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Intro to Educational Psychology & Research Methods
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Misconceptions of Teaching
• Teaching is a process of transmitting knowledge to learners
• Majoring in an academic subject provides all the knowledge needed to teach the subject
• To learn to teach, experience in classrooms is all that is necessary
Effective Instruction
Student Characteristics
Teacher Knowledge Mode of Instruction
Teacher Characteristics
• Motivation • Enthusiasm • Scaffolding • Modeling • Reflection • Behavior Management • Mentorship
• Individual Differences • Learner Efficiency • Metacognitive Ability • Background Knowledge • Motivation • Goals • Self-Efficacy
• Content Knowledge • Cognitive Theories • Behavioral Theories • Teaching Strategies
• Direct Instruction • Cooperative Learning • Discovery Learning • Constructivist Approaches
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Self-Regulated Learning The ability to control all aspects of one’s learning, from advance planning to how one evaluates performance afterward 3 Core Components • Metacognitive awareness
– Knowledge about cognition/Regulation of cognition • Strategy use
– Selectively choosing then evaluating strategies • Motivational control
– Goals, self-efficacy, effort
Experiments
Lab Experiments
Field Experiments
Single Case Experiments
High internal validity--differences attributed to treatments--control
High external validity--results have direct relevance to natural settings--real world
Manipulation of Variables
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Correlational Studies • A relationship between two variables • NO CAUSATION! • Correlations range from -1 to +1 • Zero means no relationship • Positive correlation--As one variable goes up (or
down) the other variable goes up (or down) • Negative correlation--As one variable goes up the
other goes down
Descriptive Studies
• Examples include Surveys, Interviews, and Ethnographies
• No manipulation of variables. Interest is in describing a particular population of people or topic of interest
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Name that Correlation!
• Number of new houses built in Montana and hurricanes in Florida
• Consumption of alcoholic beverages after midnight on Sunday and performance on Monday morning exams
• Level of math self-concept and errors on an oral math exam in front of your entire hometown
Name that Correlation! • Number of hot-wings consumed and
indigestion • Outstanding Olympic performances by
the Croatian handball team and number of gold medals by Nigeria
• Hitting percentage by the NC St. volleyball team and victories
• Consumption of gelato during the summer and number of drownings
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Name that Correlation!
• Hair color of dogs and their ability to jump through a hoop
• Amount of homework given by John and the chance that his students will complain
• IQ and number of driving accidents by Australian citizens