Educational Psychology

This programme is designed for people who wish to gain an understanding of principles and practice of psychology as applied to education and learning. No prior knowledge is required.

Objectives

• Understand the theories and applications of the learning process
• Principles of assessing educational performance
• Demonstrate your understanding of the individual differences in educational performance
• Understand the nature of special education needs
• Describe a range of teaching & learning styles
• Understand factors which determine student motivation
• Describe the effect of and strategies for dealing with disruptive behaviour
• Design the Layout of Educational Environments to maximise learning potential

The course is designed for home study or distance learning and is comprised of comprehensive printed course notes presented in an A4 ring binder, together with course assignments and study guide. Tutor support and a student helpline facility are integral to the course, and students have a full 12 months in which to complete their studies. Actual study time will be of the order of 90-100 hours.

The course is divided up into eight study units, each with one tutor marked assignment to be completed. Each assignment contains approx 8-10 written tasks to be completed which are then submitted to a subject tutor for marking. Where required assignments can be re-submitted after amendment in the event that the assessment standards are not full met on first submission

The course units and topics are as follows:

Unit 1. The Learning Process

• Behaviourist applications to learning
• Cognitive applications to learning
• Humanistic approach to learning

Unit 2. Assessing Educational Performance

• Types and limitations of psychometric testing
• Measuring Intelligence
• Types of performance assessment at different ages
• Implications of assessment and categorisation

Unit 3. Individual Differences in Educational Performance

• Gender differences
• Cultural differences
• Explanation for the differences
• Strategies for improving educational performance

Unit 4. Students with Special Educational Needs

• What are special educational needs?
• Assessment of SEN
• Specific difficulties
• Strategies for teaching students with difficulties

Unit 5. Learning and Teaching Styles

• Definitions, theories and measurement of learning and teaching styles
• Individual differences
• Improving learning effectiveness

Unit 6. Student Motivation

• Definitions
• Types and Theories

- Physiological

- Cognitive

- Humanistic

• Attribution theory
• Learned helplessness

Unit 7. Disruptive Behaviour

• The definition and types of disruptive behaviour
• Effects of disruptive behaviour
• Strategies for dealing with disruptive behaviour

Unit 8. Design and Layout of Educational Environments

• Physical features of the classroom environment
• Effects of physical features on performance and feelings
• Creating better environmental conditions for learning

This programme is designed for people who wish to gain an understanding of principles and practice of psychology as applied to education and learning. No prior knowledge is required. It is intended for anyone in a teaching and learning role wishing to better understand the psychology of the learning process.

There are no study pre-requirements as the course is intended for learners who have not studied this topic beforehand.

Suitable for anyone interested in, or engaged in teaching and teaching support who wishes to develop skills in understanding and applying the psychology of learning.

Certificate of completion

Digital certificate - Included