Derived from Anita Woolfolk's market-leading Educational Psychology, Tenth Edition, the most thorough, accessible, and authoritative text on the market, the Active Learning Edition breaks the material into manageable “modules.” To provide customers with an alternative version to the longer chapters of the standard 10th Edition, the original 15 chapters now appear as 14 clusters and 42 brief modules, which are easy to cover in shorter academic terms and will make learning easier for students. Further, each module is a self-contained learning unit, with learning objectives and review questions (“Check Yourself”) that provide immediate reinforcement of key concepts and build students' confidence in their grasp of the material.
Exciting new features in this edition include:
- “Active Learning Connections” Each cluster is followed by a section that features information and activities directing both students and professors to new and emerging Web technologies such as blogs and wikis and social bookmarking sites that connect them to one another and to other Educational Psychology students in fun and interactive ways.
- “Diversity and Convergence” Each cluster is followed by a section that explores the experiences and characteristics of diverse students in relation to the chapter topics, after which the author considers some themes and principles that apply to all students. This prompts readers to understand and value differences among students, while also appreciating the great similarities among all of us in development, learning, and motivation.
- “Podcasts” Icons in the margins direct readers to Podcasts (audio clips) on www.anitatalks.com in which the author discusses how the material in the text directly relates to the teaching profession.
Other great features of this book:
- “Guidelines” appear throughout each module, providing concrete applications of theories and principles discussed.
- “Point/Counterpoint” sections throughout the text present divergent opinions on some of the most important and controversial questions in the field, such as "What is good teaching?" or "What are the implications of brain-based education?"
- “Teachers' Casebook” begins and ends each cluster. It presents realistic classroom cases and asks readers to think what they would “do” if faced with such situations. Then, actual teachers from a variety of schools across the country share their opinions, given their experience, on how they would handle the same situations. Readers get to practice “thinking like a teacher” and to see real teachers tackle classroom issues.
- “Family and Community Partnerships” boxes offer specific guidelines for involving families—when demand for parental involvement is at an all-time high—in various aspects of children's learning.
- “Connect and Extend” sections appear in the margins throughout, linking text content to teaching, readers’ thinking, research, and commentary about authentic classroom settings.
- “Handbook for Teaching and Lifelong Learning” at the end of the book provides a rich, practical resource for taking the Praxis Exam, interviewing for teaching jobs, creating a teaching portfolio, and using technology in the classroom, all things that pre-service teachers need to know in order to get started in their teaching careers.
