Educational Psychology

Distance Learning Course -Educational Psychology

Study how and why people learn, and how to apply that learning to bring about changes in people of all ages. This course will benefit a wide range of people, from parents (understanding of how their children develop) to teachers/trainers and welfare workers or leisure professionals (eg. youth leaders).

Comment from one of our Educational Psychology students:
"I found the course interesting, challenging, and rewarding" J. Beer

Lesson Structure

There are 7 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction ...Development & Learning Theory
   • Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development; Schemes; Assimilation and Accommodation; Equilibration; Piaget’s Stages of Development.
2. Behavioural Learning
   • The Evolution of Behavioural Theories of Learning; Thorndike’s Theory of the Law of Effect; Skinner’s Theory of Operant Conditioning; Principles of Behavioural Learning; Reinforcers; Positive and Negative Reinforcement; The Premack Principle
3. Information Processing
   • Information Processing Theory; A Model of Information Processing; Perception; Gestalt Psychology; Attention; Short-Term Memory; Long-Term Memory; Division of Long-Term Memory
4. Memory Retention & Loss
   • Remembering and Forgetting; Interference; Inhibition and Facilitation ; Primacy and Recency; Learning Strategies
5. Individual Needs
   • Effective Instruction;The QAIT Model; Quality of Instruction; Appropriate Levels of Instruction; Incentive;Time; Between-Class Ability Grouping; Within Class Ability Grouping; Effective Use of Ability Groups; Mastery Learning; Outcomes-Based Education; Individualised Instruction
6. Constructivist Learning
   • What is the Constructivist View; Top Down or Bottom Up Processing; Generative Learning; Discovery Learning; Reception Learning; Activating Prior Knowledge
7. Motivation
   • Intrinsic Motivation; Extrinsic Motivation; Factors Affecting Motivation
   • Motivational Theories (Behavioural Learning Theory; Human Needs Theory; Dissonance Theory; Cognitive Dissonance Theory; Personality Theory; Attribution Theory; Expectancy Theory); Improving Motivation (Nurturing Interest/Curiosity; Providing Incentive to Learn)

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Discuss theories of development and learning.
• Explain behavioural theories of learning
• Describe how Information Processing Model Works
• Describe processes involved in memory loss and retention
• Describe different methods of effective instruction to cater for individual needs.
• Explain the relevance of constructivist learning in education
• Differentiate definitions of motivation and the application of motivation to learning.

This course has relevance to many areas of work and life. It is applicable to any situation where people of any age are involved in learning, both in our private and professional lives; for example:

• Anyone dealing with the development of children; as a teacher, parent, club leader (eg. Scouts or guides) or even a Sunday school teacher
• Play leader in an after school or holiday program
• Dance or music teacher; swimming teacher
• Sports coach (amateur/voluntary or professional)
• Workplace supervisor, training officer or anyone who needs to educate staff to do a better job at work.

It is also relevant for those wishing to pursue research or work as an educational psychologist.