City Heights Block TE922 Syllabus – Fall 2013
Foundations of Psychology in Education
Instructor: Dr. Alexander Chizhik
Class Location: LL 410
Office Phone: 619-594-1222
Office Hour: By Appointment
E-Mail: AChizhik@Mail.SDSU.edu
Purpose of Course / Rationale / Link to Conceptual Framework
What makes an excellent teacher? According to a recent article in the New York Times, characteristics of
excellence in teaching are difficult to identify. Educational research and psychology, however, highlight key
elements that make effective teaching possible. In this course, we will explore how psychological theories can
inform your planning, reflection, and classroom interaction with your students. To do that, we will learn by
doing. You will write lesson plans and be able to explain the theoretical reasons behind your instructional
choices.
Readings and Resources
Majority of your readings and video resources are located on BlackBoard. Often,
you will not be provided specific readings, but rather several on-line places to visit to
answer some questions. Your making sense of what you find will be part of class
discussion and everyone’s development as teachers.
Occasionally, there will be handouts distributed in class.
Learning Objectives
 Relate psychological theories to students’ learning and motivation in and out of school.
 Use key psychological theories and associated terms to explain how students learn
and become engaged in a formal educational environment.
 Use psychological theories and associated terms to evaluate a lesson plan.
 Describe and evaluate a learning event using psychological theories and associated
terms.
Assessments/ Assignments
 In-Class Assignments (30 points)
 Positive Climate Paper (15 points)
 Subject Matter Lesson Plan (total 15 points)
o Learning Objective and Assessment (5 points)
o Instruction & Guided Practice (5 points)
o Anticipatory Set (5 points)
 Lesson Plan Analysis (40 points)
Course Requirements
Attendance, Participation, and In-Class Assignments (30 points)
Attendance. Regular attendance is your professional responsibility and extremely
important to learning with your colleagues. Please let me know in advance when
you will be absent or anticipate being late.
Participation. My teaching philosophy emphasizes a student-centered teaching
approach that includes discussions, problem solving, and cooperative learning in
class. The mantra for our class is learning by doing. It is important that you do
engage in whole and small class discussion.
In-Class Assignments. Preparing for each class by doing the appropriate
readings/watchings will be important for active participation during class. In-class
assignments will be a way of further constructing your understandings. These
assignments will constitute 30 points of your grade. (2 points per session)
Positive Climate Paper (15 Points)
Please write a one-page paper identifying three routines that create a positive
climate for your students. Use Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory as well
as Dweck’s Mindset Theory to explain how each routine facilitates a positive
climate for your students. As you write this paper, you must be sure to a) explain
Self-Determination theory and its three components, b) explain Mindset theory,
(c) apply the theories to each routine that you identified in your class, and d) list
the references used.
Subject Matter Group Lesson Plan (Total of 15 Points)
During the course of the semester, you will work with your peers to develop
a lesson plan for your specific area. You will submit portions of that lesson plan at
specified times. Although you will work as a group to design the lesson plan, you
will be responsible for interpreting that collective work on your own. Thus, each
person will submit the lesson plan as he or she understands it.
You will submit the following:
1. Learning Objectives and Assessment
2. Instruction and Guided Instruction
3. Anticipatory Set
For each of the section, you must submit the reasoning behind that part of the
lesson plan. Your reasoning must include:
a. Explanation of relevant learning and motivational theories
b. Explanation of how the relevant theories apply to your plan
Lesson Plan Analysis (40 points)
For this assignment, you must use a lesson plan that you have developed and,
preferably, taught. Your task is to analyze and reflect on the decisions you made
in the construction and implementation of your lesson. Your analysis should be
supported with relevant theories from our course. Be sure that your selected
lesson plan highlights the teaching of a new concept, strategy, or skill.
You must submit all assignments through Blackboard.
Submitting work electronically
When an assignment must be submitted as an attachment, please take care to properly format your
file so that your assignment is received appropriately. You must be sure to place your name on the
upper right hand corner of your document as if you were turning in a hard copy. When
saving/naming the file, you must place your name and the name of the assignment as the file name
(e.g., SChizhikLearningObjectiveAssignment.doc). If you are communicating about an
assignment through email, please place your name and the name of the assignment in the subject
header.
Grading Policy
A: 100-94 points
B: 89-80 points
C: 79=70 points
D: 69-60 points
(A- : 90-93 points)
(B- : 83-80 points)
(C- : 73-70 points)
(F: under 59)
(B+ :89-86 points)
(C+ : 79-76 points)
Class Policies
1. All assignments must be submitted and are due as scheduled. If i choose to accept late work in
extreme cases, expect your grade to be negatively affected.
2. If you have any concerns about class, please talk to me before or after class or make an
appointment. I cannot help you unless you communicate with me. I am available to meet with
you on a flexible schedule and am a kind, gentle, and likable person.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is formal work publicly misrepresented as original; it is any activity wherein one
person knowingly, directly, and for lucre, status, recognition, or any public gain resorts to the
published or unpublished work of another in order to represent it as one’s own. Work shall
be deemed plagiarism: (1) when prior work of another has been demonstrated as the
accessible source; (2) when substantial or material parts of the source have been literally or
evasively appropriated (substance denoting quantity; matter denoting qualitative format or
style); and (3) when the work lacks sufficient or unequivocal citation so as to indicate or
imply that the work was neither a copy nor an imitation. This definition comprises oral,
written, and crafted pieces. In short, if one purports to present an original piece but copies
ideas word for word or by paraphrase, those ideas should be duly noted.
(Lindey, Alexander. Plagiarism and Originality, 1952)
Course Calendar
Week
Date
1
8/29
2
9/5
3
9/12
4
9/19
5
9/26
6
10/3
7
10/10
8
10/17
9
10/24
10
10/31
(no class)
11
11/7
12
11/14
13
11/21
14
11/28
15
12/5
16
12/12
Class Discussion
Assignments Due
Introductions
Class Overview
Two Teachers; Two Stories;
Many Lessons
What’s Your Mindset?
Get Back to the Place Where
You Belong: Self-Determination
I Can Do It Myself!
Autonomy and Self-efficacy
Writing Lesson Plans: An
Overview
 Positive Climate Paper Due
 Bring 2 Versions of a Lesson Plan (original
and your revision)
Learning Objectives: The
Guiding Light
Intelligence for Success
Multiple Intelligences
Thinking through language…
Interacting with others while
thinking…
How can a teacher intervene
positively in thinking?
Anticipatory Set
 Learning Objectives and Assessment
Assignment
 Instruction and Guided Instruction
Assignment
Putting it all together into a
lesson
Thanksgiving Break
Using assessment data to plan
future lessons
Finishing Touches
Anticipatory Set Assignment