Online Educational Psychology Course

Understand how people of any age learn.

What is educational psychology? From a literal standpoint, one could argue that the study of learners, learning and teaching, is all subsumed under the heading ‘educational psychology’. For those who wish to adopt the principles of educational psychology in an educational setting, this definition can be expanded to include the knowledge, wisdom and everyday theory that every teacher requires in order to resolve the dilemmas that occur teaching on a daily basis.

Although there are no hard and fast rules to becoming a good teacher, good teaching practice can be learnt. Teachers need to engage in critical thinking if they are to keep abreast of teaching. That is they need to be systematically identifying problems, exploring the evidence, and finding the answer. In addition, those teachers who are constantly checking their teaching practices and attending seminars on the latest principles will make more effective teachers.

Whatever your reason for studying educational psychology, it is necessary to understand the basic principles which underlie the theories involved. Wherever possible when studying psychology, it is a good idea to quote names and dates of research, as all theories need to be supported by scientific evidence.

A lot of contemporary research has built on theories developed many years ago.

Comment from one of our Educational Psychology students:

"I found the course interesting, challenging, and rewarding"       J. Beer

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

For more information on this course, please request your free course information pack.