The Modern Era in Educational Psychology

1. THE MODERN ERA
in Educational Psychology

2. CONTEMPORARY
VIEWS OF
LEARNING AND MOTIVATION
 Educational psychologists have studied cognition,
instruction, learning, motivation, individual
differences, and the measurement of human
abilities, to name just a few areas that relate to
education and schooling.
 Of all these, perhaps the study of learning is the
most closely associated with education. Different
theories of learning have had different impacts on
education and have supported different practices.

3. BEHAVIORAL VIEWS OF LEARNING
 The behavioral approach to learning developed out
of work by Skinner, whose research in operant
conditioning showed that voluntary behavior can be
altered by changes in the antecedents of the
behavior, the consequences, or both. Early work
focused on consequences and demonstrated that
consequences following an action may serve as
reinforcement or punishment. Skinner's theories
have been used extensively in education, by
applying principles of reinforcement and
punishment to change behaviors, often called
applied behavior analysis.

4.  For much of the 1960s Skinner's ideas and those of
behaviorists who followed him shaped teaching in
regular and special education, training in the
military, coaching, and many other aspects of
education. Principles of reinforcement continue to
be important for all teachers, particularly in
classroom management and in decisions about
grades and incentives for learning.
 In the 1970s and 1980s a number of educational
psychologists turned their attention from research
on learning to research on teaching. Their findings
shaped educational policy and practice during
those years and since. Much of the research that
focused on effective teaching during that time
period pointed toward a model of teaching that is
related to improved student learning called direct
instruction or explicit teaching.

5. COGNITIVE VIEWS OF LEARNING
 Behaviorists define learning as a change in
behavior brought about by experience with little
concern for the mental or internal aspects of
learning.
 Cognitive psychologists, on the other hand, focus
on individual and developmental differences in
cognition; they have not sought general laws of
learning. Cognitive views of learning are consistent
with the educational theories of Bruner and Ausubel
and with approaches that teach learning strategies,
such as summarizing, organizing, planning, and
note taking.

6. CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORIES OF LEARNING
 Constructivist perspectives on learning and
teaching are increasingly influential today. These
views are grounded in the research of Piaget, Lev
Vygotsky, the Gestalt psychologists, Fredric
Bartlett, and Bruner as well as the Progressive
educational philosophy of Dewey. There are
constructivist approaches in science and
mathematics education, in educational psychology
and anthropology, and in computer-based
education. Some constructivist views emphasize
the shared, social construction of knowledge;
others see social forces as less important.

7. Even though there is no single constructivist theory,
many constructivist teaching approaches recommend
the following:
 Complex, challenging learning environments and
authentic tasks
 Social negotiation and shared responsibility as a
part of learning
 Multiple representations of content
 Understanding that knowledge is constructed
 Student-centered instruction

8.  Inquiry is an example of constructivist teaching.
Dewey described the basic inquiry learning format
in 1910. There have been many adaptations of this
strategy, but the teacher usually presents a
puzzling event, question, or problem. The students
formulate hypotheses to explain the event or solve
the problem, collect data to test the hypotheses,
draw conclusions, and reflect on the original
problem and on the thinking processes needed to
solve it. Like discovery learning, inquiry methods
require great preparation, organization, and
monitoring to be sure everyone is engaged and
challenged.

9. A second example of constructivist teaching influenced by
Vygotsky's theories of assisted learning is called cognitive
apprenticeships. There are many models, but most share six
features:
 Students observe an expert (usually the teacher) model the
performance.
 Students get external support through coaching or tutoring
(including hints, feedback, models, reminders).
 Conceptual scaffolding (in the form of outlines, explanations,
notes, definitions, formulas, procedures, etc.) is provided and
then gradually faded as the student becomes more competent
and proficient.
 Students continually articulate their knowledge–putting into
words their understanding of the processes and content being
learned.
 Students reflect on their progress, comparing their problem
solving to an expert's performance and to their own earlier
performances.
 Students are required to explore new ways to apply what they
are learning–ways that they have not practiced at the
professional's side.

10. MOTIVATION IN EDUCATION

11. Behaviorists explain motivation with concepts such as
"reward" and "incentive." Rewards are desirable
consequences for appropriate behavior; incentives
provide the prospect for future rewards.
Giving grades, stars, and so on for learning–or
demerits for misbehavior–is an attempt to motivate
students by extrinsic (external) means of incentives,
rewards, and punishments. Humanistic views of
motivation emphasize such intrinsic (internal) forces
as a person's needs for "self-actualization," the inborn
"actualizing tendency," or the need for "self-
determination."
From the humanistic perspective, motivation of
students means to encourage their inner resources–
their sense of competence, self-esteem, autonomy,
and self-actualization.