Educational Psychology for Pre-Service Teachers in the Secondary Programme EDU 301 Winter 2008

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1 Educational Psychology for Pre-Service Teachers in the Secondary Programme EDU 301 Winter :00-10:20 AM Tuesdays and Thursdays Instructor: Dr. Eva Bures Office: N 308 Office Hours: Tuesdays and Wednesdays: 12:30-2 pm Electronic mail: ebures@ubishops.ca back-up eva@education.concordia.ca Textbook: Educational Psychology: Reflection for Action. (2008). Canadian Edition. O Donnell, D Amico, Schmid, Reeve, & Smith. Important links: Online conferencing: Overall Goals of Course, and General Course Structure The main goal of this course is to help pre-service teachers learn indepth about key learning theories and their implications on classroom practice. The overriding goal is that each of you will acquire knowledge and understanding you can use in classrooms; we will strive to connect theory to practice in relevant appropriate ways. The course will generally follow the textbook. Occasionally I will provide supplemental readings (i.e. articles, websites, blogs, video-clips) most often available via the Internet. An online activity, a wiki and a final test are used to promote learning of the fundamental course material: the online activity will be used to promote reflective discussion, and the final exam and the wiki will help insure that you review and synthesize course content and apply theory to practice. Finally, the opportunity to teach will provide each student with a chance to study one area in-depth. You will also pursue a more in-depth look at one concept which you will teach to the class. For my teaching philosophy I draw on social-constructivism (especially Vygotsky) and also cognitive information processing models of learning. You the learner are in an active role in the learning processes involved in this course. Your learning in this course should involve an iterative cycle of action and reflection. This is not primarily a lecture course. You will learn through reading, through watching video tapes, through surfing the Internet, through face-to-face and online discussions, through class activities, through connecting what you 1

2 learn in the classroom with your practicum, and through reflecting on the course material and your own progress. You will learn from each other and also through individual endeavors. My role is to help facilitate your learning: to ensure that you have an opportunity to acquire the core content of the course and also the opportunity to expand your own understanding and interpretations through small-group activities, discussions, and individual reflection. Following socio-constructivism, I also plan to model some of the skills targeted in this course. Finally, beyond even deep comprehension, I hope to inspire you with a love for the subject material that ideally will motivate you to apply what we know of human nature and learning to improve your teaching in classrooms. Course Content and Teaching Competencies All of you are enrolled in the School of Education and as such are aiming to cover the core teaching competencies through your programme of courses. This course covers two key aspects of educational psychology: development & learning and motivation. Many core teaching competencies are addressed in this class -- this is a survey course covering theoretical roots that have practical applications associated with almost all the teaching competencies. Consider that the textbook states that educational psychologists seek to understand all aspects of the teachinglearning process, and they use this knowledge to improve educational practice (O Donnell et al, p. 31). Most notably the course addresses competency number 3, competency number 5 focused on the evaluation of student learning and progress and competency number 6 focused on class planning and management. Secondarily, this course is interested in helping students master competency number 2 (especially as relates to oral presentation abilities but also writing abilities) and competency number 10 (collaborating with colleagues). In addition, you should expand your ideas of how to use IT in the classroom (competency number 8) - after all, my PhD is in educational technology Please see our course wiki for more information about the links between this course and the teaching competencies. These goals are reflected in the marking scheme. 2

3 Activities for Assessment 10% Three best in-class activities 20% HipBone Game 20% Teaching Experience 15% Collaborative wikis 20% In-class test 10% Participation; 5% Self-assessment Three best in-class activities (10%) During class-time we will do many activities. You will be able to put these into an electronic portfolio. I will ask you to choose what you consider your three best, and to explain why you chose these three. HipBone Game (20%) For this activity you will each engage in small groups of 3 [possibly 4] in a group online activity. Marks for the HipBone Game are awarded on an individual basis. This activity is designed to advance your understanding of the course material and to support your reflective, critical thinking individually and in groups. If you have played a HipBone Game before, you will find this a rather different approach. Rather than a specific topic, we will develop a list of concepts ahead of time. In the game, each move will be about a different concept. The game will explore both the set of concepts and how they relate to each other. Online Game: For the online activity, you and your team members will play a game board that none of you have played on before. This type of activity is called a HipBoneGame, and is a type of cognitive game. This activity is designed to advance your understanding of the course material and to support your reflective, critical thinking. You can choose your own groups. Please let me know once you have formed a group, and also ask me for help in finding group members if you run into any difficulties. Remember that you will be dependent on your group members for successful completion of these games; although each member is individually responsible for their own moves, the inter-relationships between the moves is crucial. So I suggest 3

4 you pick your team members carefully and work to build positive relationships with one another during the game process. Each individual will play three or four moves, all of which must link to other player s moves. Each move should open with a quote. Quotes should not be one-liners and should be drawn from outside the educational context. The content of each move excluding the quotes should be approximately two pages double-spaced. Use references to educational theory and also connect theory to practice; use examples and personal experience to illustrate your points. Assessment of the game will be based on the exhibition of: critical thinking (AKA deep thinking), understanding of core course issues, creative thinking, viewing multiple perspectives, and co-construction of knowledge (especially through linking). Special Note about Online Activities: It is important to log on regularly, and to respond to your teammates in a timely fashion. Although online learning is asynchronous that is, at different times online learning has a rhythm, and timing is quite important. You cannot complete online problems in the last weekend before the deadline. Remember that you must be scholarly in your approach to this task, i.e., what you say and do is evidence-based. Opinions have their place, but this process must be well informed. Teaching Experience (20%) Topic/chapter selection: During the first week of the course you will read the text and handouts, and attend lectures/discussions dealing with the topic of learning and psychology, how it has been studied in the past, and how it might apply to the present and future. During the course of your initial reading, think about the areas being presented, and tentatively select several topics/chapters you would like to explore in depth. We will brainstorm some concepts together in class. By the third class, you will be asked to indicate three concepts or sets of concepts which you would like to present in order of preference (i.e., first choice, second choice, third choice). If you have someone in particular you would like to work with, make these decisions together and submit your choices as a team (maximum three people). Class Facilitation: You and your group will be responsible to learn indepth about a set of concepts related to the course topics (most likely discussed in the textbook but not necessarily). You will be responsible to help facilitate the class s understanding of this set of concepts, and you will have approximately thirty minutes of class-time. Once the concepts have been selected and assigned, each small group will be responsible for searching out appropriate information, formulating a 4

5 strategy for the presentation, and clearing your plan with me. Note you must submit to me your lesson plan before class begins (as when you are supervised in the practicum). Your primary objective in the presentation is to engage the class in a meaningful learning experience. In doing so, you may wish to focus on the following questions: How do these concepts connect to what we have been learning? What is the theoretical information necessary for other students to understand the concepts? What are some concrete examples that could help illustrate these concepts? So what? What are some important classroom applications? The total facilitation time should last no more than thirty minutes. Any demonstration will be incorporated into the session, and will vary with the topic and strategy. You should limit the lecturing/presentation time period and place more emphasis on engaging the learners in active learning; nonetheless, some lecturing has its place. Note that presentations are usually greatly improved if accompanied by AV materials (such as overheads ), handouts, demonstrations etc. (i.e., a brief exercise showing an experimental procedure, videotape or film clip, etc). In addition, you should not hesitate to draw on strategies to encourage active class participation including class discussion, debates, and activities. Do not give a Power Point presentation for 15 minutes; Power Point is a good way to impart information, but not a good method to facilitate active learning. Remember that your main object is to facilitate student understanding of the concepts in an engaging, meaningful fashion. The goal is to combine information dissemination with active discussion. All class members will be responsible for asking intelligent and probing questions. Disagreement as well as confirmation and supplementation are encouraged. Finally, expect my participation during your facilitations. Expect me to reinforce and summarize key points, help begin a debate, and so on. I ll be there if you need me! Please notice that each member of the group must participate in the classroom component, must speak to the class as a whole, and must be involved in the planning of the class facilitation and the creation of the materials. It is not acceptable to jig-saw and have one member create any handouts, one member organize the talk, etc. I will be asking for individual statements about what each group member did. Keep these don ts in mind: 5

6 Avoid talking for half-an-hour straight. Avoid trying to cover every small point. Avoid presenting anything you don t understand or are unable to teach someone about. One Test (20%) This course will have one test consisting of mini-essay and/or possibly essay questions. The main criteria will be your exhibition of high-level understanding of the course material and the skills to apply that understanding. Collaborative Wikis (15%) You will each be part of a pair/dyad. Together you will create a wiki in order to develop a representation of your understanding of the topics covered in the course. The final product, a synthesis of the knowledge representations of both learning group members, is due at the end of the course and is worth 15% of your final grade. Criteria will be developed in class. These wikis should help you review and study for the test. You will present them after your practicum, and will be expected to explicitly address what you learned during your practicum about applying theory to practice. Cooperative/collaborative Learning and Professionalism Cooperative learning and collaborative learning are both methods to promote learning through working with others. I encourage you to take responsibility for your own learning and also for the learning of your classmates. Also, I encourage you to work in ways that are effective for learning and not just efficient. For example, I strongly advise against jigsawing which involves dividing what is to be written and learned among your teammates. Learning for understanding need not be difficult but it frequently requires some commitment on your part, particularly with regard to carefully reading the text and working actively on course activities. For my part, I am committed to facilitating your learning. I expect and encourage you to do likewise for yourself and your classmates. Be succinct. Be helpful. Be active. And most of all, be educated. I expect you to reflect upon the course material, and to share your thoughts with your classmates in class and online. I also expect you to be careful not to commit plagiarism. In particular, if you are quoting a source, you must give credit. Do not paraphrase the textbook or other works without giving credit: this is a form of plagiarism. Plagiarism may be even easier to commit in online discussions than in written works: the more 6

7 informal nature of online communication as compared to written communication may lead students to think the same rules do not apply. They do. Cite all sources online as well as in written assignments. Plagiarism and other forms of cheating (for example, copying another student s assignment and presenting it as your own) will be taken very seriously. Please refer to the definition of plagiarism in the Academic Calendar for As developing teachers, students are expected to demonstrate professional conduct in this course. Examples of such conduct include respecting others, maintaining appropriate confidentiality, letting me know about unavoidable absences, and being polite especially to each other. In particular, students should not be on the computers logging onto their accounts, MSN chat sessions, or working on assignments for this or other classes; if students cannot respect this then access to the computers will have to be limited in class time which would be sad to find necessary at the university-level. In addition, students should not be carrying out conversations with one another to the detriment of the class as a whole; it is very important to listen in class and focus on the activities, but even if you cannot focus, interfering in the experience of others is crossing another line altogether. Please show respect for your peers and me by not carrying out your own private conversations in class except in extreme situations. Students should note that professional conduct is a condition for success in this course. Students whose overall professional behavior is unsatisfactory will be referred to the Review Committee whose mandate is the supervision of individual student progress. Please refer to the School of Education s Policy on Ethics and Professionalism for details about professional conduct. Attendance: More specifically, attendance in this course is an essential part of acquiring the course content and each student s consistent presence is an essential part of creating a learning community. Please let me know in advance about anticipated absences. If you unexpectedly cannot make it to class, please let me know via or telephone either ahead of time or as soon as possible afterwards. Paying attention in class, participating actively, and displaying your interest are all positive ways to add to the learning community; we all have our bad days ( Jonah days ), but please show your respect for others by trying to give your best in class. Submission of assignments: Timeliness in the submission of assignments is important. When assignments involve group work then each group member s active participation is necessary for the group to function smoothly. Timeliness is important when trying to work with each other: you need to be able to depend on your teammates and they on you. In particular, it is impossible 7

8 in an online activity to do all the work in the last two days. Sometimes a student logs on after everyone else in his/her group has finished an online debate, and then tries to add some comments. (This is analogous to arriving in the classroom after class is over and talking to oneself.) This is not considered acceptable participation in an online activity, and will result in a failing mark in the activity. As regards other deadlines for individual submissions, these too are important. The assignments are spaced out to allow you to process the material over time. The spacing out of assignments also allows for formative feedback that will provide you the opportunity to improve your learning and me the opportunity to improve my teaching. I reserve the right to subtract two full marks a day for late assignments. Furthermore, I reserve the right to award marks individually for group assignments if members appear to have worked disproportionately. If you are sincerely unable to meet a deadline due to illness or personal reasons, please let me know in advance face-to-face, via or via the telephone so we can discuss the situation. Sometimes students are facing specific circumstances, and it is important to let me know if that is the case so we can find a satisfactory way to allow you to successfully complete this course. Please note that changes may be made to the topics covered and the deadlines. 8

9 COURSE CALENDAR EDU 301 Winter 2008 Week Date Topic/Chapter Title Reading Deadline 1 Jan 8 Introduction educational Chapter 1 psychology & reflective practice 1 Jan Cognitive development: Chapter 2 10 Piaget 2 Jan Cognitive development: Chapter 2 15 Vygotsky 2 Jan Social development: Chapter 3 17 Erikson; Gilligan 3 Jan 22 Social development: Teaching moral reasoning 3 Jan Behavioral Learning Theory Chapter Jan Behavioral Learning Theory Chapter Jan Cognitive theories of Chapter 7 31 Learning 5 Feb 5 Cognitive theories of Learning Chapter 7 GAME STARTS 5 Feb 7 Social constructivism and learning in community Chapter 8 Game 6 Feb 12 6 Feb 14 7 Feb 19 7 Feb 21 Social constructivism and learning in community Review key theories of learning and development; implications on management, motivation and assessment Groups create final concept maps for game Motivation (cognitive perspective); engaging students in learning (more socio-constructivistic) CAST begins Chapter 8 supplement al Article must read Chapter 9 and 10 Work on wikis GAME ENDS Feb 22 8 Feb Implications; work on 26 wikis; review for test 8 Feb 28 Test & 3 Best Due 3 best 9 SPRING BREAK PRACTICUM 15 More on implications: Present 9

10 theory to practice; work on wikis; Review, synthesis wikis last class Supplemental: Readings on humanism Readings, video-clips, etc. to help synthesize course material at end before test *The flow of topics may be adjusted to match the flow of the class in order to take advantage of teachable (AKA learnable ) moments. 10