EDPY 200: Educational Psychology is an introductory, first-year course primarily designed for pre-service K–12 teachers. However, it might also be useful for newer teachers, educational assistants, and early childhood educators. Students majoring in psychology will find that most of the learning theory and motivation research are topics they have covered in introductory courses and those on learning and cognition.
This course seeks to provide a balanced view of educational psychology that blends theory and research about human learning and development and the implications for instructional methods and teaching practice. As well, the course presents research from other areas in psychology that are relevant to understanding children and adolescents that are not directly related to learning (e.g., moral development, discrimination and stereotypes, and social behaviour).
Outline
Unit 1: Introduction
Unit 2: Cognitive Development
Unit 3: Personal and Social Development
Unit 4: Individual Differences
Unit 5: Language
Unit 6: Culture and Diversity
Unit 7: Behaviourism
Unit 8: Cognition and Learning
Unit 9: Complex Cognition
Unit 10: Constructivism
Unit 11: Self-Efficacy and Self-Regulated Learning
Unit 12: Motivation
Unit 13: Assessment
Learning outcomes
EDPY 200 has ten major learning outcomes. After completing this course, students will be able to:
Identify and describe the different types of research used in educational psychology and discuss the role that theories, hypotheses, and predictions play in research.
Discuss cognitive development and contrast Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories of development.
Discuss social development and the factors that influence it: describe social systems, stages of psychosocial development, and stages of moral development.
Use person-first language when discussing exceptional students and describe common student disabilities and ways in which teachers may assist them.
Describe language and its acquisition and discuss bilingual language development. Describe language learning (in school or later life; not native acquisition) and teaching approaches based on immersion and bilingual instruction.
Discuss cultural diversity in Canadian schools and describe the ways in which students can differ with respect to socioeconomic status, ethnic and racial differences, gender identity, etc.
Describe and contrast different views of learning based on conditioning and reinforcement, cognitive processing and memory, and constructivist perspectives (individual and social).
Describe forms of complex cognition including metacognition, the use of learning strategies, and problem-solving. Discuss the concept of transfer and explain its significance for teaching.
Describe several perspectives and theories of motivation—needs and interests, self-efficacy, epistemological beliefs, attribution theory, and goal orientation—and discuss how motivation affects student learning.
Discuss factors that affect the quality and use of student assessment and ways of ensuring fairer assessment practices. Describe some ways in which grades and evaluation may affect students, especially with respect to their motivation to learn.
Evaluation
To receive credit for EDPY 200, students must complete and submit all of the assignments, and write the final exam. Students must achieve a minimum grade of D (50 percent) on the final exam and an overall grade of at least D (50 percent) for the course.
Students will be evaluated on their understanding of the concepts presented in the course and on their ability to apply those concepts. The final grade in the course will be based on the marks achieved for the following activities.
Activity
Weight
Quiz 1
8%
Quiz 2
8%
Quiz 3
9%
3 Assignments (15% each)
45%
Final Exam
30%
Total
100%
The final examination for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Woolfolk, A., Winne, P., & Perry, N. (2020). Educational psychology (7th Canadian ed.). Pearson Education Canada. (eText)
All other learning resources will be available online.
Challenge for credit
Overview
The challenge for credit process allows you to demonstrate that you have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university-level course.
Full information about challenge for credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Evaluation
To receive credit for the EDPY 200 challenge registration, students must obtain a grade of at least D (50 percent) on the assignment and D (50 percent) on the exam.
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.