EDP 3004/EDP 5053 Educational Psychology: Principles & Applications

Professor: Dr. Martha Pelaez

Website: http://www.fiu.edu/~pelaeznm/

Phone: 348-2090

Office room: COE 242-B

Fall term 2013, GC 285

Class Hrs: Mondays 5:00–7:40 pm

Office Hrs: Mondays 2:30-4:45 pm

Thursdays 2:30–4:45 pm

By appointment

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

This is an undergraduate foundation course designed to teach psychology as applied to teaching with emphasis on research and practical applications. The course bridges the gap between theory, research, and applications and offers the practical knowledge needed to make effective and professional teachers. The rationale for implementing educational methodologies is presented; this course is a major link between the theory courses and the method courses throughout the College of Education Curriculum. This course is a requirement for Teacher's certification.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES:

There are two main objectives in this course:

(1) To inform future teachers on the psychological principles of learning and student’s motivation. Students in this course must learn the specific processes involved in teaching-learning effectively in the classroom. Thus, the course principal foci are on the processes by which information, skills, values, rules, and attitudes are transmitted from teachers to students.

(2) To inform future teachers on the application of those principles of psychology and learning to the practice of instruction; specific information on how the methods, procedures, and behaviors of teachers impact student learning outcomes.

REQUIRED TEXT:

(available at the FIU bookstore)

Santrock, J. W. (2011 or latest). Educational Psychology (Fifth edition). NY: McGraw Hill. Professor’s summary PowerPoint notes will be on Dr. Pelaez’s Web page: http://www.fiu.edu/~pelaeznm/

SUGGESTED READING: (available in Reserve Room at the FIU Library)

Alberto, P. A. & Troutman, A. C. (2012). Applied behavior analysis for teachers (9th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (Fifth Edition or newest). Washington, D. C.: American Psychological Association.

For more information on behavior-analysis training, certification, and job opportunities visit: WWW.behavior-analysis.org

To be informed on current teaching certification requirements in the State of Florida visit: WWW.fldoe.org

For teachers resources in the classroom please visit:

WWW.fldoe.org/teacher/resources.asp

Course Requirements and Notes:

1. Attendance is compulsory and will be taken intermittently for extra points.

2. Students are responsible for the text reading AND homework exercises due on the days listed.

3. Everyone is expected to come to class on time and take a midterm and a final exam at the scheduled times. There will not be Make-up exams. No cellular/phone mobile or other electronic devices (than those in the classroom) are allowed.

Approximately the first 20 minutes of each class will be dedicated to questions asked of the students about the reading due that day and to discussion on such material. The rest of the class time will be dedicated to lecture, discussion, and review of practice tests.

There will be two exams (dates are listed below) and multiple quizzes in class on the lecture material for extra points. These exams will cover both lecture and textbook readings materials. These two exams consist of multiple-choice questions and will cover the material of the entire course divided in two segments--one segment of chapters for each exam. Each exam is worth 33.3 % of the final grade.

REQUIRED ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING:

THE COURSE GRADE WILL BE BASED ON THE TWO EXAMS (33.3 POINTS EACH=33.3 X 2 = 66.6 %) PLUS 33.3 POINTS FOR THE TASK-STREAM PROJECT, and extra points for participation.

FEAP 7) Human learning and development: showing that you are familiar with learning theories, learning principles, and their application to your teaching practice.

FEAP 9) The design of learning environments: Showing that you can think critically about the types of learning interactions and learning environments (or conditions) that will facilitate learning in your students

Grading:

Grades will be assigned based on the following points distribution:

100 - 95 = A (4.00 grade points) Excellent; superior

94 - 90 = A- (3.67 grade points) Very Good

89 - 87 = B+ (3.33 grade points) With merit; good

86 - 84 = B (3.00 grade points) Good

83 - 80 = B-

79 - 77 = C+ (2.67 grade points) Above-satisfactory

76 - 74 = C (2.33 grade points) Above-satisfactory

73 - 70 = C- (2.00 grade points) Satisfactory; minimum

69 – 67= D+ unsatisfactory

66 – 64= D

63 – 60= D-

<60=F

In writing your notes (for your artifact/taskstream) please take the following information into account: format:

The quality of the structure of the paragraphs and grammar must convey that you can write effectively. These are essential to the assignment. Correctly using topic sentences, writing well-focused paragraphs, and good spelling and grammar would make your important ideas more accessible to your reader and identify you as a capable professional in your field. To help you in conceptualizing your writing, you should check to make sure that you have satisfied the criteria that I will use to assess your work. Look over the following four categories that will be used to assess the quality of the artifacts that are submitted. Take great care with this assignment, as state guidelines require that you must pass the artifact assignment to receive credit for the course. If you need assistance to improve your writing skills, ask your instructor or student services at the Green Library office for information about writing workshops.

3004 Writing Scoring Rubric
Examples/Content: How clearly presented were the examples that you chose included in your writing? Is your description sufficiently elaborated that someone who was not there gets a complete picture of the event/principle? Does your paper show that you really understand the content that you are discussing? / Excellent25% Needs work 5%
Organization/Clarity: How clear is your paper overall? Do you have a clear point or focused set of points to make? Do the paragraphs show organization and ordering?
Analysis: Why are you selecting these facts/literature? What is the main point of all your writing? Make your case and be persuasive that you have interpreted these observations correctly and made important insights.
Instructions: Have all the instructions been followed? Is your paper APA and legible or hard to read for some reason or simply not summarizing or addressing the questions raised in the literature reviewed?

To interpret the score or guide your efforts in creating your artifact you can also look at the following classification.

Level / Score / Description
4 / 90-100% / Clear well presented ideas and practices with evidence of significant original application of your knowledge
3 / 80-89% / Clear well presented ideas and practices but poor or limited evidence of original application of your knowledge
2 / 70-79% / Fuzzy/Unclear structure with incomplete or very limited presentation of important ideas and knowledge.
1 / 0-69% / Not passing

Thus, the main objective of your TaskStream (Paper/Project):

I.  Identify your main topic assigned to you by instructor in your paper (by following an outline, examples, ideas, subheadings, summarizing and concluding). The paper should reflect your critical thinking skills and your understanding of the topic at hand. The specific topic/theme will be assigned to you by your instructor in class.

II.  Provide example(s) of how you would apply the particular theory or concept being discussed to your classroom. At the end of your paper/project think of your future students (including culturally and/or linguistically diverse students).

III.  On the last page of your project/paper you should write a “Conclusion” paragraph. For example, conclude what was the most meaningful aspect of the reading to you and why. What has the reading of the material together with the professor’s lecture/explanations shown you about the topic, principle, and research you discuss?

Calendar

DATE TOPIC Readings Due:

Aug 26 Educational Psychology: A Tool for Teaching Introduction Ch. 1

Sept 02 No-Class Labor Day- Read Research Methods section Ch. 1

Sep 09 Cognitive and Language Development Ch. 1 & Ch. 2

Sep 16 Cognitive and Language Development Ch. 2

Sep 23 Social Context and Socio-emotional Development Ch. 3

Sep 30 Individual Variations: Intelligence Ch. 4

Oct 7 Behavioral Approaches to Learning Ch. 7

Oct 14 Behavioral & Socio-Cognitive Approaches to Learning Ch. 7

Review for Midterm Exam

Oct 21 Midterm Exam

Oct 28 The Information Processing Approach Ch. 8

Nov 04 Complex Cognitive Processes and Learning Ch. 9

Nov 11 No-Class Veterans Day

Nov 18 Complex Cognitive Processes Continue… Ch. 9

Planning, Instruction, and Technology Ch. 12

Taskstream paper review Ch. 12

Nov 25 Motivation, Teaching and Learning Ch. 13
Dec 02 Managing the Classroom Ch. 14

TaskStream Paper DUE (deliver Hard Copy to professor in class)

Final Exam Review

Dec 9 Final Exam