Why do students sitting in the same classroom not learn at the same pace, and how does a teacher deal with this difference? In this lesson, we examine, with examples, what today's educational psychologist works on, the three main areas of interest of educational psychology, namely developmental psychology, the psychology of learning and classroom management, and how knowledge in these areas guides the teacher in the classroom.
What will you learn in this episode?
- Explain which problems today's educational psychology focuses on
- Define developmental psychology and explain the benefits of developmental knowledge for teachers
- Explain with examples how knowledge of the psychology of learning contributes to the teaching-learning process
- Explain the ideas of prerequisite learning and mastery learning
- Define classroom management and list its three dimensions
- Explain how the principles of reinforcement and extinction can be applied to behavior problems in the classroom
Summary of this episode
What does today's educational psychologist do?
Educational psychology is a discipline concerned with understanding the teaching-learning process and developing methods that improve its quality. To this end, educational psychologists draw on other disciplines and also produce new knowledge, principles and theories of their own. Today, while problems related to teaching and learning are tested in the laboratory, all settings in which education takes place, from kindergarten to university, are also used as a natural laboratory.
One of the important questions facing the field is whether findings obtained under the controlled conditions of the laboratory also hold in the unexpected situations of real classrooms. For this reason, laboratory findings on learning must also be tested in natural settings. The educational psychologist is closely interested in how people learn, but this is only half of the question. The other half is how people should be taught, and the educational psychologist must be concerned with both. The aim is to make a meaningful difference in teaching and learning.
Three main areas of interest
The scope of educational psychology is quite broad. Because education aims to develop the individual in every respect, those responsible for raising individuals inevitably draw on developmental psychology. A teacher's ability to achieve effective teaching and learning at school depends largely on making use of the psychology of learning. In addition, because the teacher's creation of a classroom atmosphere conducive to learning plays an important role in the effectiveness of the process, classroom management also falls within the scope of educational psychology. Although educational psychology is not simply the sum of these areas, it holds a special place within developmental psychology and the psychology of learning.
Developmental psychology and students' developmental characteristics
Developmental psychology is the discipline that studies the quantitative and qualitative changes and developments an individual undergoes from before birth until death. Quantitative change refers to measurable increases such as height and weight, while qualitative change refers to structural changes such as differences in ways of thinking. Which developmental characteristics an individual has at which stage, and at which level of cognitive, social and psychological development they are, is the subject of this field. Scientists known as stage theorists argue that individuals can accomplish certain tasks at certain periods depending on their level of maturation.
For example, for a child to handle abstract concepts, the child must have reached the maturity of abstract intelligence. Abstract intelligence is the ability to make successful use of abstract concepts and symbols when thinking and adapting to new situations. It is not right to expect a child who has not reached this maturity to grasp abstract topics. This makes it essential to take students' developmental characteristics into account when preparing curricula. A teacher who knows the student's developmental level does not make the unnecessary effort of trying to teach behaviors beyond that level. When teaching a complex problem to a student in the concrete thinking period, the teacher knows that the problem must first be explained in a concrete and simple way.
Developmental knowledge guides teachers on which educational experiences to organize in the classroom, how to adapt instruction to individual differences and which methods and techniques to use. It also makes it easier for them to support students' healthy social, psychological, physical and affective development.
The psychology of learning and teaching-learning processes
Teaching-learning processes are related to the learning theories, models, methods and techniques developed in the field of the psychology of learning. A teacher who knows how learning happens can easily use different instructional models in different situations. For example, a teacher who starts explaining the topic as soon as entering the classroom overlooks the need to first draw students' attention to the subject to be taught. A teacher who begins the lesson by gaining attention with a visual or verbal stimulus, as in Gagné's events of instruction, motivates students and achieves more effective instruction.
Another example is a young mathematics teacher who notices that about half of the students have not learned a topic despite it being explained many times. The teacher recalls Bloom's mastery learning model: according to this model, earlier learning in a course constitutes the prerequisite behaviors for later units and accounts for a significant part (about half) of student achievement. This relationship is even stronger in sequential subjects such as mathematics. Realizing that the problem stems from gaps in prerequisite behaviors, the teacher first addresses these gaps, then moves on to the topic and sees that the students learn it easily.
Classroom management
One of the conditions of effective instruction is creating a classroom environment conducive to learning. Classroom management consists of the non-academic activities a teacher carries out alongside instruction to create an environment suitable for learning, use learning time effectively and remove factors that hinder instruction. Teachers who lack this skill may face significant difficulties, especially in their first years in the profession. A teacher competent in classroom management uses time better, deals more easily with discipline problems, motivates students to learn and builds healthy teacher-student relationships. The three dimensions of classroom management are effective leadership, classroom climate and discipline.
In an example from the source, a student who frequently talks with classmates during lessons is scolded and punished each time, yet the negative behavior increases rather than decreases. A teacher who knows the principles of learning recognizes the following: a reinforcer that follows a behavior increases the frequency of that behavior. Because the teacher's reaction meets the student's need for attention, it unintentionally functions as a reinforcer. A behavior that is not reinforced, on the other hand, gradually weakens and is extinguished. For this reason, the teacher ignores the inappropriate behavior and reinforces a positive behavior when the student displays one. In this way, a positive behavior takes the place of the extinguished negative one. The example shows the importance of a modern approach to discipline based on the principles of learning rather than punitive reactions.
In short
Today's educational psychology is concerned both with how people learn and with how they should be taught. Developmental psychology shows teachers what level their students are at, the psychology of learning shows how to facilitate learning, and classroom management shows how to establish an environment conducive to learning. Knowledge in these three areas is the teacher's most powerful tool in the classroom.
Key concepts
- Developmental psychology: The discipline that studies the quantitative and qualitative changes an individual undergoes from before birth until death.
- Stage theorists: Scientists who argue that individuals can accomplish certain tasks at certain periods depending on their level of maturation.
- Abstract intelligence: The ability to make successful use of abstract concepts and symbols when thinking and adapting to new situations.
- Psychology of learning: The branch of psychology that studies how learning happens and under what conditions it is facilitated.
- Prerequisite behavior: A behavior that must have been acquired beforehand in order to learn a new topic.
- Classroom management: The non-academic activities a teacher carries out alongside instruction to create an environment conducive to learning.
- Dimensions of classroom management: Effective leadership, classroom climate and discipline.
- Reinforcer: A stimulus that follows a behavior and increases its frequency.
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Sources used:
Can, G. (2008). Eğitimin psikolojik temelleri [Psychological foundations of education]. In M. Gültekin (Ed.), Eğitim Bilimine Giriş [Introduction to Educational Science] (Unit 3). Eskişehir: Anadolu Üniversitesi Yayınları.
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