The Importance Of Educational Psychology In Teaching Degree Programs

Educational Psychology is one of the many core courses an education major is required to take. Some education students are surprised to learn they have to enroll in this class, considering they already took a general psychology class during their freshman year. But Educational Psychology is an essential part of the education process. Educational Psychology helps teachers become expert learners, so they can teach at an expert level.  

Understanding Educational Psychology and how it relates to teaching is apparent in the term definition. It is a separate discipline, with its own methods and theories of psychology that concentrates on learning and teaching procedures. Educational Psychology is distinct from other branches of psychology and focuses on understanding and bettering teaching methods.  

The Educational Psychology course helps emerging teachers comprehend why a person thinks and learns in a particular way that is different from someone else. This will be achieved by conducting quantitative research and writing out speculative theories. Learning about Educational Psychology research methods will come in handy when first year teachers reign over their own class and find that some of their students are inefficient learners. Studying the different research methods will help you decide which technique will yield the results you need for successful teaching.  

Descriptive research provides data that is typically used to interpret classroom activity. It is an effective way for teachers to monitor behavior and pinpoint reoccurring patterns of behavior that hinder learning. This type of research can be collected from viewing videotaped class sessions, reading interview transcripts, or analyzing survey reports.  

Establishing correlations is another research method used for Educational Psychology purposes. This research involves the statistical analysis of two variables to determine relationship and the outcome of the connection. Although correlations do not prove cause and effect, it is still a method to make predictions about important classroom events.  

Experimentation provides teachers with actual case studies based on cause and effect. Teachers are allowed to introduce change with experimentation research. They are able to witness, first-hand, the outcomes due to the change agent and record progress and final results. Experimental and descriptive research are generally used in conjunction. Mastery of these research techniques gives teachers excellent resources for developing strategies that can improve individual and/or group learning.

Teachers learn how to gain a better appreciation of the education process by formulating theories. A theory is defined as a statement of principles that attempts to explain a phenomenon; or in other words, a hunch. Few theories explain and predict perfectly, but they are still important resources for teachers. Theories provide fresh ideas and different avenues of thinking that may help teachers solve specific and challenging problems that have yet to be resolved.

• tags:
• onlinecolleges
• |
• onlinecourses
• |
• onlineschools
• |
• onlineclasses
• |
• onlinedegrees
• |
• onlineeducation
• |
• onlinecollege
• |
• onlinedegree
• |
• onlineteachingdegrees
• |
• onlinedegreeseducation

• Article Word Count: 446
• |
• Total Views: 704
• |
• permalink