EDUC 382/582 Psychological Foundation of Education in a Diverse Society (3 units)
Instructor: Noriyuki Inoue, Ph.D.
Email: inoue@sandiego.edu
Office: AW 2-107
Telephone: 619-260-7669
Course Description
This course synthesizes aspects of developmental and educational psychology to prepare candidates to
work with the wide range of individual student differences in skills, motivation, experience and
development that they will encounter in public schools. Students become familiar with cognitive, physical,
social/emotional, and moral development of children and adolescents. They study and apply theories of
learning, instruction and motivation to case studies drawn from actual K-12 situations. In the study of
instruction classroom management and assessment are emphasized.
Field Experience: Eight structured one-hour (or, for single subject students, one period) observations
focused on child development, student motivation, and the integration of instruction and classroom
management are required.
Course Objectives/Candidate Outcomes
Outcome I. Academic Excellence, Critical Inquiry and Reflection
 Establish firm understanding of key issues in educational psychology such as learning processes,
instructional designs, developmental mechanisms, motivation, socio-cultural foundation of learning,
individual differences, assessment, research methods, atypical development, social, moral and
personality development (TPE 3, 5, 6, 8) (K)
 Understand the strengths and limitations of major theoretical and research frameworks in educational
psychology. (TPE 3, 5, 6, 8) (K)
 Understand the importance of formal and informal assessment and research for improving educational
practices (TPE 3, 5, 6, 8) (K)
 Effectively integrate theories and research in educational psychology into the analyses of actual cases
in K-12 situations (TPE 3, 5, 6, 8) (S)
Outcome II. Community and Service
 Participate in 8 hours of classroom observation of learning activities in schools (TPE 11) (S)
 Understand the way to establish positive socio-cultural atmosphere for enhancing students' engagement
in classroom (TPE 5, 11) (K)
 Understand the importance of community and family for improving educational practices (TPE 11)
(K)
Outcome III. Ethics, Values and Diversity
 Critically discuss different types of learning beliefs/values that underlie educational assessment and
instructional activities (TPE 5) (S, D)
 Appreciate and advocate diverse socio-cultural values in education (TPE 5, 8, 11) (K, S, D)
 Evaluate what should be done for reducing social class, ethnic, and gender differences in school
performance (TPE 5, 11) (K, S)
[K=Knowledge, S=Skills; D=Dispositions]
Textbooks/Readings
Textbook (Required)
Ormrod, J.R. (2003). Educational Psychology: Developing Learners (4th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Merrill
Online subscriptions (Required)
1
WebCT (Handouts, reading materials will be posted here.)
TaskStream (www. taskstream.com) required for portfolio evaluation of your progress
Reserved materials
These materials are available on the class WebCT (webct.sandiego.edu) as well as E-Reserve
(marian.sandiego.edu/reserves.htm). Please use your email ID/password for WebCT, and " SNOOPY" as
the course password for E-Reserve.
Abbeduto, L. (2001). Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Educational Psychology
(2nd Ed.). Columbus, OH: McGrawHill. Issue 5 (Learning Style), Issue 10 (MI theory)
Brooks, D. (2001). The organization kid. The Atlantic Monthly. April.
Brown, J.S., Collins, A.& Duguid, P. (1989). Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning. Educational
researcher. pp. 32 -42.
Deci, E. L. (1995). Why we do what we do: Understanding self-motivation.
Dweck, C. S. (2000). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Philadelphia,
PA: Psychology Press.
Elkind, D. (1988). The Hurried Child: Is our Impatient and Society Depriving Kids of Their Right to Be
Children? Instructor. May.
Gatto, J. M. (1992). Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling. New Society
Publishers.
Ginsburg, H. P. (1996). Toby's Math. In R. Sternberg & T. Ben-Zeev, The Nature of Mathematical
Thinking. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Gladwell, J. (2002). Baby steps. The New Yorker, January 10.
Gladwell, J. (2002). The talent myth. The New Yorker, July 22.
Kohn, A. (2002). The 500-pound gorilla. Phi Delta Kappan, October.
Kohn, A. (1997). How not to teach values: A critical look at character education. Phi Delta Kappan,
February.
Kohn, A. (1987). The Case against competetion. Working Mother, September.
Ogbu, J. (1993). From cultural differences to differences in cultural frame of reference. In Patricia M.
Greenfield & Rodney R. Cocking (Eds.), Cross-cultural roots of minority child development. Hillsdale, NJ:
Erlbaum.
Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, data processors, and powerful ideas. New York: Basic Books.
Singleton, G. & Sparks, D. (2002). Conversations about race need to be fearless. National Staff
Development Council. Fall.
Uttal, D. H. (1995). Beliefs, motivation, and achievement in mathematics: A cross-national perspective. In
M. Carr (Ed.), Motivation in Mathematics. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Inc.
Waller, W. W. (1932). The Sociology of Teaching. New York: Russell & Russell.
2
Additional readings may be handed out in class.
Course Requirements/Activities
Class participation/ in-class assignment: You are required to actively participate in class discussions,
online activities, project presentations and questions and answer sessions. Your preparation for the class
and active contribution to the class constitutes a essential part of the learning activity in the course.
Occasionally, you will be given in-class assignments such as case study analyses and open-ended critiques.
You are required to actively work on the in-class assignments and complete them in class. (There will be no
make up for the in-class assignments. Please make sure that you attend all the sessions.)
Theoretical presentation: You will sign-up for one of the readings with * in the reading list, and present
the research findings/implications/essential ideas discussed in the reading. Your presentation needs to
address key theoretical issues discussed in the article and open up an essential discussion that are relevant
to teaching. The use of PowerPoint is required.
Mid-term exam: There will be a mid-term exam that is take-home, open-textbook, essay style. You are
expected to give clear and insightful answers to the exam questions based on our class discussions and
readings. Completing the exam takes 3 to 5 hours, depending on your progress.
Observation projects: You will complete two observation projects. The first project is focused on
students’ academic performance and cognitive processes, and the second project is focused on motivation
and socio-cultural norm of learning activity. For each project, you will observe K-12 classrooms for at least
4 hours and write a 4-6 page paper according to the guideline given in class. Your observations could be in
the same classroom or different classrooms in different schools. Choose the classrooms that would
maximize your learning.
Clinical interview project: You will complete a clinical interview project on an individual student to
enhance your understanding of students' learning, belief, motivation, development, etc. First, you will
submit a proposal on your project that includes the topic of the project and the tentative interview protocol.
You will be given detailed feedback on your proposal from your instructor and peers. After receiving the
feedback, you will conduct a short clinical interview with an individual student and write a 7-10 page paper
that discusses the result in reference to the theories, research and literature discussed in our class. You are
required to submit both a hard copy of your paper to your instructor and an electric copy to the TaskStream.
A 10-15 minute Power Point presentation of your project is also required at the end of the semester. A
detailed guideline will be handed out in class. (Teaching credential students: It is recommended to use this
project as the centerpiece artifact for your teaching performance portfolio. The project could encompass
TPE 3, 5, 6, 8 and/or 11 depending on your topic.)
(Extra point project: You are encouraged to propose an extra point project of your own. The proposal
must be approved by the instructor before you actually work on the project. Be creative in devising
interesting and substantial projects. The points you can add with the extra point project depend on the
quality of your project. This is not a mandatory assignment.)
Assessment Plan/Grading Criteria/Rubric
The final grade is calculated based on the following criteria:
Mid-term exam: 20%
Clinical interview project: 35 % (proposal 5%, paper 25%, Power Point presentation 5%)
Observation projects: 30% (15% x 2 projects)
Theoretical presentation: 5%
Class participation/in-class assignments (case study analyses, etc.): 10%
3
The following table shows the correspondence between letter grades and 100 point scale scores.
Letter grade
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
100 pt score
9490-93
87-89
83-86
80-82
76-79
73-75
69-72
66-68
63-65
60-62
0-59
Equivalent score
96
92
88
85
81
78
74
71
67
64
61
0
Course Outline
Dates
Topics
Reading assignments
Week 1
Introduction
Your learning identity and belief
Philosophical paradigms and learning
Overview of learning theories
Ormrod Ch. 2 (pp. 20-23)
Week 2
The nature – nurture debate
Behaviorism
Skinnerian theory of learning
Classroom management issue
Cognitive learning theory - Introduction
- Observation project guideline is handed out
- Theoretical presentation sign-up
Ormrod Chap. 9
Week 3
Cognitive learning theory
Memory and learning
Problem solving strategies
Metacognition
Brain and cognition
Ormrod Chap. 6
Ormrod Ch. 8 (pp.260-272)
Week 4
Intelligence: theories and controversies
Assessment of intellectual capability
Socio-cultural norm in education I
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development I
Introduction
Ormrod Ch. 4 (pp.104-119)
Ormrod Ch. 15 (pp.512-539)
Gladwell (2002) Jan.10*
Abbeduto (2001) Issue 10*
Week 5
Piaget's theory of cognitive development II
Personal construction of meaning
Constructivist learning environment
Independent learning
Importance of informal assessment
First observation paper due
- Clinical interview project guideline is handed out
Ormrod Ch. 2 (pp.23-35)
Ormrod Ch. 7
Abbeduto (2005) Issue 5*
Ginsburg (1996)*
Week 6
Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development
Situated cognition and learning
Ormrod Ch. 2 (pp.36-42)
Brown et al (1989)*
4
Neo-Vygotskian theories of development
Social constructivism
Socio-cultural norm in education II
Clinical interview proposal due
- Midterm exam is handed out
Kohn (2002)*
Week 7
Motivation: theories and research I
Skinnerian perspective
Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation
Goal theory
Attribution theory
Mid-term exam due
Ormrod Chap. 12
Deci Chap. 4*
Elkind (1988)*
Week 8
Motivation: theories and research II
Situational and individual interests
Self-determination theory
Testing and motivation
Hidden curriculum in classroom
Dweck Chap. 2*
Uttal (1995)*
Week 9
Socio-cultural construction of meanings
Radical constructivism
Socio-cultural norms and education
Cultural frame of reference
Diversity in education and society
Gender difference in education
Ogbu (1993) *
Singleton (2002)*
Week 10
Social and moral development
Family, community, and learning
Second observation paper due
Ormrod Chap. 3
Ormrod Ch. 4 (pp.119-141)
Brooks (2001) *
Kohn (1997) *
Week 11
The psychodynamic theories and education
Personality development
Defense mechanism
Kohn (1987)*
Waller (1932)*
Week 12
Library day
Week 13
Students' clinical interview presentations
Clinical interview paper due
Week 14
Students' clinical interview presentations
* These articles are for theoretical presentations. Please sign up for your presentation in class.
Other information
Cancellation of class
The class might be canceled due to unavoidable reasons. Also, your instructor may be late or cannot come
to class due to unforeseeable reasons. In case no information is given to you and the instructor does not
come to class for 20 minutes, please regard the class was cancelled. If a class was canceled, the assignment
due in the class will be due next time.
Disabilities
If you have a special need that may effect learning activities, please notify the instructor at the beginning of
the course. Special arrangements could be made depending on the need and condition.
5