Psychology in Education

Psychology is such a massive topic I think it was hard to grasp all the areas in one module. What did strike me was when the lecturer gave an example she took from her experience in education, she said "if someone believes that they are being bullied and it is found that this is technically not the case, the students feelings are still valid and must be addressed".  In essence what one person thinks or believes may not be interpreted the same way by someone else and that we must be cognisant of this and try and understand their position.  I also found the psychology of learning particularly interesting.I did my assignment on the Millennials and their learning styles.  

‘An essential component of facilitating learning is understanding your learners. The learning styles, attitudes, and approaches of high school students differ from those of eighteen to twenty two year old college students. The styles, attitudes, and approaches of adult learners differ yet again.’ 

(Oblinger D. 2003. Educause Review, Center for Applied Research (ECAR))

'Require your students to write a Learning Contract that includes goals, objectives, assignments, and even the means by which they will demonstrate learning. The breadth of technologies now available enables students to demonstrate learning in many different ways, including text, digital presentations, discussion boards, images, charts & graphs, etc. Such choice, as provided through a learning contract, provides students with a sense of ownership over their learning, which has been shown to increase both motivation and learning (Ames & Ames, 1990; Davis, 1993; Knowles, 1986; Newcomb & Warmbrod, 1974).

This TedTalk particularly resonated with me.  It basically looks at the psychology of making sustainable changes in your life.  It takes 28-30 days to embed a habit.  Something I am going to try and share with my students - enjoy!

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/try-something-new-for-30-days-matt-cutts

As part of the psychology assignment we had to create a mindmap.  Below is the link to mind. Mind mapping is a visul form of note taking that offer an overview of a topic and its complex information allowing learners to comprehend, create new ideas and build connections. Through the use of colours, images and words, mind mapping encourages learners to begin with a central idea and expand outward to more in-depth sub-topics.

Benefits of Mind Maps

• Help learners brainstorm and explore any idea, concept, or problem
• Facilitate better understanding of relationships and connections between ideas and concepts
• Make it easy to communicate new ideas and thought processes
• Allow learners to easily recall information
• Help learners take notes and plan tasks
• Make it easy to organize ideas and concepts

This is my mind map Anne's Mind Map


I am a list creater by nature so I would like to think I have been making rather dull mindmaps for years. I think they are a very visual tool and I am determined to use the technology in the classroom.  



References

Oblinger, D (2003). “Boomers, Gen-Xers, Millennials: Understanding The New
Students,” Educause. Center for applied Research (ECAR) July/August 2003.

Retrieved May, 2014 https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0342.pdf

Ames, C., & Ames, R. (1989). Research in motivation in education. San Diego: Academic Press

Davis, B.G. (1993). Tools for teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Knowles, M. (1986). Using learning contracts. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers.