EDUC-5115                                        Educational Psychology                           3(3+0)

Course Description

Educational psychology both draws from and contributes to cognitive science and the learning sciences. Educational psychology has seen rapid growth and development as a profession in the last twenty years. Educational psychology has been built upon theories of operant conditioning, functionalism, structuralism, constructivism, humanistic psychology, Gestalt psychology, and information processing. Teaching and learning in which individuals had to think about individual differences, assessment, development, the nature of a subject being taught, problem solving, and transfer of learning was the beginning to the field of educational psychology. The course is designed to make students aware of how to bridge the gap between theory and practice. In other words, how they can use various concepts of educational psychology to improve their learning and teaching skills. It provides the study of learners and learning contexts both within and beyond traditional classrooms and evaluates ways in which factors such as age, culture, gender, and physical and social environments influence human learning. The course is intended to improve the reading, writing and communication skills of students.

Course Objectives

After the successful completion of the course, the participants will be able to:

1. Understand the need and importance of psychology in education
2. Comprehend the scope, methodology and usefulness of educational psychology in effective teaching
3. Develop an insight into various concepts and theories of educational psychology pertaining to motivation, intelligence, personality, classroom management  effective teaching and their educational implications
4. Develop skills to understand and identify the individual and cultural differences among the students to improve their teaching by adopting appropriate strategies
5. Adopt the measures to enhance the creative potentials of themselves as well as of their students

Course Outline

1. Introduction
   1. Meaning and nature of psychology
   2. Meaning and nature of educational psychology
   3. Educational psychology: Some basic problems to solve simultaneously
   4. Scope and utility of the study of educational psychology: Teachers, teaching & educational psychology
   5. Methods of educational psychology Conclusion: Teachers, teaching and learners; learning, and educational psychology
2. Teaching learning process
   1. Learning Process
   2. Understanding the Learner, Characteristics of Learner, Laws of learning
   3. Skill learning; stages and conditions
   4. Concept learning
   5. Problem solving, discovery and creativity, conditions and steps

1. Human growth and Development
   1. Physical growth and development
   2. Cognitive growth and development , Cognitive theories
   3. Social and moral development, social Learning theory
   4. Morality: early theories
   5. Emotional development
2. Theories of Learning
   1. Associative theories
      1. Associationism
      2. Conditioning
      3. Extinction and recovery
      4. connectionism
   2. Cognitive theories
      1. Gestalt Psychology
      2. Learning by insight
3. Motivation: Theory and Practice
   1. Concept of motivation.
   2. Types of motivation
   3. Functions of motivation
   4. Theories of motivation.
   5. Strategies for motivation
4. Educational psychology in contemporary classrooms
   1. The contemporary ecology of classroom
   2. ICT in Learning and Teaching
   3. ICT transforming learning
   4. ICT transforming pedagogy
   5. Transforming Inclusive Education     
5. Mental Health
   1. Concept and nature
   2. Symptoms and causes of maladjustments
   3. Adjustments mechanisms
   4. Mental health in schools
   5. Mental health of the teacher
   6. Mental hygiene at home
6. Teaching for Learning (i.e. Effective Teaching)
   1. Planning for effective teaching
   2. Teaching large & small groups effectively
   3. Characteristics of effective teachers
   4. Matching methods to goals
7.  Culture and Diversity
   1. Today’s diverse classroom and Learning needs
   2. Economic and social class differences
   3.  Ethnicity and race in teaching and learning
   4. Difference of gender
   5. Multicultural education
   6. Language diversity
8. Complex Cognitive Process
   1. Metacognition
   2. Learning strategies
   3. Problem solving
   4. Critical thinking
   5. Teaching for transfer

Recommended Text:

1. Santrock, J. W. (2018). Educational psychology. Boston: McGraw –Hill.

2. Sprinthall, N.A., and Sprinthall, R.C., and Oja, S.N. (2014). Educational psychology: A

            developmental approach. New York: McGraw Hill Inc.

Suggested Readings

1.  Iqbal, M. Z., & Shahid, S. M. (2016). Educational psychology & guidance. Islamabad: AIOU.

2.  Rashid, M. (comp.) (2016). Allied material of educational guidance and counseling. Islamabad: 

            AIOU.

3.   Dash, B.N., Dash, N., and Rath, M.P. (2012).  A text book of educational psychology. New        Delhi:  Dominant Publishers and Distributors.