What Can You Do With A Degree In Educational Psychology?
School Psychologist (Elementary, Middle and High School) – Another career field you can enter with a doctorate in educational psychology is school psychology. The primary goal of a school psychologist is to improve the learning process for all students, regarding of development and skill level.
You will also be responsible for helping students process conflicting, confusing and/or disturbing feelings so that they do not affect their learning experience. You will provide counseling services to children with behavioral, social, emotional, mental problems and those with developmental delays and learning disabilities.
You will also be part of a team that consists of parents, teachers and school administrators. Together you will develop educational programs for gifted students and those with physical, emotional and social delays. It is important to note that most states require a educational doctorate (Ed.S.) to practice as a school psychologist.
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What is the need scope of educational psychology?
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.
What is an example of educational psychology?
We know not everyone learns and retains information the same way, so what can we do to make sure that everyone benefits from their education? The aim of research in educational psychology is to optimize learning, and educational psychologists study and identify new educational methods to benefit teachers, students, and anyone trying to learn a new skill.
Studying the most effective methods for teaching people with specific learning challenges like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyscalculia, or dyslexia Researching how well people learn in different settingsEvaluating and analyzing teaching methods and addressing barriers to learningStudying how factors like genetics, environment, socio-economic class, and culture affect learning
Behaviorism Behaviorism in educational psychology is the idea that all human behaviors stem from interactions with the environment, and modifying the environment will result in different behaviors. Behaviorism typically uses positive and negative stimuli — rewards and punishments — to influence behavior.
- For example, rewarding a student who does well on a test would be an attempt to use behaviorism to encourage a student to study.
- Cognitivism Cognitivism in educational psychology encourages learners to “think about thinking” and understand their strengths and barriers in their education.
- Cognitivism can help promote student engagement and gives students more authority over their education.
Students can learn to better understand their cognitive process and how it can be affected by internal and external factors. Social Cognitive Theory The social cognitive theory is the theory that learning happens in a social context. This theory asserts that learning is influenced by both internal factors, like individual thoughts, and external factors, like social interactions, which can impact learning outcomes.
Cognitive Behavioral Theory The cognitive behavioral theory asserts that our thoughts determine our feelings and behavior. For example, a student who believes that they’re bad at math could feel inadequate about their abilities and have more difficulty learning math because of this thought process. Educational psychologists strive to understand how social, emotional, and cognitive processes affect learning.
Educational psychologists study how people learn and retain information in a wide variety of fields, including: Curriculum Design Curriculum designers work with schools, organizations, and individuals to create effective learning systems. Educational psychologists can contribute to curriculum design by analyzing existing educational programs to determine where a new curriculum can improve the old one.
Standardized Testing Educational psychologists can assess institutions that are struggling with test scores and help them improve their educational programs, identifying any gaps that they need to address to improve test scores. Educational psychologists can help develop practical standardized tests and research related subjects like how to reduce student anxiety around standardized testing.
Teacher Training Educational psychologists can conduct teacher training to help teachers improve their skills, understand why some learning methods are more effective, provide individualized instruction, and set appropriate goals for their students. Educational psychologists typically obtain a master’s degree in educational psychology or teaching and learning psychology, though a doctorate can open more career opportunities, like government and university positions.
- Educational psychologists generally work in academic environments like schools, universities, research laboratories, or testing companies.
- Private firms and businesses also employ educational psychologists.
- What Does an Educational Psychologist Make? The median wage for school psychologists in 2021 is $78,780 annually.
Employment for psychologists is expected to grow at a rate of 8%, which is average. Educational psychology is a modern field of formal study, but scholars have been fascinated with how people learn for a very long time. Democritus wrote about the influence of a person’s home life on learning in the 5th century B.C., and Plato and Aristotle discussed educational psychology topics like:
Individualized educationThe effects of arts education on human developmentThe role of a teacherDifferent methods of teachingSelf-education without a teacher
Quintilian argued in favor of public education over private education almost 2,000 years ago, an academic argument that is still controversial today. Edward Lee Thorndike is widely credited with creating educational psychology as a distinct field by publishing his 1903 book Educational Psychology,
Thorndike performed experiments to study how animals learned in hopes that he could discover “laws of learning” that could improve human education. Thorndike’s work was primarily based on behaviorism — the idea that conditioning determines human behavior and rewarded behaviors will continue while punished behaviors will diminish.
Modern educational psychology has evolved away from behaviorism. Educational psychology theories based on cognitivism are favored today, which focus on internal mental processes instead of observable behavior.
Who is the father of educational psychology?
Edward Lee Thorndike is the father of educational psychology. Educational psychology is the study of the behavior of a student including his memory, conceptual process, and ability to retain knowledge.
Where do most educational psychologists work?
What Does an Educational Psychologist Do? – Most educational psychologists specialize in youth education and work in K-12 schools or colleges and universities. Others work in private practice. Educational psychologists may also specialize in adult learning and then work in organizations that provide professional training.
Working with students experiencing difficulty learning Diagnosing learning disabilities or other causes for the student’s difficulties Working with the student, family, and teachers to address the problem, usually through an IEP Measuring the student’s progress and adapting the IEP as needed Providing training for teachers and administrators on educational psychology topics and how to apply them to support learning Collaborating with school administrators on educational strategy
In other settings, educational psychologists collaborate with colleagues and provide expert knowledge on learning design and effective educational methods. For example, educational psychology careers with publishers or software companies call for working with designers and subject-matter experts to optimize materials for learning, either online or in print.
Is educational psychology a teacher?
Educational Psychology Applied – Psychologists working in education study the social, emotional and cognitive processes involved in learning and apply their findings to improve the learning process. Some specialize in the educational development of a specific group of people such as children, adolescents or adults, while others focus on specific learning challenges such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or dyslexia.
- No matter the population they are studying, these professionals are interested in teaching methods, the instructional process and different learning outcomes.
- How much does the time of day when new information is introduced influence whether a person retains that information? What does culture have to do with how we process new ideas? How does age affect our ability to develop new skills, like language? How is in-person learning different from remote learning using technology? How does the choice of a media platform make a difference in learning? These are all questions that educational psychologists are asking — and answering — in settings as diverse as government research centers, schools, community organizations and learning centers.
Date created: 2014
How is educational psychology different from psychology?
Conclusion – In brief, the main difference between psychology and educational psychology is that psychology is the scientific study of human mind and behaviour. It includes various subfields among which educational psychology is also a distinct and controversial branch of psychology.
What are the four types of educational psychology?
Educational psychology focuses on how learning occurs; however, like educational perspectives and axiology, there are differing positions in educational psychology that can be traced back to ontological stances. There are four main psychology stances on human development and learning that inform education: information processing, behaviorism, constructivism / cognitivism, and humanism.
What are the four meaning of educational psychology?
: psychology concerned with human maturation, school learning, teaching methods, guidance, and evaluation of aptitude and progress by standardized tests educational psychologist noun
What does education psychology belong to?
Applied Science : Educational psychology is one of the applied branch of psychology. It is an applied behavioural science which studies the behaviour of the educand in relation to learning situations. Scientific Approach: Educational psychology adopts scientific approach. It uses scientific methods.
