What you need to know about this
class
A powerpoint syllabus
Course and Contact information
• Course Number: Psychology 201 Course Title:
Educational Psychology
• Credit: Three semester hours
Semester:
Fall 2007
• Prerequisite: Psychology 110
• Instructor: Carolyn Cutler Osborne
• Office: Learning Center 221 Phone: 449-1110
(home)
• E-Mail: cosborn2@capital.edu, cc1874@aol.com
• Office Hours: By appointment
Please contact me when you have a question. I am available for you.
Textbook
• http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Contemporary
_Educational_Psychology
• Contemporary Educational Psychology by
Kelvin Seifert, available through the link
above. This is a “wikibook”—a free opensource book written by an expert in
educational psychology.
Principles behind the course
• Universal design for learning
• Student has as much control as possible
over learning process and outcome
Universal Design for Learning
• You will be learning about this concept in
the activities you do in the future, so I won’t
give it away.
• However, you need to know: learning
materials are offered in several formats to
accommodate your learning needs.
Universal Design for Learning
Formats
• Textbook: for people who learn best by reading.
• Reading guides: for people who like to learn visually
(these have some reading and lots of illustrations)
• Mp3 version of the text: for people who like to learn by
listening.
• All materials accommodate a pace that is comfortable for
you: you can re-read your text, you can read the power
points over again or as fast or slow as you want, you can
listen to the textbook again and again.
• You can use a combination of materials. For example, the
textbook has different explanations than the reading guide,
so using both results in a richer understanding of concepts.
Can you guess what Universal Design for Learning might be? You’ll find out soon!
You have control over…
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Multiple choice tests
Constructed response tests
Final
Activities for the class
Materials you use to learn
How you learn
Pacing of your learning
Contact with professor
Control…
• Multiple choice tests: you can take these
tests as often as you like so you can get a
grade that is acceptable to you. The
feedback on these tests is designed to help
teach you the concepts. IT IS IMPORTANT
TO TAKE THE TESTS ON TIME SO I
CAN GIVE YOU HELPFUL FEEDBACK.
Control
• Constructed response tests: the Praxis Principles
of Learning and Teaching has short essay
questions, so this course has practice questions
that are similar to what you will experience on the
Praxis. When you have written your constructed
responses, you will receive personal feedback
from me. You can take the test again until you are
satisfied with your grade. TAKE THE TESTS ON
TIME SO I CAN GIVE YOU FEEDBACK.
Control
• The final is a practice Praxis. It allows you
to assess yourself on your preparedness to
take the real thing. You are not allowed to
take this exam more than once.
Control
• In each folder, there is an agenda, which lists the
activities that you would do (as if you were in an
actual class session). These activities are designed
to help you apply what you are learning. You can
choose to do these activities by yourself or you
can find someone else in the class and do them
together. Your results for your activities are
posted in the “Discussion Board” of the
Blackboard website for this class.
Control
• You have control over how you use the
materials for learning. You have a choice of
formats, as well. The goal setting activity
will lead you through a process of
considering how you learn in order to set
goals for learning Educational Psychology.
Control
• You have control over how you learn. You
can read, you can take notes, you can learn
at two o’clock in the morning, you can even
handwrite your materials and turn them into
me via my mailbox in the Learning Center
(instead of using the computer to do this).
Control
• You have as much control as I can give you over
the pacing of your learning. You can definitely go
faster than the schedule I have set up. You can
also negotiate with me (that is the key—you need
to talk with me or e-mail me) your need to go at a
slower pace. If you need to go at a slower pace,
you need to set up how you plan to complete the
class. If you need an incomplete in the class to
accommodate a slower pace, that can be done.
Control
• You have control over how much contact you have with
me.
• You can choose to come to class every week and I will be
there to talk with you and answer questions that you have—
about educational psychology, about how to use
Blackboard, about Life, the Universe, and Everything (I
may not know the answer to ALL those questions…).
• You can choose to do your work from the comfort of your
own home, in your pj’s and have contact with me via e-mail
and Blackboard.
• You can call me on the telephone—the contact information
on the second slide of this show has my home phone
number (449-1110).
• You can ask for an appointment at a different time besides
class time.
Values
• I want you to succeed in this course and in
whatever career you are choosing.
• I believe that coercion is not a good method of
teaching.
• I believe in removing barriers to learning.
• I want to model excellent and appropriate teaching
practices.
• I believe that students need to have control over
their learning experiences.
• I believe in hard work—but not useless work.
Success
• If you don’t learn, then I have not taught.
• As teachers, we need to set our students up
for succeeding and we need to do
everything in our power to see that success
happens. This means addressing the whole
student: not only educational needs but also
emotional, psychological, and where
possible, spiritual needs of our students.
Force
• I cannot force you to learn this material. If you
are taking this course because it is a requirement
and you have the intention of doing as little as
possible to get a grade you can live with, I cannot
force you to have a different attitude or
motivation. In fact, if I were to use force, I might
demotivate students who otherwise might be
interested in this subject. I hope the materials I
am using are interesting enough that you might
enjoy them, however, if there is something you
don’t like, let me know about it. Maybe I can do
something different.
Barriers
• Have you ever had a huge assignment that
was hard to get started on? Maybe you
completed it, but for many people, this is a
barrier to learning because of the
intimidation, “fear factor.” I believe in
identifying as many fear factors in a class as
possible and doing my best to remove them.
Modeling
• Educational Psychology has been an
interesting subject for me to teach because it
has required me to think about my own
teaching methods. It seems to me that a
powerful part of your learning should be
from not just information I am imparting to
you but also from HOW I am giving you
access to that information and WHAT I am
asking you to do with that information.
Control
• When students have choices, they tend to have a
more positive attitude about something they are
learning.
• It is also important to treat students as competent
human beings. This means that I believe you are
capable of making good choices about your
learning. It does not mean I am abandoning you—
if you don’t make some terrific choices about how
you learn this material, I’m here to help you
reconsider what you might do (to set you up for
success).
Work
• This class requires a significant amount of work
on your part. I do believe it takes this amount of
work to develop the ability to remember and be
able to apply the concepts we are learning.
• Yet, I believe all the work you are doing will be
applicable to your professional (and quite possibly
personal) life. I believe when school work has a
clear “real world” connection, students are more
likely to be motivated to put some effort into it.
Blackboard
• The documents you will need are on
Blackboard, under “Course Documents.”
• You can post to the discussion board of
Blackboard—there will be folders for each
session’s discussion. Feel free to respond to
other people’s posts and to read my
responses—this is part of how this course is
taught.
What to do now…
• Do the goal-setting activities (use the goalsetting power point). Those will help you to
think about how you are going to complete
this course and how you are going to use the
materials.