Discover Better Ways of Teaching

Study our Educational Psychology course to learn about psychological principles involved in education. Discover how language and memory are involved in learning and how to motivate students of all ages.

• Do you want to improve the way you help students learn?
• Do you want to understand more about how people learn and how to make their learning more effective?
• Do you want to help students who may be experiencing difficulties?

If you answered "Yes" to any of the above questions then this course is probably right for you.

• The course covers seven lessons in 100 hours.
• You work at your own pace and learn about: development and learning theory, information processing, memory, individual needs, motivation, constructivist learning, and more.
• This course is a must for anyone working in, or interested in working in, education! Teachers, training officers, welfare workers, counsellors, parents, recreation officers, supervisors and managers will all benefit from increasing their knowledge of educational psychology.

COURSE STRUCTURE

There are 7 lessons in this course:

Learning is a complex process. We can understand it from a behavioural perspective in terms of responding to environmental stimuli or observing and mimicking. We can also use biological perspectives to explain the neuronal aspects of learning. In this way, learning may be viewed as strengthening connections between neurons and memory could be seen as strengthening particular synapses.   

Our brains begin to mature in the womb. They continue to mature throughout our lives, but everyone’s brain does not mature at the same rate.   Our bodies develop at different rates. Children reach puberty at different ages, so our brains are no different.  A group of children of the same chronological ages will not necessarily mean that they will all have the same readiness and ability to learn the same topic, skill or idea.  Teachers and parents should be aware of this and use this to design strategies to work with children.  

Children all learn in different ways. The maturity of a child's brain is a factor in learning differences, but it is not quite that simple. How a child learns depends on their age, brain maturity and level of development. There is also an influence from temperament, environment and genetics.  


How is Memory Organised?

One of the most useful models for understanding memory was proposed by Lezak (1995). This is a three stage model, although the second stage has two or three parts, comprised of the following stages:

1 Attentional stage - registration
Sometimes called sensory memory, large amounts of information are held here for up to 2 seconds. Really it can be considered to be neither strictly a memory function, nor a perceptual one. Rather, it is a bit of both. If the information is not passed to short term memory it dissipates.

2 a) Immediate memory
This is often called working memory. It is where information is chosen to be retained by registration. It is only retained here temporarily, in reverberating neural circuits. Only as many as nine pieces of information can be held here before passing to more permanent storage. It lasts around 30 seconds to as long as several minutes unless it is sustained by rehearsal - the next stage.  

2 b) Rehearsal 
Information may be kept in immediate memory for more than a few minutes if it is rehearsed.

2 c) Intermediate memory
This is different to immediate memory because information stored here can last for several hours to a couple of days. However, it is still not stored permanently yet. It is thought that it may involve a biochemical rather than electrophysiological mechanisms. Information here is still prone to interference but is relatively more permanent.   

3  Long term memory
This is sometimes called remote memory or learning. It is organised on the basis of meaning rather than the sensory properties associated earlier stages of memory. Once these memories are encoded they are quite resilient to disruption. There does not seem to be a localised site in the brain for storage of long term memories. Instead, they would appear to involve neuronal connections from a range of cortical and sub-cortical centres. The formation of long term memories  seems to be a biochemical process in which proteins are synthesised in neurons.

Effective Learning Needs to be Long Term

People who fund education (e.g. politicians, administrators, and even parents), tend to have a focus on "results" when considering education. They want value for the money being spent; and they will most often measure results in terms of how well students are being assessed. The problem with exams and other assessments though is that they may only be measuring short or intermediate term memory. To get a proper evaluation of any education, it may require time and patience; and this is a fact that is often just not understood.

Why Study This Course?

Educational psychology is relevant to not only teachers, but anyone and everyone who has an interest or concern in education. By understanding the psychology of education, you are in a far better position to influence education; whether as someone who works in that industry, or just someone who is concerned for some other reason.

WHAT NEXT?

Register to Study - Go to “It’s Easy to Enrol” box at the top of the page and you can enrol now.

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