Educational psychology is currently dominated by a curious mixture of neobehaviorial and cognitive information-processing psychology. It is from this curious mixture that we, educators, have drawn our current views of curriculum, teaching methods, instructional design and development, learning, testing, the nature of students, classroom management techniques, learning skills, educational research and so on. .
Educational psychology is the systematic study of learners, learning, and teaching. Research in educational psychology focuses on the processes by which information, skills, values, and attitudes are communicated between teachers and students in the classroom and on applications of the principles of psychology to instructional practices. Such research shapes our educational policies, professional development programs, and teaching materials.
I. After learning the course of Educational Psychology, we have better understanding of our students. They are different in terms of their intelligence and learning Styles.
Students differ in their ability to deal with abstractions, to solve problems, and to learn. They also differ in any number of specific intelligences, so accurate estimations of intelligence should probably rely on broader performances than traditional IQ tests allow. Therefore we teachers should not base our expectations of students on IQ test scores. From the intelligence theories of Binet, Spearman, Sternberg, Guilford, and Gardner, we know both heredity and environment determine intelligence. And our home environments, schooling, and life experiences can profoundly influence IQ. So teachers should use strategies to maintain appropriate behavior and respond to misbehavior in the classroom, to keep students interested and engaged, and to create an effective learning environment for them.
Students differ in their prior learning and in their cognitive learning styles. Field-dependent students tend to see patterns as a whole and do better with people and social relationships.