Educational Psychology
(EDPY) 200
Overview
EDPY 200: Educational Psychology is an introductory, first-year course primarily designed for pre-service K–12 teachers. However, it might also be useful for newer teachers, educational assistants, and early childhood educators. Students majoring in psychology will find that most of the learning theory and motivation research are topics they have covered in introductory courses and those on learning and cognition.
This course seeks to provide a balanced view of educational psychology that blends theory and research about human learning and development and the implications for instructional methods and teaching practice. As well, the course presents research from other areas in psychology that are relevant to understanding children and adolescents that are not directly related to learning (e.g., moral development, discrimination and stereotypes, and social behaviour).
Learning outcomes
EDPY 200 has ten major learning outcomes. After completing this course, students will be able to:
1. Identify and describe the different types of research used in educational psychology and discuss the role that theories, hypotheses, and predictions play in research.
2. Discuss cognitive development and contrast Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories of development.
3. Discuss social development and the factors that influence it: describe social systems, stages of psychosocial development, and stages of moral development.
4. Use person-first language when discussing exceptional students and describe common student disabilities and ways in which teachers may assist them.
5. Describe language and its acquisition and discuss bilingual language development. Describe language learning (in school or later life; not native acquisition) and teaching approaches based on immersion and bilingual instruction.
6. Discuss cultural diversity in Canadian schools and describe the ways in which students can differ with respect to socioeconomic status, ethnic and racial differences, gender identity, etc.
7. Describe and contrast different views of learning based on conditioning and reinforcement, cognitive processing and memory, and constructivist perspectives (individual and social).
8. Describe forms of complex cognition including metacognition, the use of learning strategies, and problem-solving. Discuss the concept of transfer and explain its significance for teaching.
9. Describe several perspectives and theories of motivation—needs and interests, self-efficacy, epistemological beliefs, attribution theory, and goal orientation—and discuss how motivation affects student learning.
10. Discuss factors that affect the quality and use of student assessment and ways of ensuring fairer assessment practices. Describe some ways in which grades and evaluation may affect students, especially with respect to their motivation to learn.