What you need to know about this class

A powerpoint syllabus

Course and Contact information

• Course Number: Psychology 201 Course Title: Educational Psychology

• Credit: Three semester hours Semester: Fall 2007

• Prerequisite: Psychology 110• Instructor: Carolyn Cutler Osborne• Office: Learning Center 221 Phone: 449-1110

(home)• E-Mail: cosborn2@capital.edu, cc1874@aol.com• Office Hours: By appointment

Please contact me when you have a question. I am available for you.

Textbook

• http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Contemporary_Educational_Psychology

• Contemporary Educational Psychology by Kelvin Seifert, available through the link above. This is a “wikibook”—a free open-source book written by an expert in educational psychology.

Principles behind the course

• Universal design for learning

• Student has as much control as possible over learning process and outcome

Universal Design for Learning

• You will be learning about this concept in the activities you do in the future, so I won’t give it away.

• However, you need to know: learning materials are offered in several formats to accommodate your learning needs.

Universal Design for Learning Formats

• Textbook: for people who learn best by reading.• Reading guides: for people who like to learn visually

(these have some reading and lots of illustrations)• Mp3 version of the text: for people who like to learn by

listening.• All materials accommodate a pace that is comfortable for

you: you can re-read your text, you can read the power points over again or as fast or slow as you want, you can listen to the textbook again and again.

• You can use a combination of materials. For example, the textbook has different explanations than the reading guide, so using both results in a richer understanding of concepts.

Can you guess what Universal Design for Learning might be? You’ll find out soon!

You have control over…

• Multiple choice tests• Constructed response tests• Final • Activities for the class• Materials you use to learn• How you learn• Pacing of your learning• Contact with professor

Control…

• Multiple choice tests: you can take these tests as often as you like so you can get a grade that is acceptable to you. The feedback on these tests is designed to help teach you the concepts. IT IS IMPORTANT TO TAKE THE TESTS ON TIME SO I CAN GIVE YOU HELPFUL FEEDBACK.

Control

• Constructed response tests: the Praxis Principles of Learning and Teaching has short essay questions, so this course has practice questions that are similar to what you will experience on the Praxis. When you have written your constructed responses, you will receive personal feedback from me. You can take the test again until you are satisfied with your grade. TAKE THE TESTS ON TIME SO I CAN GIVE YOU FEEDBACK.

Control

• The final is a practice Praxis. It allows you to assess yourself on your preparedness to take the real thing. You are not allowed to take this exam more than once.

Control

• In each folder, there is an agenda, which lists the activities that you would do (as if you were in an actual class session). These activities are designed to help you apply what you are learning. You can choose to do these activities by yourself or you can find someone else in the class and do them together. Your results for your activities are posted in the “Discussion Board” of the Blackboard website for this class.

Control

• You have control over how you use the materials for learning. You have a choice of formats, as well. The goal setting activity will lead you through a process of considering how you learn in order to set goals for learning Educational Psychology.

Control

• You have control over how you learn. You can read, you can take notes, you can learn at two o’clock in the morning, you can even handwrite your materials and turn them into me via my mailbox in the Learning Center (instead of using the computer to do this).

Control

• You have as much control as I can give you over the pacing of your learning. You can definitely go faster than the schedule I have set up. You can also negotiate with me (that is the key—you need to talk with me or e-mail me) your need to go at a slower pace. If you need to go at a slower pace, you need to set up how you plan to complete the class. If you need an incomplete in the class to accommodate a slower pace, that can be done.

Control

• You have control over how much contact you have with me.

• You can choose to come to class every week and I will be there to talk with you and answer questions that you have—about educational psychology, about how to use Blackboard, about Life, the Universe, and Everything (I may not know the answer to ALL those questions…).

• You can choose to do your work from the comfort of your own home, in your pj’s and have contact with me via e-mail and Blackboard.

• You can call me on the telephone—the contact information on the second slide of this show has my home phone number (449-1110).

• You can ask for an appointment at a different time besides class time.

Values

• I want you to succeed in this course and in whatever career you are choosing.

• I believe that coercion is not a good method of teaching.

• I believe in removing barriers to learning.• I want to model excellent and appropriate teaching

practices.• I believe that students need to have control over

their learning experiences.• I believe in hard work—but not useless work.

Success

• If you don’t learn, then I have not taught.

• As teachers, we need to set our students up for succeeding and we need to do everything in our power to see that success happens. This means addressing the whole student: not only educational needs but also emotional, psychological, and where possible, spiritual needs of our students.

Force

• I cannot force you to learn this material. If you are taking this course because it is a requirement and you have the intention of doing as little as possible to get a grade you can live with, I cannot force you to have a different attitude or motivation. In fact, if I were to use force, I might demotivate students who otherwise might be interested in this subject. I hope the materials I am using are interesting enough that you might enjoy them, however, if there is something you don’t like, let me know about it. Maybe I can do something different.

Barriers

• Have you ever had a huge assignment that was hard to get started on? Maybe you completed it, but for many people, this is a barrier to learning because of the intimidation, “fear factor.” I believe in identifying as many fear factors in a class as possible and doing my best to remove them.

Modeling

• Educational Psychology has been an interesting subject for me to teach because it has required me to think about my own teaching methods. It seems to me that a powerful part of your learning should be from not just information I am imparting to you but also from HOW I am giving you access to that information and WHAT I am asking you to do with that information.

Control

• When students have choices, they tend to have a more positive attitude about something they are learning.

• It is also important to treat students as competent human beings. This means that I believe you are capable of making good choices about your learning. It does not mean I am abandoning you—if you don’t make some terrific choices about how you learn this material, I’m here to help you reconsider what you might do (to set you up for success).

Work

• This class requires a significant amount of work on your part. I do believe it takes this amount of work to develop the ability to remember and be able to apply the concepts we are learning.

• Yet, I believe all the work you are doing will be applicable to your professional (and quite possibly personal) life. I believe when school work has a clear “real world” connection, students are more likely to be motivated to put some effort into it.

Blackboard

• The documents you will need are on Blackboard, under “Course Documents.”

• You can post to the discussion board of Blackboard—there will be folders for each session’s discussion. Feel free to respond to other people’s posts and to read my responses—this is part of how this course is taught.

What to do now…

• Do the goal-setting activities (use the goal-setting power point). Those will help you to think about how you are going to complete this course and how you are going to use the materials.