range from -1 to +1 •  Zero means no relationship •  Positive correlation--As one variable goes up (or

down) the other variable goes up (or down) •  Negative correlation--As one variable goes up the

other goes down

Descriptive Studies

•  Examples include Surveys, Interviews, and Ethnographies

•  No manipulation of variables. Interest is in describing a particular population of people or topic of interest

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Name that Correlation!

•  Number of new houses built in Montana and hurricanes in Florida

•  Consumption of alcoholic beverages after midnight on Sunday and performance on Monday morning exams

•  Level of math self-concept and errors on an oral math exam in front of your entire hometown

Name that Correlation! •  Number of hot-wings consumed and

indigestion •  Outstanding Olympic performances by

the Croatian handball team and number of gold medals by Nigeria

•  Hitting percentage by the NC St. volleyball team and victories

•  Consumption of gelato during the summer and number of drownings

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Name that Correlation!

•  Hair color of dogs and their ability to jump through a hoop

•  Amount of homework given by John and the chance that his students will complain

•  IQ and number of driving accidents by Australian citizens