Learning Theories

Child development

Stages of child development

• Prenatal to birth – conception to birth
• Infant age – birth to 2 years
• Pre-childhood age – 2 years to 7 years
• Post childhood age – 7 years to 11/12
• Adolescence – 11/12 years to 17/18

Infant stage

Pre-childhood/early childhood

   A period of rapid physical, mental, emotional, social and language development. 

Post/middle childhood

• Begins sooner for girls than for boys.
• Understands the sexual roles.
• Begins independent thinking.
• Language develops to use apt words.
• Growth gives the ability to engage in activities in new skillfulness. 

Adolescence

Cognitive Development

• Schema – mental structures
• Adaptation – adjust according to environment
• Assimilation – using existing schema to understand new experience
• Accommodation – change of schema to understand novel experience or condition
• Equilibrium – balance between accommodation and assimilation
• Organization – balance and organize schemas until a new experience occurs 

•Sensorimotor stage (infancy): 

In this period, which has six sub-stages, intelligence is demonstrated through motor activity without the use of symbols. Knowledge of the world is limited, but developing, because it is based on physical interactions and experiences. Children acquire object permanence at about seven months of age (memory). Physical development (mobility) allows the child to begin developing new intellectual abilities. Some symbolic (language) abilities are developed at he end of this stage.

•Concrete operational stage (elementary and early adolescence): 

In this stage, characterized by seven types of conservation (number, length, liquid, mass, weight, area, and volume), intelligence is demonstrated through logical and systematic manipulation of symbols related to concrete objects. Operational thinking develops (mental actions that are reversible). Egocentric thought diminishes.

•

•Formal operational stage (adolescence and adulthood): 

In this stage, intelligence is demonstrated through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts. Early in the period there is a return to egocentric thought. Only 35 percent of high school graduates in industrialized countries obtain formal operations; many people do not think formally during adulthood.

What is Psychology?

Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental process. (the study of mind and behaviour)

Derived from the Greek words 'psyche' and 'logos'; meaning 'study of soul'

There are different branches of psychology. Basically there are two major categories as 'Pure' and 'Applied'. I)What are the branches of psychology?

 EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

a) "psychology concerned with human maturation, school learning, teaching methods, guidance, and evaluation of aptitude and progress by standardized tests" - Merriam Webster Dictionary

b) "It seems too simple to say that educational psychology is the psychology of learning and teaching, and yet a majority of educational psychologists spend their time studying ways to describe and improve learning and teaching. After reviewing the historical literature in educational psychology, Glover and Ronning (1987, p. 14) suggested that educational psychology includes topics that span human development, individual differences, measurement, learning, and motivation and is both a data-driven and a theory-driven discipline. Thus, our definition of educational psychology is the application of psychology and psychological methods to the study of development, learning, motivation, instruction, assessment, and related issues that influence the interaction of teaching and learning. This definition is broad because the potential applications of educational psychology to the learning process are immense!" - 

Educational Psychology: Effective Teaching, Effective Learning 3^rd Edition , Elliott, et. al.

It is a branch of psychology which involves in studying the learner along with the learning process of early childhood and adolescence, but includes the social, emotional and cognitive processes that are involved in learning throughout the entire lifespan. The field of educational psychology incorporates a number of other disciplines, including developmental psychology, behavioral psychology and cognitive psychology.


II) Do you think Educational Psychology is important for a teacher? Why?

When reading you should...

Hello to all, 

From today onwards you can use this blog to get help to update your knowledge on Educational Psychology. You can read and at the same time you need to contribute as well. There shall be questions added to each post. It is better if you try to answer the questions given. This will help everyone to involve in learning actively and make you feel how much you can learn from each other. 

Enjoy learning!

Esala 

Hi All :)

The most valuable time is the present. All challenges are for our own good. Challenge the challenge so that we can be successful. 

Be happy that you are lucky just because you had to study another new subject. Though you feel that this would be another challenge for you, "It is not!". Always try to be practical when considering the subject matter as this subject is a very practical one. So everyone enjoy learning via blog reading, watching videos etc. apart from my lecture sessions. 

Good luck!

Esala