1.

0 What is Psychology of Learning or Educational Psychology

The field of educational psychology examines a variety of topics, including teaching strategies, instructional
procedures, and individual differences in terms of how people absorb information. 

This subfield of psychology concerns the learning process during early childhood and adolescence, as well as
the social, emotional, and cognitive processes involved in learning at all stages of a person's life.

Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. At the same time, learning is a relatively
permanent change in an individual’s behaviour or behaviour potential (or capacity) due to experience or
practice. Learning is an internal change that is inferred from behaviour.

Thus, psychology of learning is a distinct scientific discipline that includes study methods and a knowledge
base. It is primarily concerned with understanding the teaching and learning process within formal environments
and developing ways to improve those methods.

Psychology of learning is the scientific discipline that addresses the questions:

 “Why do some children learn more than others?”
 “What can be done to improve that learning?”
 “What are the factors that help the learning process?”
 ‘How do we measure the amount of learning?”

Psychology of learning draws heavily from various branches of psychology, biology, sociology, and
anthropology. It is concerned with learning situations and the process by which learning can be more efficient
and effective and deals primarily with how, when, and what of education.

Scope of Psychology of Learning:

a. The Learner
b. The Learning Process
c. The Learning Situation
d. The Teaching Situation
e. Evaluation of Learning Performance
f. The Educator

a. The learner
 It deals with the innate abilities and capabilities of individual differences and their measurement,
the learner's overt, covert, conscious, and unconscious behaviour, and the growth and
development characteristics at each stage from childhood to adulthood.

b. The learning process

 It covers the laws, principles, and theories of learning. Besides, it involves the process of
remembering, forgetting, perceiving, thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving of an individual in
his learning manner.

c. The learning situation

 It deals with the environment and learning situations midway between the learner and the
educator. It involves the classroom climate and dynamic group techniques and aids in facilitating
the learning process.
 d. The teaching situation
 It suggests teaching methods and deciding what learning situation should be provided by the
educator to the learner according to his mental and physical age, previous knowledge, readiness,
and interest level.

e. Evaluation of learning performance

 It suggests various tools and techniques for assessment and evaluation, such as performance tests,
oral tests, and written tests. It also involves the analysis of performance on why some learners
have poor performance.

f. The educator
 It involves an educator’s roles, characteristics, skills, interests, attitudes, and personality.

2.0 Historical background

Late in the nineteenth century, just before the beginning of the twentieth century, several pioneers in psychology
laid the groundwork for what is now known as educational psychology. In the early history of educational
psychology, William James, John Dewey, and E. L. Thorndike stand out as three of the most influential
pioneers.

2.1 William James

William James (1842–1910), the author of the first psychology textbook, Principles of Psychology (1890), gave
a series of lectures titled "Talks to Educators" (James, 1899/1993), in which he discussed the applications of
psychology to educating children. These lectures were given not long after James published the first psychology
textbook. James argued that the results of psychological experiments conducted in a laboratory cannot always
tell us how to instruct children effectively. He emphasised how important it was to observe learners learning and
educators teaching in classrooms to improve education.

One of his suggestions was to begin lessons just beyond the child's level of knowledge and comprehension to
challenge the child's mind.

2.2 John Dewey

John Dewey (1859–1952), who became a driving force in the practical application of psychology, was a second
significant figure in the formation of the field of educational psychology. He was a pioneer in the field during
his lifetime. In 1894, Dewey established the first significant educational psychology laboratory in the United
States at the University of Chicago. After that, he continued his pioneering work while teaching at Columbia
University. John Dewey is the source of many of our most significant ideas.

First, we owe him the conception of the child as a learner who is actively engaged. Before Dewey, it was
commonly thought that children should be confined to their seats, remain silent, and passively learn through rote
memorisation. On the other hand, Dewey (1933) proposed that children learn best through active participation.

Second, we owe Dewey that education should concentrate on the development of the whole child and emphasise
the child's capacity to adjust to their surroundings. Dewey concluded that children should not only be educated
in a narrow range of academic topics but also learn how to think and adapt to a world outside of school. He
believed that children should be taught how to be reflective and analytical problem solvers.
Third, we owe Dewey that we believe it is everyone's responsibility to provide their children with a quality
education. When Dewey started his career in the latter half of the nineteenth century, quality education was only
available to a few selected children, particularly boys from affluent families. At that time, the democratic ideal
of equal access to education was not yet established. Dewey advocated for children of varying socioeconomic
backgrounds and ethnicities to receive an appropriate education for their age group. This included both girls and
boys.

2.3 E. L. Thorndike

E. L. Thorndike (1874–1949), who focused on evaluation and measurement and promoted the use of scientific
principles as the basis for education, is considered to be the third pioneer in this field.

Thorndike was an expert in conducting in-depth scientific studies of teaching and learning, and he was a
proponent of the idea that one of the primary goals of formal education is to improve learners' capacities for
logical reasoning. Thorndike was a strong proponent of the concept that educational psychology ought to have a
scientific foundation and place a significant emphasis on measurement.

2.4 The Behavioural Approach

Educational psychology was based on Thorndike's view of how people learn for the first half of the 20th
century. The ideas of B. F. Skinner, based on those of Thorndike and came out in 1938, had a significant impact
on educational psychology in the United States around the middle of the 20th century.

Skinner's behavioural approach involved figuring out exactly how people learn best. Skinner said that the mental
processes proposed by psychologists like James and Dewey could not be seen, so they could not be studied
scientifically. He defined psychology as the study of observable behaviour and the conditions that control it.

In 1954, Skinner came up with the idea of "programmed learning," in which the learner is rewarded after each
step in a series until he or she has reached a learning goal. In an early technological attempt, he made a teaching
machine that could act as a tutor and reward learners for getting things right (Skinner, 1958).

2.5 The Cognitive Revolution

Benjamin Bloom listed cognitive skills in the 1950s, which included remembering, understanding, synthesising,
and evaluating. He thought that educators should help learners develop and use these skills.

In the 1980s, the cognitive revolution in psychology started to take hold. This was the start of a time when
people were excited about using memory, thinking, reasoning, and other cognitive psychology ideas to help
learners learn.

So, by the end of the 20th century, many educational psychologists went back to the way James and Dewey
taught at the beginning of the century, emphasising the cognitive parts of learning. Educational psychology still
uses both cognitive and behavioural approaches, but cognitive is used more.

3.0 Teaching: Art and Science

How scientifically can educators approach their jobs? An educator's success depends on science and the art of
skilled, practised work.

Much of what we know about educational psychology comes from the theory and research of psychology. For
example, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky did not make their theories to help educators figure out how to teach
children. However, these theories can be used in many ways to help you teach.

Educational psychologists' theories and research, as well as educators' real-world experiences, are also used in
the field. As a scientific field, psychology of learning or educational psychology aims to teach you how to do
research that you can use in your teaching, as well as how to do research in a way that will help you understand
the factors that affect how well learners learn.

However, you will still be an artist when you teach. Aside from what you can learn from research, you will also
make important decisions in the classroom based on your skills and experiences and what other educators have
taught you.

4.0 Attitudes and Skills of an Effective Educator

Effective educators know their subjects well and have strong teaching skills (Mayer & Alexander, 2017). They
have great ways to teach that are backed up by methods for setting goals, planning lessons, and running the
classroom. They know how to motivate, communicate, and work well with learners who have different skill
levels and come from different cultures. Effective educators also know how to use technology in the classroom
at the right level.

4.1 Subject Matter Competence

To be a good educator, you must have a thorough, flexible, and conceptual understanding of the subject
matter (Hamilton & Duschi, 2017). Of course, there is more to subject knowledge than facts, terms, and
broad ideas. It also includes knowing how to organise ideas, how ideas connect, think and argue, how
things change in a discipline, what you think about a discipline, and how to move ideas from one discipline
to another.

4.2 Instructional Strategies

In a broad sense, there are two main ways educators teach: direct instruction and constructivism.

The learner-centred constructivist approach focuses on how important it is for people to actively build
their knowledge and understanding with help from the educator. From a constructivist point of view,
educators should not just try to give kids information. Instead, educators should encourage kids to explore
their world, learn new things, reflect, and think critically while keeping a close eye on them and giving
them helpful advice.

Direct instruction, on the other hand, is a structured, educator-centred method in which the educator
directs and controls the learners, has high expectations for the learner’s progress, gives learners as much
time as possible to work on academic tasks, and tries to keep negative effect to a minimum. The main goal
of the direct instruction method is to give learners as much time as possible to learn.

4.3 Thinking Skills

Effective educators show and teach learners how to think well.
 Critical thinking skills are some of the educators' most important thinking skills to help their learners
develop. These skills involve thinking thoughtfully and helpfully and evaluating evidence. It is not easy to
get learners to think critically. Many get into the habit of passively learning material and memorising
instead of deep thinking and reflection (Sternberg & Sternberg, 2017). Being able to think critically also
means having an open mind and being interested, but also being careful not to misunderstand something.

4.4 Goal Setting and Instructional Planning

Good educators think about how they can make learning both challenging and exciting as they plan. For
good planning, you need to think about what kinds of information, demonstrations, models, chances to ask
questions, discussions, and practice learners will need over time to learn specific ideas and skills.

4.5 Good Understanding of Children’s Development

At each grade level, there is usually a two or three-year age gap, and skills, abilities, and stages of
development vary even more. Understanding how children grow and develop is essential if you want to
teach in the best way for each child.

4.6 Classroom Management Skills

A big part of being a good educator is ensuring the whole class works together and stays focused on
classroom tasks. Effective educators set up and keep up an environment where learners can learn. To make
this ideal learning environment, educators need to know how to set rules and procedures, organise groups,
keep track of and pace classroom activities, and deal with learners who do not follow the rules.

4.7 Motivational Skills

Effective educators know how to get learners to learn independently and take responsibility for their
learning. Educational psychologists are emphasising more and more that the best way to do this is to give
each learner real-world learning opportunities that are both challenging and new. Learners are more
interested in school when they can choose activities that interest them. Educators who are good at their
jobs give their learners the chance to think deeply and creatively about projects.

4.8 Communication Skills

Communication skills are important for both teaching and talking to parents. Effective educators use good
communication skills when they talk "with" learners, parents, administrators, and others instead of "to"
them, keep criticism to a minimum, and use an assertive style of communication instead of one that is
aggressive, manipulative, or passive. 

Educators who are good at what they do also work to improve their learners' communication skills. This is
especially important because employers have said that communication skills are the ones they want the
most.

4.9 Assessment Knowledge and Skills

Competent educators also know and can do an excellent job of assessing. There are many ways to use
assessment in the classroom effectively. You will need to decide what tests you want to use to track how
well your learners did after you taught them. You will also need to know how to use assessment well
before and during teaching.

4.10 Technological Skills

Technology alone may not make learning easier for learners, but it can help them learn (Maloy & others,
2017; Roblyer, 2016). There needs to be a clear vision and support from educational leaders, educators
who know how to use technology to help learners learn, content standards and curriculum resources, a way
to measure how well technology helps learners learn, and a focus on the child as an active, constructive
learner.

Learners benefit from educators who learn more about technology and correctly use computers in the
classroom (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2015; Maloy & others, 2017). This integration should be in line
with what learners need to learn, such as getting ready for the jobs of tomorrow, which will often require
knowledge of technology and computer skills.

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