Of particular interest, recurring themes in the psychology of teaching would be, for example, constructivism, cooperative learning, discovery learning, direct instruction, problem-based-learning, computer-assisted instruction, and distance education. How do these themes link to self-regulation? Recurring themes in the psychology of learning would be, for example, development (language, cognition, self esteem, social, moral, physical), self-efficacy, self-esteem, motivation, environment, family, assessment, intelligence, and so on. How do these themes link to self-regulation?

We situate the psychology of learning and teaching within such contexts as: personal experiences, worldviews, paradigms, current research, history, and so on. How do these contexts link to self-regulation? One construct which unites the various aspects of the course is "thinking--" critical thinking, creative thinking, clear thinking, ...

"Most people would rather die than think. In fact, they do." --Bertrand Russell

The various  topics may mesh with a student's graduate research plan--a plan which normally culminates in a thesis or major paper.

More specific objectives are:

1. to introduce a wide range of research ideas and topics that relate to the psychology of learning or the psychology of teaching in the context of facilitating self-regulation.

2. to examine the psychological, conceptual and empirical underpinnings of several key instructional methods (e.g., PBL, Constructivism, CAI, and Distance Education).

3. to develop expertise in critiquing research studies in a thorough, informed and scholarly manner (particularly empirical or conceptual studies that impact teaching and/or learning).

4. to provide guidance and experience in a writing genre that is characteristic of the Literature Review section of a thesis or major paper.

5. to provide models of research, philosophical underpinnings of research, research problems, research principles, research issues, and research examples, that relate to the broad field of the psychology of learning and teaching.

6. to provide resources and tools for research practices, and writing research papers.

7. to encourage high quality graduate research in teaching and learning.

Format

The course will be conducted using a conventional seminar format (i.e., lecture, discussion,  problem-based learning, seminar) as well as on-line educational variations ( www, e-mail, internet discussion threads, on-line asynchronous presentations and discussions), and your suggestions.

Focus

It is assumed that all students have taken an undergraduate course in educational psychology and have a general understanding of those areas usually addressed in such a course. (Various introductory texts are available--in-class and in the library-- and should be used where appropriate to review topics and issues, and provide a context for class work. See the attached listing of texts). We will be using these texts periodically in class to inform the discussion, to research ideas, concepts and issues, and to provide further direction. You will also be expected to draw on such texts outside of the classroom when such preparation is warranted or requested prior to a class session.

Our specific focus will be on current publications-texts, empirical studies, position papers, and opinion papers-which address select topics related to (1) the learning process, (2) the teaching process, (3) the learner, and (4) the teacher.

Assignments:

Critique an Empirical Study. A paper will be assigned for this critique. Students are expected to write a brief report on this paper (500 to 1000 words). You will aim to present the gist of the study to an uninformed reader such that the reader will know what the study is about (i.e., number and type of subjects, test measures, types of analyses, findings, strengths of the study/paper, and weaknesses) (10%).  (Discussion in class of the paper is expected for September 27th. The write-up is due October 4th, and submitted as an e-mail attachment in MS-Word or rtf format.)

Critique a Conceptual Paper. You choose a paper for this critique. Students are expected to write a brief report on this paper (500 to 1000 words). You will aim to present the gist of the paper to an uninformed reader such that the reader will know what the central concept entails, along with the strengths and weaknesses of the paper. (10%) (Discussion and write-up is due as an e-mail attachment in MS-Word or rtf format October 25th)

Presentation. Students will be required to prepare a seminar type presentation (Ideally this will involve the presentation of one or more journal articles describing empirical studies, or conceptual papers, on a particular educational topic). One paper could be distributed to the class the week prior to the presentation so that the class will be prepared to discuss the paper/s and topic. The studies selected would fit ideally into one of the topical areas addressed by educational psychology. The aim is to have one to three seminar presentation per class during the  weeks designated for seminars. (20%) Due during seminar presentations.

Research Paper. Students will be required to write a research paper on an appropriate topic for educational psychology. This research paper will review (i.e., describe each empirical study reviewed in detail--nature and number of subjects, why the study was done, the design of the study, what test instruments were used, what the results were, weaknesses in the study, etc.) and synthesize a number of existing empirical studies (7 to 10 papers) on a selected topic, along with relevant conceptual papers and position papers. The final paper is due at the last class. The paper should parallel a literature review (albeit a mini-review) similar to the literature review in major papers and theses and, therefore, should provide the student with guidance for their own future work. (50%) (Due last class)

Participation (10%)

Texts For Educational Psychology

1. R. F. Baumeister & K. D. Vohls (Eds.) (2004). Handbook of Self-Regulation, Research, Theory, and Applications. New York: The Guilford Press.

2. Any recent text in Educational Psychology (later than 2004).

General: (Various editions available in the classroom and the library)

Canadian: (Various editions available)

2. O'Donnell, A. M., D'Amico, M., Schmid, R. F., Reeve, J. & Smith, J. K. (2008). Educational Psychology (Canadian Edition). Mississauga: John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Woolfolk, Winne, Perry (2006-2010)

Bowd et al.

McCown et al.

Winzer, M.

Suggestions For Seminar Presentation Papers and/or Research Papers