1. Introduction to Educational Psychology

________________________- is a distinct discipline with its own theories, research methods, problems and techniques. It has the understanding and improvement of education as its primary goal

( Wittrock, 1992)

• Educational Psychology

• Child Psychology

Why study Educational Psychology?

• In educational psychology, learning theories give good insight into the way the students learn. And once you know this, you can make the teaching-learning process 'learner centered' in real sense.

• It actually helps you to understand what are the needs of learner in the classroom, why he behaves in a specific way, why he responds in a way different from others and different from his own behaviour at different times.

• Once you understand the learner, you can design instructional strategies accordingly to make teaching-learning a successful experience.

Educational Psychology

• •Educational psychology is one of the many branches of psychology dealing mainly with the problems, processes and products of education.

• •It is an attempt to apply the knowledge of psychology in the field of education.

• •It may be defined as that branch of psychology which studies the behavior of the learner, his educational needs and his environment.

• •Educational psychology is the branch of psychology that specializes in understanding teaching and learning in educational settings.

Educational psychology is that branch of psychology that deals with teaching and learning

• Skinner (1958)

• Crow and Crow (1973)

Educational psychology describes and explains the learning experiences of an individual from birth through old age.

• Skinner (1958)

• Crow and Crow (1973)

•The following points confirm the nature of educational psychology as scientific:

• •1. Laws of educational psychology are universal

  •2. Scientific methods

• •3. Constant search of the truth

  •4. Reliability

• •5. Positive science - deals with proven facts as they are or as they operate, can be developed into theories

• •6. Applied behavioral science

  •7. Developing positive science

Players in Educational Psychology

• •The learner

  •The learning process

  •The learning situation

  •The teacher

• •Learner

  •Learning process

  •Learning situation

  •Teaching situation

  •Evaluation of Learning performance

  •Teacher

TEACHING: ART AND SCIENCE

• •As a science, educational psychology’s aim is to provide you with research knowledge that you can effectively apply to teaching situations and with research skills that will enhance your understanding of what impacts student learning.

• •But your teaching will still remain an art. In addition to what you can learn from research, you will also continually make important judgments in the classroom based on your personal skills and experiences, as well as the accumulated wisdom of other teachers

He emphasized the importance of observing teaching and learning in classrooms for improving education.

•One of his recommendations was to start lessons at a point just beyond the child’s level of knowledge and understanding to stretch the child’s mind.

• William James

• John Dewey

• E. L. Thorndike

•First, he viewed the child as an active learner. Before _____________, it was believed that children should sit quietly in their seats and passively learn in a rote manner. In contrast, ___________ (1933) argued that children learn best by doing.

•Second, education should focus on the whole child and emphasize the child’s adaptation to the environment. ____________ reasoned that children should not be just narrowly educated in academic topics but should learn how to think and adapt to a world outside school. He especially thought that children should learn how to be reflective problem solvers.

•Competent Education for all

• William James

• John Dewey

• E. L. Thorndike