This widely used book is known for its exceptionally clear and engaging writing, its in-depth focus on learning, and its extensive concrete applications. Its unique approach helps readers understand concepts by encouraging them to examine their own learning and then showing them how to apply these concepts as teachers. The book concentrates on core concepts and principles and gives readers an in-depth understanding of the central ideas of educational psychology. More coverage of learning than any other introductory educational psychology book. This book contains unique, integrated coverage of diversity and inclusion and offers readers an opportunity to apply their knowledge of ed psych in an authentic context while strengthening their skills in assessment. For professionals in the field of Educational Psychology.
Preface
Soon after I wrote the first edition of Educational Psychology, I had the good fortune to return to a middle school classroom teaching geography to two sections of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. On my first day back in a K-12 setting, I was quickly reminded of how exciting and energizing the process of teaching growing children can be. This experience confirmed once again what I have always known—that the principles of educational psychology have clear relevance to the decisions a classroom teacher must make on an ongoing basis. How children and adolescents learn and think, how they change as they grow and develop, why they do the things they do, how they are often very different from one another—our understanding of all these things has innumerable implications for classroom practice and, ultimately, for the lives of the next generation.
I have been teaching educational psychology since 1974, and I have loved every minute of it. Because I want the field of educational psychology to captivate you the way it has captivated me, I have tried to make the book interesting, meaningful, and thought-provoking as well as informative. I have a definite philosophy about how future teachers can best learn and apply educational psychology-a philosophy that has guided me as I have written all three editions of this book. More specifically, I believe that you can construct a more accurate and useful understanding of the principles of educational psychology when you:
Focus on core principles of the discipline Relate the principles to your own learning and behavior Mentally "process" the principles in an effective manner Consider numerous classroom applications of the principles
As I will show you in a moment, I have incorporated numerous features into the book that will encourage you to do all of these things. I hope that you will learn a great deal from what educational psychology has to offer, not only about the students you will be teaching but also about yourself—a human being who continues to learn and develop even now. Features of the Book Focusing on Core Principles
Rather than superficially explore every aspect of educational psychology, I have chosen to offer in-depth treatment of the fundamental concepts and principles that have broad applicability to classroom practice. If I myself couldn't imagine how a concept or principle could be of use to a teacher, I left it out. I have highlighted many of the key principles in the Principles/Assumptions tables that appear throughout the book. Relating Principles to Your Own Learning and Behavior A central goal of this text is to help you discover more about yourself as a thinker and learner. If you can understand how you yourself learn, you will be in a better position to understand how your students learn and, as a result, to help them learn more effectively. Throughout the book, I've provided many exercises to help you discover important points firsthand and thereby construct a more complete, meaningful understanding of psychological principles of learning, development, motivation, and behavior. Appearing as Experiencing Firsthand features, these exercises are in some ways similar to the "hands-on" activities that can help students learn in elementary and secondary classrooms. But because I ask you to use your mind rather than your hands, you might more accurately think of them as "head-on" experiences. "Processing" Principles Effectively
Research tells us that many students, including many at the college level, use relatively ineffective strategies for reading, studying, and learning. But research also tells us that students can acquire effective strategies and that when they begin to use such strategies, they find themselves successfully learning and remembering what they read and hear.
One important principle of learning is that people learn and remember new information more effectively when they relate it to what they already know—a process called meaningful learning. I will ask you to reflect on your own knowledge and experiences at the beginning of each chapter and in Thinking About What You Know features at various other spots throughout the book. In addition, some of the margin notes designated with a special (disc) symbol will ask you to consider personal experiences or to recall ideas discussed in previous chapters.
Another effective strategy is organization—making connections among the various pieces of information that you're learning; the Compare/Contrast tables that appear throughout the book will help you organize some of the key ideas in each chapter. Still another learning strategy is elaboration—expanding on information as you study it, drawing inferences, thinking of new examples, making predictions, and so on. Many of the (disc) questions in the margin will encourage you to elaborate on concepts and principles as I describe them. The (triangle) notes in the margin can help you with both organization and elaboration: They may show you how you can connect the material you are reading with ideas presented in later chapters, or they may provide additional, "elaborative" information about those ideas. Taking Principles Into the Classroom
Throughout the text, I consistently apply psychological concepts and principles to class room practice. Some of these applications are summarized and illustrated in Into the Classroom features and Students in Inclusive Settings tables; many others are highlighted with an (apple) in the margin. Furthermore, the (disc) questions will sometimes ask you to consider possible applications in your own specific circumstances as a teacher.
In addition, every chapter begins and ends with case studies. The case study at the beginning of each chapter presents an example of one or more students dealing with a particular classroom learning task. As we proceed through the chapter, we will continually relate our discussion back to this case, helping you connect chapter content to a classroom context. The case study at the end of each chapter focuses on teachers and teaching; it will help you apply ideas you have encountered in the chapter and make instructional decisions based on what you have learned. Changes in the Third Edition
Although most of the content in the second edition remains in the third, I have made several changes to reflect current trends in educational psychology and educational practice. Among the most significant changes to this revision are: the addition of three new chapters, including Learning in the Content Areas, Promoting Learning Through Student Interactions, and Students with Special Educational Needs; new and expanded topics; and a reorganization of Part 3. New Chapter on "Learning in the Content Areas"
Chapter 9 applies principles of cognitive psychology to learning reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies. Four general themes—constructive processes, the influence of prior knowledge, metacognition, and developmental differences—and many content-specific teaching strategies appear throughout the chapter. New Chapter on "Promoting Learning Through Student Interactions"
Discussion of instructional strategies has been expanded to two chapters, and Chapter 14 is now devoted exclusively to describing interactive approaches to instruction including: communities of learners, class discussions, reciprocal teaching, cooperative learning, and peer tutoring. New Chapter on "Students with Special Educational Needs"
Chapter 5 describes recent trends in special education and presents numerous strategies for teachers who work in inclusive classrooms. (The "Students in Inclusive Settings" tables that appeared in each chapter of the second edition remain in the third edition as well.) New and Expanded Topics
The third edition includes new sections on contemporary applications of Vygotsky's ideas; theoretical perspectives on language development; heredity, environment, and group differences in intelligence; how procedural knowledge is learned; critical thinking; setting events; behavioral momentum; positive behavioral support; self-regulated learning; lesson plans; direct instruction; and working effectively with parents. Discussions of other topics have, of course, been updated in keeping with recent developments in theory and research. Reorganization of Part 3
Topics related to planning for instruction-identifying instructional goals, conducting task analyses, and developing lesson plans-now appear at the beginning of Chapter 13 ("Choosing Instructional Strategies") and pave the way for the discussion of instructional strategies. Chapter 15 is now devoted entirely to the topic of "Creating and Maintaining a Productive Classroom Environment." Supplementary Materials
Numerous supplements to the textbook are available to enhance your learning and development as a teacher.
Student Study Guide. The Student Study Guide provides many support mechanisms to help you learn and study more effectively. These include focus questions to consider as you read the text, a chapter glossary, application exercises to give you practice in applying concepts and principles of educational psychology to classroom settings, answers to selected margin notes, sample test questions, and several supplementary readings.
Simulations in Educational Psychology and Research (Compact Disk). A compact disk accompanies the third edition of the textbook. This CD contains four activities that resemble actual research studies in educational psychology: "The Pendulum Experiment" (to be used with either Chapter 2 or Chapter 9); "Assessing Moral Reasoning" (to be used with Chapter 3); "Bartlett's Ghosts" (to be used with Chapter 7); and "Intuitive Physics" (to be used with Chapter 7, 8, or 9). As you use the CD, you will find yourself "participating" in the activities in much the same way that students in the original research studies did; the CD will ask you to respond to various situations and then give you feedback about your responses. The CD will also help you connect the activity with educational practice.
Companion Website. You can find the Website for Educational Psychology: Developing Learners at prenhall/ormrod. For each chapter of the book, the Website presents Key Questions that identify the chapter's central issues, a chapter glossary, key terms linked to Internet destinations, and a quick self-test (multiple-choice and essay questions that let you self-assess what you've learned). The Website also provides Syllabus Manager™, which your instructor may use to post and occasionally update the course syllabus, as well as an interactive "Message Board" through which you and your classmates can engage in discussions about chapter content.
Videotapes and MultiMedia Guide. Videos are a highly effective means of visually demonstrating concepts and principles in educational psychology. The eight videotapes that accompany this textbook portray a wide variety of teachers, students, and classrooms in action. Six videos present numerous case studies in many content domains and at a variety of grades levels. Two additional videos are: `A Private Universe" (which examines learner misconceptions in science) and Constance Kamii's "Double-Column Addition: A Teacher Uses Piaget's Theory" (which depicts a constructivist approach to teaching mathematics). Opportunities to react to these videos in class discussions will further enhance your ability to think analytically and identify good teaching practices. Your instructor will have a MultiMedia Guide to help guide and enrich your interpretation and understanding of what you see in the videos.
Instructor's Manual. Available to your instructor are suggestions for learning activities, additional "head-on" exercises, supplementary lectures, case study analyses, discussion topics, group activities, and additional media resources. These have been carefully selected to provide opportunities to support, enrich, and expand on what you read in the textbook.
Transparencies. The transparencies that your instructor may use in class will include tables and classroom exercises similar to those found in your textbook. These transparencies are designed to help you understand, organize, and remember the concepts and principles you are studying.
PowerPoint Slides and Supplementary Lectures and Activities. Your instructor may use a CD-ROM that includes PowerPoint versions of the transparencies, supplementary lectures, and activities that appear in the Instructor's Manual.
Test Bank. Many instructors use the test questions that accompany this textbook. Some items (lower-level questions) will simply ask you to identify or explain concepts and principles you have learned. But many others (higher-level questions) will ask you to apply those same concepts and principles to specific classroom situations—that is, to actual student behaviors and teaching strategies. The lower-level questions assess your basic knowledge of educational psychology. But ultimately, it is the higher-level questions that will assess your ability to use principles of educational psychology in your own teaching practice. Acknowledgments
Although I am listed as the sole author of this textbook, I have been fortunate to have had a great deal of assistance in writing it. First and foremost, I must thank my editor, Kevin Davis, whose ideas, insights, and clear commitment to the field of educational psychology have provided much of the driving force behind my writing and productivity. Kevin is a task master, make no mistake about it, and he always insists that I stretch my talents to the limit. Yet he also provides the guidance (scaffolding) I need to achieve things that initially seem so impossible. After spending countless hours working with Kevin, I can say that he is not only my editor but also my friend.
I am equally indebted to Linda Montgomery, developmental editor for the third edition, whose extensive experience as both an elementary school teacher and an editor have greatly enriched the quality of this edition. Linda's creativity, commitment to excellence, and ongoing support have always been there for me when I've needed them most. I must thank Linda Peterson as well; as developmental editor for both the first and second editions, she helped define much of the pedagogy of the book. Her continuing insistence on application, application, application! kept my focus on the things that future teachers really need to know.
Others at Merrill/Prentice Hall have also contributed in important ways. Copy editor Sue Snyder has gone through my manuscript with a fine-toothed comb and teased out many little places where the text wasn't quite right. Photography editor Nancy Ritz has located many photographs that have given life to the words on the page. And Julie Peters, as production editor for all three editions, has flawlessly coordinated and overseen the entire process of transforming a manuscript into a book—an incredibly complicated task that, in my mind, should far exceed any normal human being's working memory capacity.
In addition, many colleagues across the country have given the book a balance of perspectives that no single author could possibly do on her own. Drs. Margie Garanzini-Daiber and Peggy Cohen provided some of the ideas for ...
