INTRODUCTION TO EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY - IN EDUCATIONAL

LECTURE 2: EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

By – Raphael Tumaini O’maitarya
0755340506/0655820165: Email – rafaeltumaini@gmail.com

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LECTURE SUMMARY
2.1 MEANING OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
 In the previous lecture we saw that psychology is a scientific study of
behavior and mental processes with several branches.
 Educational psychology is the branch of psychology that focuses on the
following:
o Development of effective teaching techniques, and
o Assessing learners’ aptitudes and progress in learning process.
 It uses psychological knowledge to understand learning and teaching in
educational.
 It incorporates and applies knowledge gained from other areas of
psychology.
 These areas are like the following:
o Developmental Psychology
o Cognitive psychology, and
o School psychology.
 Developmental psychology is dealing with human development.
 It is incorporated in educational psychology because it is used by
educational psychology to know how students develop and learn.
 It also assist to understand the characteristics of learners at various
stages.
 Cognitive psychology is dealing with reasoning and problem solving.
 While, school psychology in determining students’ abilities and the best
ways and conditions necessary for individuals to realize their full
potential.
 Knowledge from disciplines outside psychology contributes to educational
psychology.
 For example,
o Findings in neurosciences help us to understand how the brain
works in relation to learning.

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 o Also research findings in educational psychology contribute to
wide field of psychology and education in general e.g. in creating
educational policies and developing curriculum based on
characteristics of the learners.
 Through this course you will find that the main factors on human learning
settings are among the topics of educational psychology.
 These aspects include the following:
o Instructional design and application,
o Curriculum development,
o Special education,
o Classroom management,
o Use of technology in teaching, and
o Assessment of learners and their performance.
2.1 OBJECTIVES (FUNCTIONS) OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
 In the previous lecture the first two objectives of psychology are the
following:
o To describe behavior, and
o To understand behavior.
 So, in educational psychology we want to describe and understand the
nature and principles of learning.
 In so doing, we have to ask the following questions:
o What is involved in the learning process?
o How do we learning at different stages of development?
o Which are the factors that enhance/hinder learning?
 Educational psychology aims at answering these kinds of questions by
research.
 Based on the knowledge gained above, educational psychology aims at
designing strategies for guiding learners in learning.
 Students possess learning abilities and skills.
 Educational psychology guides students to use their existing skills more
effectively and/or develop new skills.
 Among the major responsibilities of a teacher is teaching.
 Some people have a notion that teaching is easy.
 This is entirely NOT TRUE.
 It is the opposite which is true.
 Teaching is a very complex exercise.

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 As expected, educational psychology provides teachers with methods and
specific skills of teaching.
 These methods and skills are based on the outcomes of research findings
and facilitate learning.
 Students do, and can learn alone.
 However, to meet the state educational goals learners need teachers with
effective teaching skills.
 Every learner in the classroom is unique.
 So, there are individual variations among learner in one single classroom.
 These include the following:
o Learners being in different developmental stages (cognitively,
physically, socially and emotionally),
o Learners with different abilities, temperaments and learning skills.
 To master these variations educational psychology provides the teacher
with the skills to identify individual learner processes and traits.
 An effective teacher creates a learning environment in the classroom that
caters for the individual variation so that each learner is motivated to
realize his/her full potentials.
 The environment has great effect on learning process.
 Teachers can use the environment to enhance learning.
 Educational psychology trains teachers to identify and control these
external factors.
 The external factors include the following:
o Immediate environment and conditions,
o Teaching materials available,
o Research findings and new teaching skills; and
o Technological advances.
 You might be interested to become educational psychologist.
 To be one you need to have a graduate degree in educational psychology
(it has many courses).
 Educational psychologist work as follows:
o Consultants,
o Teach at universities, and
o Conduct research on cognitive, social processes of human
development, learning and education.
 So, this course does not make one to be an educational psychologist but it
motivates you to strive to be one.

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 POSSIBLE QUESTIONS AND THEIR ANSWERS FOR
MTT &A.E
1.What is educational psychology? Account for development of
educational psychology as the discipline in education field.
Educational psychology is a branch of psychology that focuses on
understanding how individuals learn and develop within educational
settings. It seeks to apply psychological principles and theories to improve
teaching methods, curriculum implementation and evaluation, and overall
educational experiences. Educational psychologists study various factors
that influence learning, including cognitive, emotional, social, and
environmental factors.
The development of educational psychology as a discipline can be
traced back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The following are
several key factors contributed to its emergence:
Shift from Traditional teaching to Progressive teaching: The
late 19th century saw a shift in educational philosophy from traditional,
rote memorization methods to more progressive and child-centered
approaches. This shift led to a greater interest in understanding the
psychological processes involved in learning and development.
Influence of Psychologists: Pioneering psychologists, such as
William James and John Dewey, emphasized the importance of studying
the mind and its functions in understanding education. James, for
example, wrote extensively about the psychology of habit and its role in
education.
Behaviorism theories: The behaviorist movement, led by
psychologists like and B.F. Skinner, emphasized the study of observable
behavior and its relationship to learning. Behaviorism had a significant
impact on educational psychology, influencing teaching methods and the
study of reinforcement and motivation.
Cognitive theories: In the mid-20th century, there was a shift from
behaviorism to cognitive psychology, which focused on mental processes
such as memory, problem-solving, and information processing. This shift
had a profound impact on educational psychology, leading to a greater
emphasis on cognitive development and learning strategies.

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 Special Education and Individual Differences: The increasing
awareness of individual differences in learning styles and the need for
specialized education for students with diverse needs contributed to the
growth of educational psychology. The field began to address issues
related to special education, gifted education, and inclusive practices.
Contribution from other disciplines: Educational psychology
draws on insights from various disciplines, including psychology,
education, sociology, and neuroscience. This multidisciplinary approach
allows researchers and practitioners to explore the complex interplay of
factors influencing learning and development.
There is knowledge from disciplines outside psychology which contributes
to the development of educational psychology.
For example, the findings in neurosciences help us to understand
how the brain works in relation to learning. Research findings in
educational psychology contribute to wide field of psychology and
education in general e.g., in creating educational policies and developing
curriculum based on characteristics of the learners.
In general, today, educational psychology continues to evolve,
incorporating advances in technology, neuroscience, and educational
research. Researchers and practitioners in this field strive to enhance
educational practices, promote effective teaching methods, and address
the diverse needs of learners in various educational settings.

2.What is educational psychology? Describe the influence of

psychology to education.
Educational psychology is the study of development of effective
teaching techniques and assessment of learners’ aptitudes (ability) and
progress in learning process.
The following are the influence of psychology discipline to education:
Education need knowledge of psychology: Education uses
psychological knowledge to understand learning and teaching in education.
It incorporates and applies knowledge gained from other areas of
psychology, such as the following;
Theories of human development: These theories are used by
educators and teachers to know how students develop and learn; and to
understand the characteristics of learners at various stages. Learning
theories like behavioral and Cognitive are applied to understand the

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 process of learning. They determine students’ abilities and the best ways
and conditions necessary for individuals to realize their full potential.
Associated with learning: The main factors that determine
teaching and learning are among the topics of educational psychology.
These aspects include the following; Instructional design and application,
Curriculum development, Special education, Classroom management, Use
of technology in teaching and Assessment of learners and their
performance.
It describes and understand behavior: This is needed in
educational psychology because of the following reasons; Teachers want to
describe and understand the nature and principles of learning. Teachers
need also to know what is involved in the learning process. Teachers study
psychology in order to know how we learning at different stages of
development do. Teachers need to know these factors which tend to
enhance or hinder learning.
Related to educational research: Educational psychology aims at
answering these kinds of questions by research. Based on the knowledge
gained above, educational psychology aims at the following; To designing
strategies for guiding learners in learning, because students possess
different learning abilities and skills. Educational psychology guides
students to use their existing skills more effectively and/or develop new
skills.
To conclude, educational psychology traces its origins to the
experimental and empirical work on association and sensory activity by the
English anthropologist Sir Francis Galton, and the American psychologist G.
Stanley Hall, who wrote The Contents of Children's Minds in 1883.

3.With vivid examples, demonstrate five roles of educational

psychology in teaching.
Introduction
Educational psychology is the study of how people learn. It includes
including teaching methods, instructional processes, and individual
learners’ differences.

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 - Educational psychology examples include: Studying the most
effective methods for teaching people with specific learning
challenges like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),
dyscalculia, or dyslexia.
- Researching how well people learn in different settings.
Main body
Among the major responsibilities of a teacher is teaching.
- Some people have a notion that teaching is easy.
- The opposite is true; teaching is a very complex exercise.
The following are roles of education psychology in teaching
Methods and skills of teaching
As expected, educational psychology provides teachers with methods and
specific skills of teaching.
 These methods and skills are based on the outcomes of
scientific research findings which are and facilitate learning.
Understanding on how students learn and the need for a teacher
- Students do, and can learn alone.
 However, to meet the state educational goals learners need
teachers with effective teaching skills.
Understanding of students’ learning uniqueness
- Every learner in the classroom is unique.
 So, there are individual variations among learner in one single
classroom.
 These include learners being in different developmental stages
(cognitively, physically, socially and emotionally), with different
abilities, temperaments and learning skills.
 To master these variations educational psychology provides the
teacher with the skills to identify individual learner processes
and traits.
 An effective teacher is one enabled by education psychology
knowledge and skills to creates a learning environment in the
classroom that caters for the individual variation so that each
learner is motivated to realize his/her full potentials.

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 Identify and control these external factors
- The environment has great effect on learning process.
 Teachers can use the environment to enhance learning.
 Educational psychology trains teachers to identify and control
these external factors.
 The external factors include the immediate environment and
conditions, teaching materials available, research findings and
new teaching skills; and technological advances.
Interest to become educational psychologist
- You might be interested to become educational psychologist.
 To be one you need to have a graduate degree in educational
psychology (it has many courses).
 Educational psychologist work as consultants, teach at
universities and conduct research on cognitive, social processes
of human development, learning and education.
 So, this course does not make one to be an educational
psychologist but it motivates you to strive to be one.
Conclusion
Educational Psychology, develop the teaching skills and apply them in
learning settings you will be motivated to be an effective teacher who
tackles teaching challenges with confidence and great satisfaction.

4.Who is an effective teacher? How educational psychology relate

to effective teaching?
Introduction
An effective teacher is the one who master the following concepts and
perceptions in education and in teaching:
Subject matter knowledge
What is subject matter knowledge?
- This refers to having a conceptual understanding of the subject you
teach.

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 - You must work hard not only to acquire the knowledge of your
subject, but also to be able to organize this knowledge and be in
position to include knowledge from related disciplines.
- Just knowing the facts is not enough.
- Too little knowledge leads to teacher’s lack of confidence in the
classroom.
- Remember that you don’t have to teach all what you know since you
may cause harm to the class!
- Material presented in the class should relate to the students’ abilities
and the syllabus.
Knowledge of students
- This is about knowing your students.
- You know your students by considering when they need in order they
learn.
- It’s very difficult to deal with individuals whom you don’t know.
- As you spend time with them learn about them as a group, and as
well as each student as a unique being.
- They bring different background to class.
- Know about their physical, cognitive and psychosocial development.
- You will come into contact with exceptional students needing special
attention and approach in teaching.
Learning process
What is learning?
- Learning means the acquisition of knowledge or skills through study,
experience, or being taught.
- Learning also is regarded as change in behaviour which occurs as a
result of experience and increases the potential for improved
performance and future learning.
- This is specifically a significant component in the field of educational
psychology.
- Knowing your students includes having knowledge on how they learn
i.e., skills and strategies students use to get new knowledge.

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 - Understanding this component is an asset in designing your teaching
strategies as they have to be compatible with learning processes of
the respective students.

Instructional strategies
What are instructional strategies?
- Instructional strategies are more than just imparting knowledge to
students on the false assumption that they are passive in the
classroom.
- Instructional strategies are techniques teachers use to help students
become independent, strategic learners.
- Most effective instructional strategies lead students to develop skills
of being reflective, thinking critically and in exploring their
environment.
- Instructional strategies, therefore, should make each student learn
efficiently.
- You have to set appropriate goals for teaching your students and
organize a plan for achieving them.

Motivational skills.
What are motivational skills?
- These are actions or strategies that elicit a desired behavior .
- Motivation skill plays an important role in teaching profession.
- A self-motivated teacher is focused on his/her growth and the growth
of the students.
- Even with the best instructional strategies some of the times students
will face obstacles in their learning processes.
- Learning is natural phenomenon but in school it can be discouraged
or undermined by several elements (both within and/or external to
the student).
- To be an effective teacher you must deploy conditions that will lead
to students developing self-motivation i.e., eager to learn and staying
on the task for personal satisfaction rather than pleasing others.
Classroom management skills

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What are classroom management skills?
- Classroom management refers to the wide variety of skills and
techniques that teachers use to keep students organized, orderly,
focused, attentive, on task, and academically productive during a
class.
- A classroom environment is composed of many individuals and
factors that have a bearing on the teaching/learning process.
- One of the most important responsibilities of a teacher is to create
and maintain an environment in the classroom that is conducive to
learning i.e., keeping students engaged on the intended task.
- You will need to have strategies of organizing your students for
effective learning and have in place a mechanism of preventing
problems.
- Chaos or lack of organization is detrimental to optimal learning.
Assessment strategies
What are assessment strategies?
- These are skills assessment is an evaluation of an individual's ability to
perform a specific skill or set of skills.
- A teacher needs to know if his/her students are successful or not in
their learning.
- This can be realized if the teacher is able to develop or obtain
appropriate instruments, make accurate assessments and
interpretations of the measurements.
- Assessment enables one to determine the performance and needs of
the students leading to making correct decisions and actions that will
improve the performance of each student.
Technological skills
What are technological skills?
- Technology skills is your ability to interact and complete tasks using
computer-based technologies and other associated technologies.
- These tasks can either be digital or physical.
- Sometimes, these skills may be referred to as technical skills.

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 - This is an era of information technology and for one to function
effectively s/he needs to be competent in technological skills.
- These skills will assist you to access knowledge and integrate technology
in your teaching strategies.
- Also, you will be in a position to make students use technology in their
learning.

5.Describe major factors in the development of the educational

psychology
Introduction
H. Ebbinghaus is a Germany educational scientist.
- In 1885 was the first person to do a scientific study on memory
which is related to learning process.
- Since that educational psychology was as an independent field
started just before the beginning of 20th century in America.
Main body
Here we are going to have an overview of the important actors in the
development of the field since later on in the course we will discuss their
approaches deeply.
William James (1842-1910)
- He published a book and gave lectures on the application of
psychology in educating children.
- For research, he emphasized the use of direct observation in the real
classroom learning/teaching conditions rather than in laboratories.
John Dewey (1859-1952)
- He was a major figure on practical application of psychology.
- He shaped the field of psychology by establishing the first
educational psychology laboratory in USA.
- His major contribution was the view that a child is an active learner
rather than the then held belief that children are passive learners.
- Also, he emphasized that the role of the teacher should be to train
students on how to think and adapt to the conditions outside the
classroom.

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 - He was influential in making all children get competent education
regardless of their gender, socio-economic background or ethnicity.
Edward L. Thorndike (1874-1949)
- He emphasized the use of scientific approach in educational
psychology.
- He initiated the use of assessment and measurements in learning.
- B.F. Skinner built on the ideas of Thorndike.
- However, he insisted that the subject matter of psychology should
not include mental processes but should only focus on the
observable behaviours.
- This is termed as behavioral perspective.
- Skinner’s approach determined the best conditions for learning to
take place.
- The teacher uses a rewarding system that improves student
behavior or performance.
- He developed the concept of programmed learning in which a
learner is reinforced in each step that leads to the intended goal.
Benjamin Bloom (1956)
- He created the taxonomy of cognitive skills that indicated the goals of
educators on learners.
- The cognitive skills he identified are and in the following order starting
from the lowest level to the highest as follows;
o Remembering,
o Comprehension,
o Application,
o Analysis,
o Synthesis, and
o Evaluation.
Cognitive psychology
- In the 1980s the educational psychologists focused on the cognitive
aspects of human learning.

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 - This was advocated by Dewey and James who ignored by Skinner
and fellow behaviorists.
- They instead researched on and applied the concepts of cognitive
psychology including memory, thinking, reasoning and perception
on the premise that they are significant on how information is
received and processed.
Current development
- Currently, educational psychology includes out of school aspects
that have influence on learners e.g., the role of culture in
education.
- Also, it is focusing on theories of self-regulating learning and
metacognition i.e., cognition about cognition or knowing about
knowing.
- It also involved with technologies such as .
Conclusion
 When discussing about general psychology we noted a number of
contributions from other disciplines to the field.
 Likewise, developments in other branches of psychology have
influence on Educational Psychology and vice versa.
 A good example is that developments in Educational Psychology are
being used in the area of Special Education.
 Findings in Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) are
shedding knowledge on how human brains process information.
 Also, advancements in ICT are being incorporated in conducting
studies in Educational Psychology and as a tool in learning/teaching
processes in our classrooms.
6.Write short notice on the following;
Educational psychology
 Educational psychology is the study of how humans learn and retain
knowledge, primarily in educational settings like classrooms.
 The field of educational psychology involves the study of memory,
conceptual processes, and individual differences (via cognitive
psychology).

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  It is therefore the study of ways in which people learn and process
information.
 Educational psychology can influence programs, curricula, and lesson
development, as well as classroom management approaches.
 For example, educators can use concepts from education
psychology to understand and address the ways rapidly changing
technologies both help and harm their students' learning.
 In addition, educational psychologists play an important role in
educating teachers, parents, and administrators about best practices
for learners who struggle with conventional education methods.
Cognitive psychology
 Cognitive Psychology is the science of how we think.
 It's concerned with our inner mental processes such as attention,
perception, memory, action planning, and language.
 Each of these components are pivotal in informing who we are and
how we behave.
 Cognitive psychology involves the study of the mind and how people
think.
 Examples of things studied in this field are attention span, memory,
reasoning and other functions and actions of the brain that are seen
as a complex mental process.
 The concept of learning itself is also an example of cognition.
Benjamin Bloom
Benjamin Samuel Bloom (1913–1999) was an American educational
psychologist who made contributions to the classification of educational
objectives and to the theory of mastery learning.

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He became one of the most influential theorists to promote mastery
learning and higher-level thinking.
- Bloom’s work was intentionally focused on organizing educational
objectives according to their cognitive complexity.
- Bloom was interested in providing a useful practical tool that was
congruent with what was understood about the features of the
higher mental processes.
- Thus, he created Blooms Taxonomy.
- He discovered that the higher order thinking was dependent on the
level that preceded it.
- In other words, students needed to be able to recall information to
then comprehend, to analyze, then to apply it, and so on.

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 - Bloom discovered that the goal of teaching needed to be geared
toward the designing of tasks so students led to the realization of the
objectives vs. given the objectives for recall.
- However, Bloom's Taxonomy comprises three learning domains.
These are the following:
 Cognitive,
 Affective, and
 Psychomotor.
- Within each domain, learning need to take place at a number of
levels ranging from simplest form (low order thinking) to complex
form (higher order thinking).
- Recently, Bloom's Taxonomy has been revisited and revised after
determining that Synthesis was a higher thinking process than
evaluation.
- It was also revised to show “action verbs" instead of "nouns.

Instructional strategies
An instructional strategy is the thinking of how instructional materials and
procedures or methods have to be used to enable students to achieve the
learning outcomes (lesson specific objectives).
- They are used by teachers to help students become independent and
strategic learners.
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 - This means instructional strategies encompass any type of learning
technique a teacher uses to help students learn or gain a better
understanding of the course material.
- These strategies become learning strategies when students
independently select the appropriate ones and use them effectively to
accomplish tasks or meet goals.
- Some of the learning strategies are interactive and other are non-
interactive.
- Interactive Instruction relies heavily on discussion and sharing.
- Examples include the following;
 Essay research and writing,
 Computer-assisted instruction,
 Journals and packaged learning materials,
 Online interaction such as WhatsApp group chat, Moodle
forums discussions and email group’s interchanging.
 Team-idea mapping.
 Group assessments and passing.
 Group projects,
 Use of games,
 Group discussions,
 Solving mysteries,
 Storytelling
 Seminars
- They helps develop social skills and the ability to organize thoughts
and develop rational arguments.
- They allow teachers to make the learning experience more fun and
practical and can also encourage students to take more of an active
role in their education.

Motivational skills
The word motivation comes from the Latin word mover, which means to
move, via 'motive'.
- Therefore, motivation meaning causing motion.
- But motivation is highly associated with the initiation of action.

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 - It is the ability to cause someone to do something enthusiastically by
offering internal or external rewards.
- This kind of strategy need skills which are known as motivation skills.
- Motivational skills are actions or strategies that are used to cause a
desired behavior or response from a student.
- These strategies and actions vary based on three major factors of
 The motivator's style.
 The target audience.
 The personality of the student the teachers seeks to influence.

- Examples of motivation skills include

 Empathy - ability to understand and feel someone else's
emotions
 Positivity - ability to focus on the good in a situation
 Reliability - ability to be dependable
 Goal setting - ability to ensure success
 Persistence - ability to strive endurance
 Team building - ability make people work together despite their
differences
 Communication – ability to inform
 Effective feedback – ability to respond timely
Assessment strategies
Assessment strategies are methods teachers use to evaluate their students'
progress and plan the content in their courses.
- Teachers perform assessments regularly to determine the next steps
in their lessons.
- If certain students are progressing slower than others, they can give
them individualized attention.
- Examples of assessment strategies include the following;
 An open-ended questioning (writing/talking).
 Ask students to reflect.
 Use of quizzes.
 Ask students to summarize.
 Hand signals.
 Response cards.

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  Four corners.
 Think-pair-share.
 Misconception check
 pencil–paper assessment
 Journal reflections
 Ticket out the door
 Socratic method
Peer instruction.
Classroom management
Classroom management is the process teacher’s use to ensuring that
classroom lessons run smoothly without disruptive behavior from students
compromising the delivery of instruction.
- It includes the prevention of disruptive behavior preemptively, as well
as effectively responding to it after it happens.
- But it’s also about creating the right environment, setting clear
expectations, and thoughtfully choosing learning materials and
activities.
- It’s about designing structured space for learning, with minimal
confusion and downtime.
- It also involves putting of clear classroom norms as well as
consequences that reduce behaviors that get in the way of learning.
- In classroom management a teacher is expected to see students
organized, focusing, attentive, on-task, and productive.
- Simply put, an effectively managed classroom is one that runs
smoothly and where both students and teacher can be their best
selves.

- In short, classroom management:

 Establishes and sustains an orderly environment for your
students
 Creates opportunities for meaningful academic learning
and fosters social and emotional growth
 Reduces negative behaviors and increases the amount of
time actually devoted to the lesson

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- Classroom management is a critical skill that is as important to
quality teaching as content knowledge.

- This is because teacher and student success ultimately depend on a

classroom culture that encourages and supports learning.
- If your classroom is out of control, it won’t matter how passionate
you are about your subject or how dedicated you are to your
students.
- Bad classroom management means learning will be negatively
impacted.
- Chaotic classroom environments not only get in the way of learning;
it can also lead to high levels of stress or even burnout among
teachers.
- Effective classroom management, on the other hand, positively
impacts teacherrs’ ability to be a good educator and enjoy your work,
and enhances your teaching outcomes.
- Good teaching and classroom management are, in other words,
inseparably linked.
- When implemented well, classroom management strategies can work
across all subject areas and all developmental levels to create an
ideal environment for growth.
- They can promote students’ self-regulation, reduce the incidence of
misbehaviour, and increase productivity.

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