Educational Psychology Modules PDF

MODULE 1 Introduction to Educational Psychology and Research in Educational Psychology 1. Introduction/Overview This module will help students describe the importance of educational psychology theory and research for classroom practice and understand the different practices of the education in dif...

MODULE 1 Introduction to Educational Psychology and Research in Educational Psychology 1. Introduction/Overview This module will help students describe the importance of educational psychology theory and research for classroom practice and understand the different practices of the education in different settings. 2. Learning Outcomes At the end of the module, the student should be able to: 1. describe the importance of educational psychology theory and research for classroom practice. 2. manifest understanding to the different practices of the education in different settings by giving examples. 3. construct a framework that shows their comprehension as to the relationships of different areas of educational psychology. 3. A Brief History According to the modern definition of psychology, mind can be analyzed functionally into different mental processes—cognitive, conative and emotive and is.expressed through behaviour of the interacting person. Hence psychology is a science of behaviour. Psychology emerged as a scientific discipline as and when Wilhelm Wundt—the founder of experimental psychology— established the first psychological laboratory at Leipzig in Germany in the year 1879. From that time onward the learned world witnessed a host of renowned psychologists working in different aspects of mental performances and a long intellectual pursuit of psychological discoveries ensured. This led more and more to the application of theories, branching, specialization, specification of methods as well as more and more qualitative and quantitative sophistication of techniques. One such branching encompasses the educational field and has been termed as Educational Psychology which emerged as a separate discipline, involving the general principles of experimental psychology applied in the field of education. A great name in the history of educational thoughts in the early 19th century was Pestalozzi who psychologised education by emphasizing upon ‘education’ as a process of drawing out the functional mind of the individual. The next great advance in educational psychology came about mid-nineteenth century when Johann Frederich Herbart, a German professor, formulated an approach to education based directly and avowedly upon psychology. From the end part of nineteenth century till the beginning of twentieth century a number of famous psychologists started working in different lines of education applying the principles and techniques of general psychology. Among them mention may be made of Francis Galton, the oldest of the founders of educational psychology. He conducted the first experimental investigation of associationism, tests on reaction time and sensory acuity. Stanley Hall, meanwhile, published his papers using the questionnaire to investigate the minds of children. In 1885, Ebbinghaus published his study on memory and, within the span of six years, events of importance like objective measurement, child psychology and learning experiments, all took place. To add to the list enriching the movement was Galton’s studies on nature-nurture problem, mental inheritance of ability, studies of twins, widespread realizations of individual differences in the psychological sense, various mental and physical developments as well as use of psychological tests and their statistical interpretation (particularly the correlational studies which was later followed by Karl Pearson), rating scales and questionnaires. “His most important theoretical contribution was the distinction in the ‘Structure of mind’ between a general broad ability of intelligence and special abilities entering only into narrower ranges of activity”. The next major contributor to the foundation of educational psychology was Alfred Binet in the field of intelligence testing. With assistance of Theophile Simon, he developed the first Binet Scale. Then comes John Dewey whose contribution is rather noteworthy in the field of educational philosophy than in the general psychological field. After Dewey, from the year 1900 to some ten or twelve years more, educational psychology remained more or less in incubation till Edward L. Thorndike came out with his revolutionary ‘laws of learning’. He was possibly the first man to be called an educational psychologist in the modern sense of the term. He studied the art and science of learning very systematically and consistently. Then joined Woodworth with Thorndike and together they worked on transfer of training at the turn of the century. Thorndike then published three volumes of Educational Psychology between 1913 -14 consisting of his original work arising from experimental research. His studies in various related fields of education opened up new vistas to be trekked by later educational psychologists. Pls. watch this video Play Video 4. What is Psychology? The word, ‘Psychology’ is derived from two Greek words, ‘Psyche’ and ‘Logos’. Psyche means ‘soul’ and ‘Logos’ means ‘science’. Thus psychology was first defined as the ‘science of soul”. Psychology as the Science of Soul. In ancient days, the Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle interpreted Psychology as the science of the soul and studied it as a branch of Philosophy. But soul is something metaphysical. It cannot be seen, observed and touched and we cannot make scientific experiments on soul. Psychology as the Science of the Mind. It was the German philosopher Emmanuel Kant who defined Psychology as the science of the mind. William James (1892) defined psychology as the science of mental processes. But the word ‘mind’ is also quite ambiguous as there was confusion regarding the nature and functions of mind. Psychology as the Science of Consciousness. Modern psychologists defined psychology as the “Science of Consciousness”. James Sully (1884) defined psychology as the “Science of the Inner World”. Wilhelm Wundt (1892) defined psychology as the science which studies the “internal experiences’. But there are three levels of consciousness – conscious, subconscious and the unconscious and so this definition also was not accepted by some. Psychology as the Science of Behavior. At the beginning of the 20th century, when psychologists attempted to develop psychology into a pure science, it came to be defined as the science of behavior. The term behavior was popularized by J.B. Watson. Other exponents are William McDugall and W.B. Pillsbury. According to R.S. Woodworth, “First Psychology lost its soul, then it lost its mind, then lost its consciousness. It still has behavior of a sort. Definitions of Psychology B.F. Skinner defined, “Psychology is the science of behavior and experience.” Crow and Crow, “Psychology is the study of human behavior and human relationships.” William Mc Dougall, “Psychology is the science which aims to give us better understanding and control of the behavior of the organism as a whole.” Kurt Koffka, “Psychology is the scientific study of the behavior of living creatures in their contact with the outer world.” 5. Meaning and Perspectives in Educational Psychology Educational psychology is one of the branches of psychology to study the behavior of the learner in relation to his education. As specialized branch of psychology concerns itself with suggesting ways and means of improving the process and products of education, enabling the teacher to teach effectively and the learners to learn effectively with the minimum effort. It is thus designated as the service of education. It has simplified the tasks and improved the efficiency of the teacher or all those connected in the process and products of education by supplying them with the essential knowledge and skills in much need the same way as science and technology has helped in making possible maximum output through minimum input in terms of time and labor in our day-to-day activities. Educational psychology is that branch of psychology which deals with the application of psychological findings in the field of education. In other words it deals with the human behavior in educational situations. It is the systematic study of the development of the individual in the educational settings. It is the scientific study of human behavior by which it can be understood, predicated and directed by education to achieve goals of life. Definitions of Educational Psychology Skinner: “Educational psychology is the branch of psychology which deals with teaching and learning”. Crow and Crow: “Educational psychology describes and explains learning experience of an individual from birth to old age”. E. A. Peel: “Educational psychology is the science of education”. Trow describes, “Educational psychology is the study of psychological aspects of educational situations”. Stephens says, “Educational psychology is the study of educational growth and development”. Judd describes educational psychology as, “a scientific study of the life stages in the development of an individual from the time he is born until he becomes an adult.” In the words of E.A. Peel, “Educational psychology helps the teacher to understand the development of his pupils, the range and limits of their capacities, the processes by which they learn and their social relationships.(In this way, the work of the Educational Psychologist resembles with that of an Engineer, who is a technical expert. The Engineer supplies all the knowledge and skill essential for the accomplishment of the job satisfactorily… for example, construction of a bridge.). In the same way Educational Psychologists, who is a technical expert in the field of Education, supplies all the information, principles and techniques essential for understanding the behavior of the pupil in response to educational environment and desired modification of his behavior to bring an all- round development of his personality.  Thus, Educational Psychology concerned primarily with understanding the processes of teaching and learning that take place within formal environments and developing ways of improving those methods. It covers important topics like learning theories; teaching methods; motivation; cognitive, emotional, and moral development; and parent-child relationships etc. In short, it is the scientific discipline that addresses the questions: “Why do some students learn more than others?” and “What can be done to improve that learning?” PERSPECTIVES IN EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY As with other areas of psychology, researchers within educational psychology tend to take on different perspectives when considering a problem. These perspectives focus on specific factors that influence learning, including learned behaviors, cognition, experiences, and more. I. The Behavioral Perspective This perspective suggests that all behaviors are learned through conditioning. Psychologists who take this perspective rely firmly on the principles of operant conditioning to explain how learning happens. For example, teachers might reward learning by giving students tokens that can be exchanged for desirable items such as candy or toys. The behavioral perspective operates on the theory that students will learn when rewarded for "good" behavior and punished for "bad" behavior. II. The Developmental Perspective This perspective focuses on how children acquire new skills and knowledge as they develop. Jean Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development is one example of an important developmental theory looking at how children grow intellectually. By understanding how children think at different stages of development, educational psychologists can better understand what children are capable of at each point of their growth. This can help educators create instructional methods and materials aimed at certain age groups. III. The Cognitive Perspective The cognitive approach has become much more widespread, mainly because it accounts for how factors such as memories, beliefs, emotions and motivations contribute to the learning process. This theory supports the idea that a person learns as a result of their own motivation, not as a result of external rewards. Cognitive psychology aims to understand how people think, learn, remember, and process information. Educational psychologists who take a cognitive perspective are interested in understanding how children become motivated to learn, how they remember the things that they learn, and how they solve problems. IV. Experiential Perspective This perspective emphasizes that a person's own life experiences influence how they understand new information. This method is similar to constructivist and cognitive perspectives in that it takes into consideration the experiences, thoughts, and feelings of the learner. This method allows someone to find personal meaning in what they learn instead of feeling that the information doesn't apply to them V. The Constructivist Approach This perspective focuses on how we actively construct our knowledge of the world. Constructivism accounts for the social and cultural influences that affect how we learn. Those who take the constructivist approach believe that what a person already knows is the biggest influence on how they learn new information. This means that new knowledge can only be added on to and understood in terms of existing knowledge. This perspective is heavily influenced by the work of psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who proposed ideas such as the zone of proximal development and instructional scaffolding. Zone of proximal development Play Video Instructional scaffolding. Play Video 6. The Nature of Educational Psychology Its nature is scientific as it has been accepted that it is a Science of Education. We can summarize the nature of Educational Psychology in the following ways: 1. Educational Psychology is a science. (Science is a branch of study concerned with observation of facts and establishment of verifiable general laws. Science employs certain objective methods for the collection of data. It has its objectives of understanding, explaining, predicting and control of facts.) Like any other science, educational psychology has also developed objective methods of collection of data. It also aims at understanding, predicting and controlling human behavior. 2. Educational Psychology is a natural science. An educational psychologist conducts his investigations, gathers his data and reaches his conclusions in exactly the same manner as physicist or the biologist. 3. Educational psychology is a social science. Like the sociologist, anthropologist, economist or political scientist, the educational psychologist studies human beings and their sociability. 4. Educational psychology is a positive science. Normative science like Logic or Ethics deals with facts as they ought to be. A positive science deals with facts as they are or as they operate. Educational psychology studies the child’s behavior as it is, not, as it ought to be. So it is a positive science. 5. Educational psychology is an applied science. It is the application of psychological principles in the field of education. By applying the principles and techniques of psychology, it tries to study the behavior and experiences of the pupils. As a branch of psychology it is parallel to any other applied psychology. For example, educational psychology draws heavily facts from such areas as developmental psychology, clinical psychology, abnormal psychology and social psychology. 6. Educational psychology is a developing or growing science. It is concerned with new and ever new researches. As research findings accumulate, educational psychologists get better insight into the child’s nature and behavior. Thus, educational psychology is an applied, positive, social, specific and practical science. While general science deals with behavior of the individuals in various spheres, educational psychology studies the behavior of the individual in educational sphere only. Nature of Educational psychology as scientific because: The nature of educational psychology is regarded as scientific because it is organized, systematic and universally accepted body, wherein the facts remain constantly in search of truth through research and experimentation. Employs scientific methods in its study and its results are subjected to further verification and modification. 1. Laws of educational psychology are universal: Educational psychology possesses a well-organized, systematic and universally accepted body of facts supported by the relevant psychological laws and principles. 2. Scientific methods: Educational psychology employs scientific methods and adopts a scientific approach for studying the learner’s behavior such as observation, experimentation, clinical investigation and generalization, etc. 3. Constant search of the truth: The results of any study in educational psychology can be challenged and are modified or altered in terms of the latest explanations and findings. So the findings of any study are never taken as absolute and permanent. 4. Reliability: Educational psychology does not accept hearsay and not take anything for granted. It emphasizes that essentially there is some definite causes linked with a behavior and the causes of this behavior are not related to supernatural phenomena. 5. Positive science: Educational psychology is a positive science rather than a normative science. 6. Applied behavioral science: Educational psychology is an applied/behavioral science. 7. Developing positive science: Educational psychology cannot claim the status of a developed positive science like other natural or applied sciences. It is considered as one of the developing positive sciences of the learner’s behavior. 7. More about Educational Psychology’s Scope Educational psychology embraced over the years various fields of education e.g. intelligence testing, mental abilities, achievement testing, child psychology, developmental psychology, school performance, mental deficiency, curriculum, personality, character, educational measurement and so on and so forth. In 1910, the Journal of Educational Psychology was first published, to reveal experimental researches on various psychological issues regarding education and their interpretations. In the recent past the field of educational psychology has become more complex as the vision of what it encompasses has broadened. Originally concerned with learning and measurement its scope has been extended with each succeeding generation to the point where now the newest extension is in social- educational field and a new branch emerged in educational psychology known as educational social psychology. In conclusion, we may note that the aim of educational psychology is to apply psychological concepts and principles in order to improve educational practice. Educational psychology that has evolved as a new discipline tends to represent all the areas within psychology in general. These include some distinct areas dealing with human development, individual difference in ability, aptitude and temperament, perception, motivation, learning, thinking, problem-solving, psychopathology, the dynamics of personality and group interactional processes. The educational scientists have employed two strategies for applying psychology in education. Consequently, two kinds of researches had been advanced in the field of educational psychology; the first is the direct experimental investigation of learning in laboratory and school settings. The second has been an attempt to distil from basic psychological research the educational proceedings to be employed in teaching-learning situation, implication of learning in its broader perspective (formal and informal learning), and also human nature and its interactions. In this process educational psychology deals not only with the individual’s own psychology and its functioning, but also an awareness of his interacting counterpart, the changing environment—both physical and social. Any educational endeavour is actually a learning situation; the task of educational psychology is to study the learner in that situation. The first learning situation outside the family a child (or a learner) encounters is the school, which is again teaching-learning condition oriented. The teacher’s duty in this setting is to apply the general propositions received from psychology and apply them in the classroom. But not one single strategy employed so far had yielded any fruitful result. A more practical oriented strategy is required in order to synthesize the learner, the teacher the instructional techniques and the educational managers on the one hand and producing qualified students to meet the demand of the day, on the other. The world we live in today is shaped to a considerable degree by the decisions people make— individually and collectively. Any decision-making needs possessing some knowledge and use them in solving problems. In other words, the kind of perceiving, thinking and evaluating that goes into the problem solving has to be considered. Historically, possession of knowledge and its utilization are learned during the developmental years of the children through interacting with parents, employers, religious and political leaders as well as teachers in the classroom. The interaction with the teachers is no less important in the process of our lifelong learning even if the exposure to school be brief and transitory (this is stated considering the number of dropouts at the school level in our country). It has an impact in their lives, nevertheless. Specially in the developing countries like India and South Asia the involvement of young people with teachers and schools is certainly increasing as revealed by survey reports at Governmental level for the last two decades. Teachers do play an active role in the teachinglearning system. It will not be unreasonable to say that the kind of future we and our children will experience is influenced more by teachers than by any other professional groups. The world of tomorrow will be shaped not only by what today’s children are learning from their teachers, but also by the ‘way’ they are learning it, for it is the way knowledge is presented that determines how children will learn to solve problems. Thus according to Lindgren (1980), the ‘how’ of teaching includes not only teaching methods, but also teachers’ attitudes and values, and full range of teachers’ classroom behaviours. They serve as ‘models’ whose way of thinking, behaving, attitudes, advice and manner, the process of acquiring and imparting knowledge are imitated in more ways than they can 16 Educational Psychology imagine. Hence they are influential far beyond their immediate awareness. Therefore, it is necessary that the teachers know consciously their personal psychology in order to understand the psychology of their students. 8. Objectives of Educational Psychology: The general objectives of educational psychology are: 1. To provide a body of facts and methods which can be used in solving teaching problems. 2. To develop a scientific and problem-solving attitude. 3. To train in thinking psychologically about educational problems. Teaching Objectives of Educational Psychology: 1. To develop an understanding and appreciation of the dietary and environmental factors which underline learning ability. 2. To provide base for understanding the nature and principles of learning and to supply the techniques for its improvement. 3. To understand and appreciated factors influencing individual ability to learn. 4. To provide understanding of the external factors like training aids, libraries, classrooms which are largely within the control of the teacher and the institution. 5. To evaluate teaching efficiency. 6. To develop an appreciation of the individual and importance of the individual with their individual differences. Scope of Educational Psychology: Scope of educational psychology tells us the areas of application. In other words, it can be called the subject matter of educational psychology. 1. Human Behaviour. It studies human behaviour in the educational context. Psychology is the study of behaviour and education aims at modification of behaviour. Hence the influence of Educational Psychology has to be reflected in all aspects of education. 2. Growth and development. It studies the principles governing growth and development. The insight provided by the study will help in scientifically planning and executing learner oriented programmes of education. 3. The Learner. The subject-matter of educational psychology is knitted around the learner. Therefore, the need of knowing the learner and the techniques of knowing him well. The topics include – the innate abilities and capacities of the individuals, individual differences and their measurements, the overt, covert, conscious as well as unconscious behaviour of the learner, the characteristics of his growth and development and each stage beginning from childhood to adulthood. 4. The Learning Experiences. Educational Psychology helps in deciding what learning experiences are desirable, at what stage of the growth and development of the learner, so that these experiences can be acquired with a greater ease and satisfaction. 5. Learning process: After knowing the learner and deciding what learning experiences are to be provided, Educational Psychology moves on to the laws, principles and theories of learning. Other items in the learning process are remembering and forgetting, perceiving, concept formation, thinking and reasoning, problem solving, transfer of learning, ways and means of effective learning etc. 6. Learning Situation or Environment. Here we deal with the environmental factors and learning situations which come midway between the learner and the teacher. Topics like classroom climate and group dynamics, techniques and aids that facilitate learning and evaluation, techniques and practices, guidance and counselling etc. For the smooth functioning of the teaching-learning process. 7. Evaluation of learning process: Some forms of evaluation inevitable in teaching. Also in all fields of activity when judgments used to be made, evaluation plays an important role. Even when we want to cross a road we make a judgment whether it is safe to cross the road. Effectiveness of learning process always depends on the evaluation as it gives the knowledge of result which helps the learner as well as the teacher to modify or correct oneself. Educational psychology guides are by explaining the different methods of assessment contributing to the effectiveness of learning process. Knowing the learner, acquiring the essential skill in teaching and evaluation are the focal points in the study of educational psychology. 8. Individual differences. It is universally accepted that every individual differs from every other individual. This idea has been brought to light by Educational Psychology. 9. Personality and adjustment. Education has been defined as the all-round development of the personality of an individual. If educational has to fulfil this function all instructional programmes have to be based on the principles governing the nature and development of personality. 10. The Teacher: The teacher is a potent force is any scheme of teaching and learning process. It discusses the role of the teacher. It emphasizes the need of ‘knowing thyself’ for a teacher to play his role properly in the process of education. His conflicts, motivation. Anxiety, adjustment, level of aspiration etc. It throws light on the essential personality traits, interests, aptitudes, the characteristics of effective teaching etc. so as to inspire him for becoming a successful teacher. 11. Guidance and Counselling. Education is nothing by providing guidance and counselling required for the proper development of the child. This is very true, especially in the light of the extremely complex and problematic situation one has to face in the fast growing world. Educational psychology has come to the rescue by developing principles and practical measures helpful for providing effective guidance and counselling. We can conclude by saying that Educational Psychology is narrower in scope than general psychology. While general psychology deals with the behaviour of the individual in a general way, educational psychology in concerned with the behaviour of the learner in an educational setting. 9. Research in Educational Psychology - Methods Educational psychology like any other science, makes use of scientific methods in collecting data about learner, learning process and evaluation. 1. To get facts about learning behaviour rather than opinions. 2. To get good information so that the learner can be guided. Educational psychology as a science of education deals with the problems of teaching and learning and helps the teacher in his task of modifying the learners behaviour and bringing about an all- round development of his personality. Therefore, while in psychology the scope of study and the field of operation are extended to cover the behaviour of all living organisms related to all their life activities in educational psychology, the scope of such behavioural study is limited within the confines of the teaching, learning processes, i.e. studying the behaviour of the learners in relation to their educational environment and the all-round development of their personality. Thus the subject of educational psychology must be centred around the process of teaching and learning for enabling the teacher and learner to do their jobs as satisfactory as possible. Thus educational psychology definitely covers the topics helpful in suggesting principles and techniques for the selection of the learning experience appropriate to each developmental stage of the childhood. Hence it includes the study of the behavior of the learner in the educational environment. It also includes the topics and content which are specifically meant for improving the process and products of education mainly centred around the teaching learning process. Therefore, this study includes: 1. In knowing the learner. 2. Enabling the teacher to know their self-strengths, limitations and to acquire essential teaching skills. 3. Selection and organization of proper learning. 4. Experiences suited to the individuality and developmental stages of the learner. 5. Suggesting suitable methods and techniques for providing the desired learning experience. 6. In arranging proper learner situation. Methods of Educational Psychology: Educational psychology is the scientific or systematic study of the behaviour of the learner in relation to his educational environment. This behaviour can be studied by a simple approach called observation. However, this observation method has to be adjusted depending upon the conditions in which observations have to be made, the procedure and tools adopted. The following are the various methods of observation under different situations: 1. Introspection method: This method which is the oldest method of studying behaviour where the learner should make a self-observation, i.e. looking inwards. For example, when a person is angry he may be asked to determine how he felt during that period of anger by his own observation. This method is simple, direct, cheap and reveals one’s behaviour. But this method lacks reliability and can be used only for adult normal human beings. This method requires the support of other methods which are more reliable. 2. Observation method: In this method the learner’s behaviour is observed under natural conditions by other individuals. Such observation will be interpreted according to the perception of the observer. This helps to find out behaviour by observing a person’s external behaviour. For example, if a person frowns we can say that he is angry. But when we are studying behaviour in natural conditions we have to wait for the event to take place. This method is helpful in studying the behaviour of the children. However, this method will explain only observed behaviour, subjectivity of the investigation may affect the results. 3. Experimental method: In this method, behaviour is observed and recorded under controlled conditions. This is done in psychological laboratory or in classrooms or outside the classrooms in certain physical or social environment. Accordingly the cause and effect relationships are established. Theories of behaviour can be developed. These experiments require the creation of artificial environment. Therefore, the scope is limited. Human behaviour is very dynamic and unpredictable. This method is also costly and time consuming. 4. Case history method: This method is one of the steps used in the clinical method ofstudying behaviour. This method is used for those who are suffering from physical or mental disorders. For this, the case history has to be made of the earlier experiences of the individual which may be responsible for the present behaviour. Information is also collected from his parents, family, relatives, guardians, neighbours, friends, teachers, and from reports about the individual’s past.  This information will enable the clinical psychologists to diagnose and suggest treatment if there is any problem. However, this method will be successful only if the clinical researcher is technically efficient. The findings are limited to the individuals observed and the findings cannot be generalized. Relationship Between Education and Psychology Watch a short video using this link: Play Video Psychology is closely related to education. Education is the modification of behaviour in a desirable direction or in a controlled environment and psychology is the study of behaviour or science of behaviour. To modify the behaviour or to bring about some changes in the behaviour it is necessary to study the science of behaviour. Thus, education and psychology are logically related. The developmental stages of children and characteristics are very essential factors which the teacher must know in order to be a successful teacher. The traditional education was subject centred and teacher dominated. But the modern concept of education has been changed into learning centred to learner centred. Today’s education has become child centered: It is the child who is to learn according to his needs, interests and capacities. Hence, there is no doubt that a knowledge of psychology is quite essential for planning and organizing any educative effort. For this purpose all the great educators emphasize that education must have a psychological base. Pestalozzi tried to psychologies education. Montessori and Froebel also advocated that education must be based on psychological principles. Almost all the aspects of education are guided by psychological principles. Different aspects of education related to psychological principles are as follows: 1. The objectives of education at different stages have a psychological base. 2. Preparation of curriculum for different stages as per the age, ability and capacities of the learner must be based on some of the psychological principles. 3. The teacher employs some of the suitable methods of teaching, appropriate motivational techniques and teaching devices which are also the contributions of educational psychology. 4. Solution of different educational problems through research are also the contribution. 5. Preparation of school time table and timing have also a psychological base. 6. Effective school administration and organization needs a knowledge of psychology. 7. Knowledge of psychology is necessary to study the gifted or the retarded child, the problem child and the maladjusted child. 8. The problem of discipline in the school can be tackled psychologically. 9. Educational psychology provides knowledge about mental health of the teacher. 10. Psychology provides knowledge about evaluation procedure for better learning in the school. 11. Better guidance can be provided for effective learning by studying the psychological traits of the learner. Besides the above, better students participation in classroom teaching, individualized instruction, group activity, learning by doing etc. has a psychological base. So, we cannot think of education without psychology in modern education scenario. 9.1. Using Research to Understand and Improve Learning CORRELATION STUDIES. Often, the results of descriptive studies include reports of correlations. You will encounter many correlations in the coming chapters, so let’s take a minute to examine this concept. A correlation is a number that indicates both the strength and the direction of a relationship between two events or measurements. Correlations range from +1.00 to –1.00. The closer the correlation is to either +1.00 or –1.00, the stronger the relationship. For example, the correlation between adult weight and height is about.70 (a strong relationship); the correlation between adult weight and number of languages spoken is about.00 (no relationship at all). The sign of the correlation tells the direction of the relationship. A positive correlation indicates that the two factors increase or decrease together. As one gets larger, so does the other. Weight and height are positively correlated because greater weight tends to be associated with greater height. A negative correlation means that increases in one factor are related to decreases in the other, for example, the less you pay for a theater or concert ticket, the greater your distance from the stage. It is important to note that correlations do not prove cause and effect. For example, weight and height are correlated—but gaining weight obviously does not cause you to grow taller. Knowing a person’s weight simply allows you to make a general prediction about that person’s height. Educational psychologists identify correlations so they can make predictions about important events in the classroom. EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES. A second type of research—experimentation—allows educational psychologists to go beyond predictions and actually study cause and effect. Instead of just observing and describing an existing situation, the investigators introduce changes and note the results. First, a number of comparable groups of participants are created. In psychological research, the term participants (also called subjects) generally refers to the people being studied—such as teachers or ninth graders. One common way to make sure that groups of participants are essentially the same is to assign each person to a group using a random procedure. Random means each participant has an equal chance of being in any group. Quasi-experimental studies meet most of the criteria for true experiments, with the important exception that the participants are not assigned to groups at random. Instead, existing groups such as classes or schools participate in the experiments. In experiments or quasi-experiments, for one or more of the groups studied, the experimenters change some aspect of the situation to see if this change or “treatment” has an expected effect. The results in each group are then compared, often using statistics. When differences are described as statistically significant, it means that they probably did not happen simply by chance. For example, if you see p <.05 in a study, this indicates that the result reported could happen by chance less than 5 times out of 100, and p <.01 means less than 1 time in 100. A number of the studies we will examine attempt to identify cause-and-effect relationships by asking questions such as this: If some teachers receive training in how to teach spelling using word parts (cause), will their students become better spellers than students whose teachers did not receive training (effect)? This actually was a field experiment because it took place in real classrooms and not in a simulated laboratory situation. In addition, it was a quasi-experiment because the students were in existing classes and had not been randomly assigned to teachers, so we cannot be certain the experimental and control groups were the same before the teachers received their training. The researchers handled this by looking at improvement in spelling, not just final achievement level, and the results showed that the training worked (Hurry et al., 2005). ABAB EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS. The goal of ABAB designs is to determine the effects of a therapy, teaching method, or other intervention by first observing the participants for a baseline period (A) and assess the behavior of interest; then trying an intervention (B) and noting the results; then removing the intervention and go back to baseline conditions (A); and finally reinstating the intervention (B). This form of design can help establish a cause-and-effect relationship (Plavnick & Ferreri, 2013). For example, a teacher might record how much time students are out of their seats without permission during a weeklong baseline period (A). The teacher then tries ignoring those who are out of their seats, but praises those who are seated, again recording how many are wandering out of their seats for the week (B). Next, the teacher returns to baseline conditions (A) and records results, and then reinstates the praise-and-ignore strategy (B). When this intervention was first tested, the praise-and-ignore strategy proved effective in increasing the time students spent in their seats (C. H. Madsen, Becker, Thomas, Koser, & Plager, 1968). CLINICAL INTERVIEWS AND CASE STUDIES. Jean Piaget pioneered an approach called the clinical interview to understand children’s thinking. The clinical interview uses open-ended questioning to probe responses and to follow up on answers. Questions go wherever the child’s responses lead. Here is an example of a clinical interview with a 7-year-old. Piaget is trying to understand the child’s thinking about lies and truth, so he asks, “What is a lie?” What is a lie?—What isn’t true. What they say that they haven’t done.—Guess how old I am.—Twenty. No, I’m thirty.—Was that a lie you told me?—I didn’t do it on purpose.— I know. But is it a lie all the same, or not?—Yes, it is the same, because I didn’t say how old you were.—Is it a lie?—Yes, because I didn’t speak the truth.—Ought you be punished?—No.—Was it naughty or not naughty?—Not so naughty.—Why?—Because I spoke the truth afterwards! (Piaget, 1965, p. 144)how old you were.—Is it a lie?—Yes, because I didn’t speak the truth.—Ought you be punished?—No.—Was it naughty or not naughty?—Not so naughty.—Why?—Because I spoke the truth afterwards! (Piaget, 1965, p. 144) Researchers also may employ case studies. A case study investigates one person or situation in depth. For example, Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues conducted in-depth studies of highly accomplished concert pianists, sculptors, Olympic swimmers, tennis players, mathematicians, and neurologists to try to understand what factors supported the development of outstanding talent. The researchers interviewed family members, teachers, friends, and coaches to build an extensive case study of each of these highly accomplished individuals (B. S. Bloom et al., 1985). Some educators recommend case study methods to identify students for gifted programs because the information gathered is richer than just test scores. ETHNOGRAPHY. Ethnographic methods, borrowed from anthropology, involve studying the naturally occurring events in the life of a group to understand the meaning of these events to the people involved. In educational psychology research, ethnographies might study how students from different cultural groups are viewed by their peers or how teachers’ beliefs about students’ abilities affect classroom interactions. In some studies the researcher uses participant observation, actually participating in the group, to understand the actions from the perspectives of the people in the situation. Teachers can do their own informal ethnographies to understand life in their classrooms. THE ROLE OF TIME IN RESEARCH. Many things that psychologists want to study, such as cognitive development (Chapter 2), happen over several months or years. Ideally, researchers would study the development by observing their subjects over many years as changes occur. These are called longitudinal studies. They are informative, but time-consuming, expensive, and not always practical: Keeping up with participants over a number of years as they grow up and move can be impossible. As a consequence, much research is cross-sectional, focusing on groups of students at different ages. For example, to study how children’s conceptions of numbers change from ages 3 to 16, researchers can interview children of several different ages, rather than following the same children for 14 years. Longitudinal studies and cross-sectional research examine change over long periods of time. The goal of micro genetic studies is to intensively study cognitive processes while the change is actually occurring. For example, researchers might analyze how children learn a particular strategy for adding two-digit numbers over the course of several weeks. The micro genetic approach has three basic characteristics: The researchers (a) observe the entire period of the change—from when it starts to the time it is relatively stable; (b) make many observations, often using video recordings, interviews, and transcriptions of the exact words of the individuals being studied; and (c) put the observed behavior “under a microscope,” that is, they examine it moment by moment or trial by trial. The goal is to explain the underlying mechanisms of change—for example, what new knowledge or skills are developing to allow change to take place. This kind of research is expensive and time-consuming, so often only one or two children are studied. 9.2. WHAT’S THE EVIDENCE? QUANTITATIVE VERSUS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH There is a distinction you will encounter in your journey through educational psychology: the contrast between qualitative research and quantitative research. These are large categories, and like many categories, a bit fuzzy at the edges, but here are some simplified differences. Qualitative Research. Case studies and ethnographies are examples of qualitative research. This type of research uses words, dialogue, events, themes, and images as data. Interviews, observations, and analysis of transcripts are key procedures. The goal is to explore specific situations or people in depth and to understand the meaning of the events to the people involved in order to tell their story. Qualitative researchers assume that no process of understanding meaning can be completely objective. They are more interested in interpreting subjective, personal, or socially constructed meanings. Quantitative Research. Both correlational and experimental types of research generally are quantitative because measurements are taken and computations are made. Quantitative research uses numbers, measurement, and statistics to assess levels or sizes of relationships among variables or differences between groups. Quantitative researchers try to be as objective as possible in order to remove their own biases from their results. One advantage of good quantitative research is that results from one study can be generalized or applied to other similar situations or people. MIXED METHODS RESEARCH. Many researchers now are using mixed methods or complementary methods to study questions both broadly and deeply. These research designs are procedures for “collecting, analyzing, and ‘mixing’ both quantitative and qualitative methods in a single study or series of studies to understand a research problem” (Creswell, 2015, p. 537). There are three basic ways of combining methods. First, a researcher collects both quantitative and qualitative data at the same time, then merges and integrates the data in the analyses. In the second approach, the researcher collects quantitative data first, for example, from surveys or observation instruments, and then follows this by performing in-depth qualitative interviews of selected participants. Often the goal here is to explain or look for causes. Finally, the sequence can be reversed—the researcher first conducts interviews or case studies to identify research questions, then collects quantitative data as guided by the qualitative findings. Here the goal may be to explore a situation deeply (Creswell, 2015). Mixed methods research is becoming more common in educational psychology. SCIENTIFICALLY BASED RESEARCH AND EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES. A requirement of the landmark 2002 NCLB Act was that educational programs and practices receiving federal money had to be consistent with “scientifically based research,” that is, rigorous systematic research that gathers valid and reliable data and analyzes those data with appropriate statistical methods. The 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act that replaced NCLB also requires “evidence-based” interventions in failing schools— strategies grounded in rigorous scientifically based research. For example, the U.S. Institute of Education Sciences (IES) provides a series of Practice Guides that contain recommendations from experts about various challenges educators face—guides to action based on strong evidence from research Scientifically based research and evidence-based practices fit the quantitative experimental approach described earlier better than qualitative methods such as ethnographic research or case studies, but there is continuing debate about what this means, as you will see in the Point/Counterpoint on the next page. In the final analysis, the methods used—quantitative, qualitative, or a mixture of both—should fit the questions asked. Different approaches to research can ask different questions and provide different kinds of answers, as you can see in Table 1.3, on page 49. 9.3. TEACHERS AS RESEARCHERS Research also can be a way to improve teaching in one classroom or one school. The same kind of careful observation, intervention, data gathering, and analysis that occurs in large research projects can be applied in any classroom to answer questions such as “Which writing prompts seem to encourage the most creative writing in my class?” “When does Kenyon seem to have the greatest difficulty concentrating on academic tasks?” “Would assigning task roles in science groups lead to more equitable participation of girls and boys in the work?” This kind of problem-solving investigation is called action research. By focusing on a specific problem and making careful observations, teachers can learn a great deal about both their teaching and their students. You can find reports of the findings from all types of studies in journals that are referenced in this book. For years I was editor of the Theory Into Practice journal (tip.ehe.osu.edu). I think this is a terrific journal to inspire and guide action research in classrooms. For a great overview of the past 50 years in educational research and practice, see the Special 50th Anniversary issue of Theory Into Practice (Gaskill, 2013). 9.4. Different Approaches to Research Can Ask and Answer Different Questions. RESEARCH METHOD PURPOSES/QUESTIONS ADDRESSED EXAMPLE Correlational To assess the strength Is the average amount of and direction of the homework completed weekly related relation between two variables; to student performance on unit to make predictions. tests? If so, is the relation positive or negative? Experimental To identify cause-and- Will giving more homework effect relations; to test cause students to learn more in possible explanations for science class? effects. ABAB Experiment To identify the effects of When students record the number a treatment or intervention for of pages they read each night, one or more individuals. will they read more pages? If they stop recording, will their  amount of reading return to the previous levels? Case Studies To understand one or a How does one boy make the few individuals or situations transition from a small rural in depth. elementary school to a large middle school? What are his main problems, concerns, issues, accomplishments, fears, supports, etc.? Ethnography To understand experiences from How do new teachers make sense of the participants’ point of view: the norms, expectations, and culture What is their meaning? of their new school, and how do they respond? Mixed Methods To ask complex Based on a study of 20 questions involving causes, classrooms using quantitative meanings, and relations observational instruments, select the among variables; to pursue 5 classes with the fewest behavior both depth and breadth problems and the 5 with the most in research questions. problems late in the year. Next interview those teachers and their students and analyze videotapes made the first weeks of school to answer the question: Did the effective and ineffective teachers differ in how they established rules and procedures in their classes? 10. Supporting Student Learning In an article in the Educational Psychologist, a major journal in our field, Jihyun Lee and Valerie Shute (2010) reported sifting through thousands of studies of student learning conducted over the course of 60 years, seeking to identify those that had direct measures of student achievement in reading and mathematics. Then they narrowed their focus to studies with strong effects. About 150 studies met all their rigorous criteria. Using the results from these studies, Lee and Shute identified about a dozen variables that were directly linked to K–12 student achievement. The researchers grouped these factors into two categories: student personal factors and school and social-contextual factors, as you can see in table below. As you can see in table, this text should help you become a capable and confident teacher who can get students engaged in the classroom learning community—a community that respects its members. This will guide you toward becoming a teacher who helps students develop into interested, motivated, self- regulated, and confident learners. As a consequence, you will be able to set high expectations for your students, rally the support of parents, and build your own sense of efficacy as a teacher. STUDENT PERSONAL EXAMPLES FACTORS Student Engagement Engaging Students’ Behavior Make sure students attend classes, follow rules, and participate in school activities. Engaging Students’ Design challenging tasks, tap intrinsic motivation, support student investment in learning, and Minds and nurture student self-efficacy Motivations and other positive academic beliefs. Engaging Students’ Emotions Connect to student interest, pique curiosity, foster a sense of belonging and class connections, diminish anxiety, and increase enjoyment in learning. Learning Strategies Cognitive Strategies Directly teach knowledge and skills that support student learning and deep processing of valuable information (e.g., summarizing, inferring, applying, and reasoning). Metacognitive Strategies Directly teach students to monitor, regulate, and evaluate their own cognitive processes, strengths, and weaknesses as learners; teach them about when, where, why, and how to use specific strategies. Behavioral Strategies Directly teach students strategies and tactics for managing, monitoring, and evaluating their action, motivation, affect, and environment, such as skills in: time management test taking help seeking note taking homework management SOCIAL-CONTEXTUAL EXAMPLES FACTORS School Climate Academic Emphasis Set high expectations for your students, and encourage the whole school to do the same; emphasize positive relations with the school community. Teacher Variables If possible, teach in a school with the positive qualities of collective efficacy, teacher empowerment, and sense of affiliation. Principal Leadership If possible, teach in a school with the positive qualities of collegiality, high morale, and clearly conveyed goals. Social-Familial Influences Parental Involvement Support parents in supporting their children’s learning Peer Influences Create class and school norms that honor achievement, encourage peer support, and discourage peer conflict. MODULE 2 COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 1. LEARNING OUTCOMES By the time you have completed this chapter, you should be able to: Provide a definition of development that takes into account three agreed-upon principles and describe three continuing debates about development, along with current consensus on these questions. Summarize research on the physical development of the brain and possible implications for teaching. Explain the principles and stages presented in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, including criticisms of his theory. Explain the principles presented in Vygotsky’s theory of development, including criticisms of his theory. Discuss implications of Piaget’s and Vygotsky ‘s theories for teaching. 2. A DEFINITION OF DEVELOPMENT In the next few chapters, as we explore how children develop, we will encounter some surprising situations. Leah, a 5-year-old, is certain that rolling out a ball of clay into a snake creates more clay. A 9-year-old child in Geneva, Switzerland, firmly insists that it is impossible to be Swiss and Genevan at the same time: “I’m already Swiss. I can’t also be Genevan.” Jamal, a very bright elementary school student, cannot answer the question, “How would life be different if people did not sleep?” because he insists, “People HAVE TO SLEEP!” A 2-year-old brings his own mother to comfort a friend who is crying, even though the friend’s mother is available, too. What explains these interesting events? You will soon find out, because you are entering the world of child and adolescent development. The term development in its most general psychological sense refers to certain changes that occur in human beings (or animals) between conception and death. The term is not applied to all changes, but rather to those that appear in orderly ways and remain for a reasonably long period of time. A temporary change caused by a brief illness, for example, is not considered a part of development. Human development can be divided into a number of different aspects. Physical development, as you might guess, deals with changes in the body. Personal development is the term generally used for changes in an individual’s identity and personality. Social development refers to changes in the way an individual relates to others. And cognitive development refers to changes in thinking, reasoning, and decision making. Many changes during development are simply matters of growth and maturation. Maturation refers to changes that occur naturally and spontaneously and that are, to a large extent, genetically programmed. Such changes emerge over time and are relatively unaffected by environment, except in cases of malnutrition or severe illness. Much of a person’s physical development falls into this category. Other changes are brought about through learning, as individuals interact with their environment. Such changes make up a large part of a person’s social development. But what about the development of thinking and personality? Most psychologists agree that in these areas, both maturation and interaction with the environment (or nature and nurture, as they are sometimes called) are important, but they disagree about the amount of emphasis to place on each one. Nature versus nurture is one of three continuing discussions in theories of development. 3. Three Questions Across the Theories Because there are many different approaches to research and theory, there are some continuing debates about key questions surrounding development. WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF DEVELOPMENT? NATURE VERSUS NURTURE. Which is more important in development, the “nature” of an individual (heredity, genes, biological processes, maturation, etc.) or the “nurture” of environmental contexts (education, parenting, culture, social policies, etc.)? This debate has raged for at least 2,000 years and has accumulated many labels along the way, including “heredity versus environment,” “biology versus culture,” “maturation versus learning,” and “innate versus acquired abilities.” In earlier centuries, philosophers, poets, religious leaders, and politicians argued the question. Even in scientific explanations, the pendulum has swung back and forth between nature and nurture (Cairns & Cairns, 2006; Overton, 2006). Scientists now bring new tools to the discussion as they can map genes or trace the effects of drugs on brain activity, for example (Gottlieb, Wahlsten, & Lickliter, 2006). Today the environment is seen as critical to development, but so are biological factors and individual differences. In fact, some psychologists assert that behaviors are determined 100% by biology and 100% by environment—they can’t be separated (P. H. Miller, 2011). Current views emphasize complex coactions (joint actions) of nature and nurture. For example, a child born with a very easygoing, calm disposition will likely elicit different reactions from parents, playmates, and teachers than a child who is often upset and difficult to soothe; this shows that individuals are active in constructing their own environments. But environments shape individuals as well—if not, what good would education be? So today, the either/or debates about nature and nurture are of less interest to educational and developmental psychologists. As a pioneering developmental psychologist said over 100 years ago, the more exciting questions involve understanding how “both causes work together” (Baldwin, 1895, p. 77). WHAT IS THE SHAPE OF DEVELOPMENT? CONTINUITY VERSUS DISCONTINUITY. Is human development a continuous process of increasing abilities, or are there leaps to new stages when abilities actually change? A continuous process would be like gradual improvement in your running endurance through systematic exercise. A discontinuous change (also called qualitative) would be like many of the changes in humans during puberty, such as the ability to reproduce—an entirely different ability. You can think of continuous or quantitative change like walking up a ramp to go higher and higher: Progress is steady. A discontinuous or qualitative change is more like walking up stairs: There are level periods, and then you ascend the next step all at once. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, described in the next section, is an example of qualitative, discontinuous change in children’s thinking abilities. But other explanations of cognitive development based on learning theories emphasize gradual, continuous, quantitative change. TIMING: IS IT TOO LATE? CRITICAL VERSUS SENSITIVE PERIODS. Are there critical periods during which certain abilities, such as language, need to develop? If those opportunities are missed, can the child still “catch up”? These are questions about timing and development. Many earlier psychologists, particularly those influenced by Freud, believed that early childhood experiences were critical, especially for emotional/social and cognitive development. But does early toilet training really set all of us on a particular life path? Probably not. More recent research shows that later experiences are powerful, too, and can change the direction of development. Most psychologists today talk about sensitive periods—not critical periods. There are “windows of opportunity”—times when a person is especially ready for or responsive to certain experiences (Scalise & Felds, 2017). BEWARE OF EITHER/OR. As you might imagine, these debates about development proved too complicated to be settled by splitting alternatives into either/or possibilities (Griffins & Gray, 2005). Today, most psychologists view human development, learning, and motivation as a set of interacting and coaching contexts, from the inner biological structures and processes that influence development such as genes, cells, nutrition, and disease, to the external factors of families, neighborhoods, social relationships, educational and health institutions, public policies, time periods, historical events, and so on. 4. General Principles of Development Although there is disagreement about exactly how development takes place, there are a few general principles almost all theorists would support. 1. People develop at different rates. In your own classroom, you will have a broad range of examples of different developmental rates. Some students will be larger, better coordinated, or more mature in their thinking and social relationships. Others will be much slower to mature in these areas. Except in rare cases of very rapid or very slow development, such differences are normal and should be expected in any large group of students. 2. Development is relatively orderly. People develop abilities in a logical order. In infancy, they sit before they walk, babble before they talk, and see the world through their own eyes before they can begin to imagine how others see it. In school, they will master addition before algebra, Harry Potter before Shakespeare, and so on. But “orderly” does not necessarily mean linear or predictable—people might advance, stay the same for a period of time, or even go backward. 3. Development takes place gradually. Very rarely do changes appear overnight. A student who cannot manipulate a pencil or answer a hypothetical question may well develop this ability, but the change is likely to take time. 5. THE BRAIN AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT If you have taken an introductory psychology class, you have read about the brain and nervous system. You probably remember that there are several different areas of the brain and that certain areas are involved in particular processes. For example, the brain stem handles basic functions such as heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure as well as levels of arousal such as sleeping and wakeful attention. The feathery looking cerebellum coordinates and orchestrates balance and smooth, skilled movements— from the graceful gestures of the dancer to the everyday action of eating without stabbing yourself in the nose with a fork. The cerebellum may also play a role in higher cognitive functions such as learning. The hippocampus is critical in recalling new information and recent experiences, while the amygdala directs emotions and aggression. The thalamus is involved in our ability to learn new information, particularly if it is verbal. The corpus callosum connects the two hemispheres of the brain to allow communication between them for complex mental processing. The frontal lobe is the area that sets humans apart by enabling us to process information for planning, remembering, making decisions, solving problems, and thinking creatively (Schunk, 2016). Advances in brain imaging techniques have allowed scientists remarkable access to the functioning brain. For example, computerized axial tomography (CAT) scans give three-dimensional images of the brain. Positron emission tomography (PET) scans can track brain activity under different conditions. An electroencephalograph (EEG) measures electrical patterns in the brain, and event-related potential (ERP) uses EEG data to study the brain as people perform activities such as reading or learning vocabulary words. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows how blood flows within the brain when children or adults do different cognitive tasks. Finally, a new approach, near-infrared optical tomography (NIR-OT) uses infrared light through the scalp to assess brain activity. Table 2.1 on the next page summarizes what each of the techniques can and cannot do. Let’s begin our look at the brain by examining its tiny components: neurons, synapses, and glial cells. 5.1. The Developing Brain: Neurons A newborn baby’s brain weighs about 1 pound, barely one-third of the weight of an adult brain. But this infant brain has billions of neurons, the specialized nerve cells that accumulate and transmit information (in the form of electrical activity) in the brain and other parts of the nervous system. Neurons are a grayish color, so they sometimes are called the gray matter of the brain. One neuron has the information processing capacity of a small computer. That means the processing power of one 3-pound human brain is likely greater than all the computers in the world. Of course, computers do many things, like calculate square roots of large numbers, much faster than humans can (J. R. Anderson, 2015). These incredibly important neuron cells are tiny; about 30,000 could fit on the head of a pin (Sprenger, 2010). Scientists once believed that all the neurons a person would ever possess were present at birth, but now we know that the production of new neurons, neurogenesis, continues into adulthood, especially in the hippocampus region (Koehl & Abrous, 2011; Scalise & Felde, 2017). Neuron cells send out long arm- and branch-like fibers called axons and dendrites to connect with other neuron cells. The fiber ends from different neurons don’t actually touch; there are tiny spaces between them, about one billionth of a meter in length, called synapses. Neurons share information by using electrical signals and by releasing chemicals that jump across the synapses. Axons transmit information out to muscles, glands, or other neurons; dendrites receive information and transmit it to the neuron cells themselves. Connections between neurons by these synaptic transmissions become stronger with use or practice and weaker when not used. The neural pathways reinforced by use form memory traces that are the end result of learning (Scalise & Felde, 2017; Schunk, 2016). So the strength of these synaptic connections is dynamic—always changing as learning occurs. This is called synaptic plasticity, or just plasticity, a very important concept for educators, as you will see soon. Researchers have found that physical exercise plays a critical role in maintaining a healthy, plastic brain (Doidge, 2015; Dubinsky, Roehrig, & Varma, 2013). Figure 2.2 on page 65 shows these components of the neuron system (J. R. Anderson, 2015). At birth, each of the child’s approximately 100 to 200 billion neurons has about 2,500 synapses. However, the fibers that reach out from the neurons and the synapses between the fiber ends increase during the first years of life, perhaps into adolescence or longer. By ages 2 to 3, each neuron has around 15,000 synapses; children this age have many more synapses than they will have as adults. In fact, they are oversupplied with the neurons and synapses they will need to adapt to their environments. However, only those neurons that are used will survive, and unused neurons will be “pruned.” This pruning is necessary and supports cognitive development. Researchers have found that some developmental disabilities are associated with a gene defect that interferes with pruning (Berk & Meyers, 2016; Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000; Broderick & Blewitt, 2015). Two kinds of overproduction and pruning processes take place. One is called experience-expectant because synapses are overproduced in certain parts of the brain during specific developmental periods, awaiting (expecting) stimulation. For example, during the first months of life, the brain expects visual and auditory stimulation. If a normal range of sights and sounds occurs, then the visual and auditory areas of the brain develop. But children who are born completely deaf receive no auditory stimulation and, as a result, the auditory processing area of their brains becomes devoted to processing visual information. Similarly, the visual processing area of the brain for children blind from birth becomes devoted to auditory processing (C. A. Nelson, 2001; Neville, 2007). Experience-expectant overproduction and pruning processes are responsible for general development in large areas of the brain and may explain why adults have difficulty with pronunciations that are not part of their native language. For example, the distinction between the sounds of r and l is important in English but not in Japanese, so by about 10 months of age, Japanese infants lose the ability to discriminate between rand l; those neurons are pruned away. As a result, Japanese adults learning these sounds require intense instruction and practice. Just think about the cognitive advantages and extra capacities of an infant growing up learning two languages (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015; Hinton, Miyamoto, & Della-Chiesa, 2008). The second kind of synaptic overproduction and pruning is called experience dependent. Here, synaptic connections are formed based on the individual’s experiences. New synapses are formed in response to neural activity in very localized areas of the brain. Examples are learning to ride a bike or use a spreadsheet. The brain does not “expect” these behaviors, so new synapses form in response to these experiences. Again, more synapses are produced than will be kept after “pruning.” Experience- dependent processes are involved in individual learning, such as mastering unfamiliar sound pronunciation in a second language you are studying. Stimulating environments may help in the pruning process in early life (experience expectant period) and also may support increased synapse development in adulthood (experience-dependent period) (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015; J. L. Cook & Cook, 2014). In fact, animal studies have shown that rats raised in stimulating environments (with toys, tasks for learning, other rats, and human handling) develop and retain 25% more synapses than rats who are raised with little stimulation. Even though the research with rats may not apply directly to humans, it is clear that extreme deprivation can have negative effects on human brain development. But extra stimulation will not necessarily improve development for young children who are already getting adequate or typical amounts (Berk & Meyers, 2016; Byrnes & Fox, 1998). So spending money on expensive toys or baby education programs probably offers more stimulation than is necessary, and might be harmful. Pots and pans, blocks and books, sand and water all provide excellent, appropriate stimulation—especially if accompanied by caring conversations with parents or teachers. Look back at Figure 2.2. It appears that there is nothing between the neurons but air. Actually, that is incorrect. The spaces are filled with glial cells, the white matter of the brain. There are trillions of these cells; they greatly outnumber neurons. Glial cells appear to have many functions, such as fighting infections, controlling blood flow and communication among neurons, and providing the myelin coating (see Figure 2.2) around axon fibers. Myelination, the coating of axon neuron fibers with an insulating fatty glial covering, influences thinking and learning. This process is something like coating bare electrical wires with rubber or plastic. This myelin coating makes message transmission faster and more efficient. Myelination happens quickly in the early years but continues gradually into adolescence, with the child’s brain doubling in volume in the first year of life and doubling again around puberty (J. R. Anderson, 2015; Ormrod, 2016). 5.2. The Developing Brain: Cerebral Cortex Let’s move from the neuron level to the brain itself, which amazingly is almost 80% water, with the rest being fat and protein (Schunk, 2016). The outer 1/8-inch-thick covering is the cerebral cortex—the largest area of the brain. It is a thin sheet of neurons, but it is almost 3 square feet in area for adults. To get all that area in your head, the sheet is crumpled together with many folds and wrinkles (J. R. Anderson, 2015). In humans, this area of the brain is much larger than it is in lower animals. The cerebral cortex accounts for about 85% of the brain’s weight in adulthood and contains the greatest number of neurons. The cerebral cortex allows the greatest human accomplishments, such as complex problem solving and language. The cortex is the last part of the brain to develop, so it is believed to be more susceptible to environmental influences than other areas of the brain (Gluck, Mercado, & Myers, 2016). Parts of the cortex mature at different rates. The region of the cortex that controls physical motor movement matures first, then the areas that control complex senses such as vision and hearing, and last, the frontal lobe that controls higher-order thinking processes. The temporal lobes of the cortex that play major roles in emotions, judgment, and language do not develop fully until the high school years and maybe later. Different areas of the cortex seem to have distinct functions, as shown in Figure 2.3. Even though different functions are found in particular areas of the brain, these specialized functions are quite specific and elementary. To accomplish more complex functions such as speaking or reading, the various areas of the cortex must communicate and work together (J. R. Anderson, 2015). Another aspect of brain functioning that has implications for cognitive development is lateralization, or the specialization of the two hemispheres of the brain. We know that each half of the brain controls the opposite side of the body. Damage to the right side of the brain will affect movement of the left side of the body and vice versa. In addition, certain areas of the brain affect particular behaviors. For most of us, the left hemisphere of the brain is a major factor in language processing, and the right hemisphere handles much of our spatial-visual information and emotions (nonverbal information). For some left-handed people, the relationship may be reversed, but for most left-handers, and for females on average, there is less hemispheric specialization altogether (J. R. Anderson, 2015; Ormrod, 2016). The brains of young children show more plasticity (adaptability) because they are not as specialized or lateralized as the brains of older children and adults. Young children with damage to the left side of the brain are somewhat able to overcome the damage, which allows language development to proceed. Different areas of the brain take over the functions of the damaged area. But in older children and adults, this compensation is less likely to occur after damage to the left hemisphere. These differences in performance by the brain’s hemispheres, however, are more relative than absolute; one hemisphere is just more efficient than the other in performing certain functions. Language is processed “differently, but simultaneously” by the left and right hemispheres (Alferink & Farmer-Dougan, 2010, p. 44). Nearly any task, particularly the complex skills and abilities that concern teachers, requires simultaneous participation of many different areas of the brain in constant communication with each other. For example, the left side of the brain is where grammar and syntax are understood, but the right side is better at figuring out the meaning of a story or interpreting sarcasm, irony, metaphors, or puns, so both sides of the brain have to work together in reading or making sense of literature, films, and jokes. Remember, no mental activity is exclusively the work of a single part of the brain, so there is no such thing as a “right brained student” unless that individual has had the left hemisphere removed—a rare and radical treatment for some forms of epilepsy (Ormrod, 2016). 5.3. Brain Development in Childhood and Adolescence The brain continues to develop throughout childhood and adolescence. In infancy, children identify patterns in their world and in the language(s) spoken by the people who care for them. Infants learn— form neural connections and networks—by exploring, acting, and observing. They are self-directed in this adventure—a good thing because they have so much to learn. During this time a stimulating, responsive, and safe environment is a much better “teacher” than flashcards or structured lessons because young children follow their own interests and curiosities. In the elementary school years, children’s brains continue to grow. The different parts of the brain that support various processes such as perception, memory, and emotion become more networked and connected. These interconnections enable children to reflect on their feelings and thoughts—to think about their own thinking. Children also can add to their store of knowledge and hold more information in memory at one time. At this age they are ready to learn more vocabulary and grammar in their first language and also to learn a second language. But they still have limited attention spans, so longer lessons, activities, or directions should be divided into manageable and memorable pieces (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2016). In addition, all of the ideas in Chapter 11 for developing self-regulated learning can support elementary school students as their growing brains open new possibilities for understanding and controlling their own cognitive processes. During adolescence, changes in the brain increase individuals’ abilities to control their behavior in both low-stress and high-stress situations, to be more purposeful and organized, and to inhibit impulsive behavior (Wigfield et al., 2006). But these abilities are not fully developed until the early twenties, so adolescents may “seem” like adults, at least in low-stress situations, but their brains are not mature. They often have trouble avoiding risks and controlling impulses. This is why adolescents’ brains have been described as “high horse power, poor steering” (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2007, p. 6). One explanation for this problem with avoiding risks and impulsive behavior looks to differences in the pace of development for two key components of the brain—the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex of the brain (Casey, Getz, & Galvan, 2008). The limbic system develops earlier; it is involved with emotions and reward-seeking/novelty/risk-taking/sensation-seeking behaviors. The prefrontal lobe takes more time to develop; it is involved with judgment and decision making. As the limbic system matures, adolescents become more responsive to pleasure seeking and emotional stimulation. In fact, adolescents appear to need more intense emotional stimulation than either children or adults, so these young people are set up for taking risks and seeking thrills. Risk taking and novelty seeking can be positive factors for adolescent development as young people courageously try new ideas and behaviors—and learning is stimulated (Luna, Paulsen, Padmanabhan, & Geier, 2013). But their less mature prefrontal lobe is not yet good at saying, “Whoa—that thrill is too risky!” So in emotional situations, thrill seeking wins out over caution, at least until the prefrontal lobe catches up and becomes more integrated with the limbic system toward the end of adolescence. Then risks can be evaluated in terms of long-term consequences, not immediate thrills (Casey et al., 2008; D. G. Smith, Xiao, & Bechara, 2012). In addition, there are individual differences: Some adolescents are more prone than others to engage in risky behaviors. Teachers can take advantage of their adolescent students’ intensity by helping them devote their energy and passion to areas such as politics, the environment, public service, or social causes (L. F. Price, 2005) or by guiding them to explore emotional connections with characters in history or literature. Connections to family, school, community, and positive belief systems help adolescents “put the brakes” on reckless and dangerous behaviors (McAnarney, 2008). Other changes in the neurological system during adolescence affect sleep; teenagers need about 9 hours of sleep per night, but many students’ biological clocks are reset, making it difficult for them to fall asleep before midnight. Some experts interviewed by Sumathi Reddy (2014) have recommended that ideally high school should start at 9:00 or even 10:00 in the morning—sounds good to me! Yet in many school districts, high school begins by 7:30, which makes 9 hours of sleep impossible to get, so students are continually sleep deprived. Research in neuroscience shows that sleep deprivation impairs the initial formation of memories for facts, so learning suffers. This means that losing sleep to cram for tests actually interferes with learning by shutting down the very parts of the brain needed to remember what you are studying (Scalise & Felde, 2017). Classes that keep students in their seats taking notes for the full period may literally “put the students to sleep.” With no time for breakfast and little for lunch, these students’ nutritional needs are often deprived as well (Sprenger, 2005). 5.4. Putting It All Together: How the Brain Works What is your conception of the brain? Is the brain a culture-free container that holds knowledge the same way for everyone? Is the brain like a library of facts or a computer filled with information? Do you wake up in the morning, download what you need for the day, and then go merrily on your way? Is the brain like a pipe that transfers information from one person to another—a teacher to a student, for example? Kurt Fischer—a developmental psychologist and Harvard professor—offers a different view, based on neuroscience research. Knowing is actively constructing understandings and actions. Knowledge is based in our activities, and the brain is constantly changing. Experience “sculpts the way that our brains work, changing neurons, synapses, and brain activity” (Fischer, 2009, p. 5). See Table 2.2 for some other myths and truths about the brain. CULTURE AND BRAIN PLASTICITY. All experiences sculpt the brain—play and deliberate practice, formal and informal learning (Dubinsky et al., 2013). You encountered the term earlier that describes the brain’s capacity for constant change in neurons, synapses, and activity—plasticity. Cultural differences in brain activity provide examples of how interactions in the world shape the brain through plasticity. For example, in one study, when Chinese speakers added and compared Arabic numbers, they showed brain activity in the motor (movement) areas of their brains, whereas English speakers performing the same tasks had activity in the language areas of their brains (Tang et al., 2006). One explanation is that Chinese children are taught arithmetic using an abacus—a calculation tool that involves movement and spatial positions. As adults, these children retain a kind of visual-motor sense of numbers (Varma, McCandliss, & Schwartz, 2008). There also are cultural differences in how languages affect reading. For example, when they read, native Chinese speakers activate additional parts of their brain associated with spatial information processing, probably because the language characters used in written Chinese are pictures. But Chinese speakers also activate these spatial areas of the brain when they read English, demonstrating that reading proficiency can be reached through different neural pathways (Hinton, Miyamoto, & Della-Chiesa, 2008). So thanks to plasticity, the brain is ever changing, shaped by activity, culture, and context. We build knowledge as we do things, as we manipulate objects and ideas mentally and physically. As you can imagine, educators have looked for applications of neuroscience research for their instruction. We turn to this next. Neuroscience, Learning, and Teaching There has been vigorous debate between the enthusiastic educational advocates of brain-based education and the skeptical neuroscience researchers who caution that studies of the brain do not really address major educational questions yet. DOES INSTRUCTION AFFECT BRAIN DEVELOPMENT? There are differences in brain activity associated with instruction. For example, the intensive instruction and practice provided to rehabilitate stroke victims can help them regain functioning by forming new connections and using new areas of the brain (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000; McKinley, 2011). In a dramatic example of how teaching can affect brain development, K. W. Fischer (2009) describes two children who each had one brain hemisphere removed as a treatment for severe epilepsy. Nico’s right hemisphere was removed when he was 3, and his parents were told he would never have good visual- spatial skills. With strong and constant support and teaching, Nico grew up to be a skilled artist! Brooke’s left hemisphere was removed when he was 11. His parents were told he would lose his ability to talk. Again, with strong support, he regained enough speaking and reading ability to finish high school and attend community college. 5.5. THE BRAIN AND LEARNING TO READ. Brain imaging research is revealing interesting differences among skilled and less-skilled readers as they learn new vocabulary. For example, one imaging study showed that less-skilled readers had trouble establishing high-quality representations of new vocabulary words in their brains, as indicated by ERP measurements of electrical activity of the brain. When they encountered one of the new words later, less-skilled readers’ brains often didn’t recognize that they had seen the word before, even though they had learned it in an earlier lesson. If words you have learned previously seem unfamiliar later, you can see how it would be hard to understand what you read (Balass, Nelson, & Perfetti, 2010). Reading is not innate or automatic—every brain has to be taught to read (Frey & Fisher, 2010). Reading is a complex integration of the systems in the brain that recognize sounds, written symbols, meanings, and sequences, and then connect with what the reader already knows. This has to happen quickly and automatically (Wolf et al., 2009). What are some strategies suggested? Use multiple approaches that teach sounds, spelling, meanings, sequencing, and vocabulary through reading, writing, discussing, explaining, drawing, and modeling. Different students may learn in different ways, but all need practice in literacy. 5.6. EMOTIONS, LEARNING, AND THE BRAIN Finally, another clear connection between the brain and classroom learning is in the area of emotions and stress. Let’s step inside a high school math classroom described by Hinton, Miyamoto, and Della- Chiesa (2008, p. 91) for an example: Patricia, a high school student, struggles with mathematics. The last few times she answered a mathematics question she got it wrong and felt terribly embarrassed, which formed an association between mathematics... and negative emotions.... Her teacher had just asked her to come to the blackboard to solve a problem. This caused an immediate transfer of this emotionally-charged association to the amygdala, which elicits fear. Meanwhile, a slower, cortically-driven cognitive appraisal of the situation is occurring: she remembers her difficulty completing her mathematics homework last night, notices the problem on the board contains complicated graphs, and realizes that the boy she has a crush on is watching her from a front-row seat. These various thoughts converge to a cognitive confirmation that this is a threatening situation, which reinforces her progressing fear response and disrupts her ability to concentrate on solving the mathematics problem. If students feel unsafe and anxious, they are not likely to be able to focus attention on academics (Sylvester, 2003). But if students are not challenged or interested, learning suffers too. Keeping the level of challenge and support “just right” is a challenge for teachers. And helping students learn to regulate their own emotions and motivation is an important goal for education. Simply put, learning will be more effective “if educators help to minimize stress and fear at school, teach students emotional regulation strategies, and provide a positive learning environment that is motivating to students” (Hinton, Miyamoto, & Della-Chiesa, 2008). 6. Lessons for Teachers: General Principles What can we learn from neuroscience? One overarching idea is that teachers and students should transform the notion of learning from “using your brain” to “changing your brain”—embrace the amazing plasticity of the brain (Dubinsky et al., 2013). Here are some general teaching implications drawn from Brown, Roedinger, and McDaniel (2014), Driscoll (2005), Dubinsky and colleagues (2013), Murphy and Benton (2010), Sprenger (2010), Scalise and Felde (2017), and Wolfe (2010): 1. Human capabilities—intelligence, communication, problem solving, and so on—emerge from each person’s unique synaptic activity overlaid on his or her genetically endowed brain anatomy; nature and nurture are in constant activity together. The brain can place some limits on learning in the form of genetic brain anomalies in neural wiring or structure, but learning can occur through alternate pathways in the brain (as Nico and Brooke demonstrate). So, there are multiple ways both to teach and to learn a skill, depending on the student. 2. Many cognitive functions are differentiated; they are associated with different parts of the brain. Using a range of modalities for instruction and activities that draw on different senses may support learning—for example, using maps and songs to teach geography. Using different modalities also helps students stay focused and engaged. Assessment should be differentiated, too. 3. The brain is relatively plastic, so enriched, active environments and flexible instructional strategies are likely to support cognitive development in young children and learning in adults. The brain is constantly changing at many levels from cells to connections to remapping skills in new areas in response to an injury—think plasticity! 4. Changing the brain takes time, so teachers must be consistent, patient, and compassionate in teaching and reteaching in different ways, as Nico’s and Brooke’s parents and teachers could tell you. Don’t overwhelm the brain with a heavy cognitive load (see Chapter 8) that presents too much too fast. Give students ways of managing the cognitive load using graphic organizers, visuals, tables, glossaries, notes, and other “external brain” tools. 5. Some learning disorders may have a neurological basis; neurological testing may in diagnosing and treating these disorders, as well as in evaluating the effects of various treatments. 6. Learning from real-life problems and concrete experiences helps students construct knowledge and also gives them multiple pathways for learning and retrieving information. Knowledge learned should be clearly connected with situations in which it is useful. “Inert” knowledge that is memorized but not used is quickly forgotten. 7. The brain seeks meaningful patterns and connections with existing networks, so teachers should tie new information to what students already understand and help them form new connections. Use both concrete and abstract examples where possible and ask students to think of their own examples. Information that is not linked to existing knowledge will be easily forgotten. Help s