Office: 145 Main Hall.  I am available daily to meet with students, however my schedule is unpredictable so it is best if you call or email to make an appointment.

About this class: Educational Psychology focuses on how and why students learn, think and develop in school, and how teachers can enhance students' educational development.  We will examine a broad range of concepts, principles and theories related to teaching and learning during the semester.

There are several distinctive features about this class you should know:

1.  Psychology 370 is designed for teacher education majors, and is required by the Department of Public Instruction in Wisconsin. You are welcome to take the class if you are not an education major, but you should realize that the class is geared toward applying psychological knowledge to educational settings and solving problems related to teaching and learning.

2.  The class is offered for writing emphasis credit. I believe the course can be of value for all students, but it is not a good idea to take the class only to satisfy a writing emphasis requirement especially if you are not interested in the goals and subject matter of the course.

3.  This class requires significant work at the computer. You do not need special computer expertise to do the work, but you will use the computer to write assignments, submit course work electronically, and participate in group and class discussions on the course web site.

4.  The most distinctive feature of the class is the Problem-Based Learning format. Problem-based learning is different from many teaching approaches. Many classes are organized so that you learn the subject matter by moving from one topic to the next during the semester. Assignments and examinations cover the topics chronologically, and you might experience four, evenly spaced exams during a semester with each one covering one-fourth of the lectures and readings. In contrast, a problem-based learning (PBL) format begins with multifaceted, authentic and open-ended problems—the kinds of problems that people encounter in "real-life" settings. You learn the subject matter by working through the problems, following various paths through readings and class discussions to develop an understanding of the issues and solutions to the dilemmas.

Why PBL? I believe that a PBL approach can deepen your understanding of the subject and develop your ability to use the subject matter in new situations. To understand something deeply means that you can use it flexibly in new problem situations. PBL engages you in this activity throughout the course, and your understanding should develop as a result of working through problems with the subject matter. This is an extremely important goal for teachers. It is not enough to simply know about theories and principles; you need to be able to turn them into effective strategies and practice in the classroom. 

PBL also motivates the subject matter of the course. In other words, the subject matter of the class becomes important in order to understand and solve problems. In PBL the reason to learn the subject is to solve problems that have important meaning and consequences separate from just getting a grade.

Course Objectives. By the end of this course you should be better able to:

1. understand and use important ideas, theories, principles and concepts to solve or resolve problems related to teaching and learning.

2.communicate more effectively in writing and use writing more effectively as a way to understand the subject matter of the course.

3. appraise your own learning, thinking and ideas.

Texts.  The texts for the course are available from Textbook Rental.

1.  Blythe, Tina et. al. (1998). The Teaching for Understanding Guide. Jossey-Bass Publishers. San Francisco.

2.  Damon, William (1995). Greater Expectations: Overcoming the Culture of Indulgence in Our Homes and Schools. Free Press. New York.

3.  Kohn, Alfie (1996). Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, VA.

4.  Stevenson, Harold & Stigler, James (1993). The Learning Gap: Why Our Schools Are Failing and What We Can Learn From Japanese and Chinese Education. Summit Books. New York.

5.  Tishman, Shari, Perkins, David N., & Jay, Eileen (1995). The Thinking Classroom: Learning and Teaching in a Culture of Thinking. Allyn and Bacon, Boston.

Learning Activities.  This class includes the following types of learning activities:

1.  Problem-based learning. You will work on a number of problems and cases during the semester. Most of these will extend beyond a single class session.

2.  Interactive learning. A good deal of the course work will take place in small groups or teams.

3.  Electronic Discussions. We will use the course web site to carry on electronic discussions outside of class.

4.  Writing. You will write regularly throughout the course, both as a way to learn the course material (i.e., writing-to-learn) and as a way to communicate ideas to others (i.e., formal writing).

5. Reading. Reading is a very important part of the class, and will constitute your first exposure to much of the material.

Evaluation and Grading. Your course grade will be based on:

1.  Discussion Assignments. These are written responses to questions about the readings and problems.

2.  Problem analyses and solutions. Some assignments are specifically related to analyzing and developing solutions to the course "problems.

3.  In-class exercises and presentations. There will be exercises and presentations in class that will contribute to your course grade.

4. An authentic writing project. This is a significant formal project which I will describe in a separate handout.

I use a "criterion-referenced" grading system, judging work against a set of criteria and standards and not in relation to other students in the class. I will give you advance notice about what activities will be evaluated for grading as well as the criteria and standards for the evaluations. You will have an opportunity to decide on the relative weights for graded material. For example, you may decide to count the authentic project anywhere from 10% to 40% of your course grade.

How to do well in this class.  You would be well served to approach this class as a kind of adventure! It will be a different way to learn, and I believe the problems, cases, projects and subject matter will always be interesting and sometimes even fascinating.

Given the PBL format it would also be helpful to approach the material not as information merely to be memorized, but as ideas that can help you better understand and solve problems and dilemmas. The problems and cases will push you to rethink and revise your ideas repeatedly. There will be no "easy" answers, and that's as it should be—since educational problems rarely have easy answers. Perhaps the best way to prepare yourself is to adopt an inquiring mind. As we explore the problems we will engage in systematic inquiry—hypothesizing, collecting evidence and information, proposing solutions, testing solutions against the evidence, accepting, rejecting or revising our hypotheses and so on.

I hope you learn a lot during the semester, but most importantly I hope that you develop greater depth of understanding and a better capacity to use what you learn with skill and good judgment. To do this you need to read thoughtfully and use writing to develop your ideas, challenge yourself to go beyond the information given, ask questions, look for reasons to support your ideas, rely on your fellow classmates as resources and serve as a resource for your fellow classmates, be prepared for the unexpected, and be prepared to change your mind.

Always contact me if you are confused, have problems or need help. Don't let problems develop into bigger ones. If you have special needs, please discuss them with me.

Educational Psychology 370 as a Writing Emphasis Course

According to UW-La Crosse guidelines, writing emphasis courses require at least 50 pages of writing over the entire semester, at least 10 pages of which should be revised, polished prose. The remainder of the writing in the course is intended to enhance students' understanding and thinking. Typically, in a writing emphasis course students write frequently, and the writing may vary in length from a paragraph to a few pages. Instructors do not necessarily read or evaluate every piece of students' writing during a semester. Formal assignments that require polished prose usually involve more than one draft.

Writing enables you to formulate, discover and improve your ideas, thus making learning more personally meaningful and memorable. And, of course, writing is an important means of communicating ideas to others. A college educated person should be able to communicate clearly, precisely and cogently in writing. I hope this writing emphasis class contributes to your ability to learn and communicate through writing.

Writing activities and assignments in this class. In this class writing is an important way to learn, think and communicate your ideas. There are two major categories of writing in this course—one is writing to learn, and is intended to help you develop knowledge and understanding. For example, before class you may write about the reading material in order to organize and develop ideas in preparation for class discussion. The purpose of the writing is not to demonstrate how much you know, but to develop ideas about the topic. The second category, formal writing, is intended to communicate ideas to others. Formal writing should conform to acceptable standards and rules of style, usage and mechanical correctness, and must be adapted to the audience. Consequently, revision is an integral part of formal writing since it is important to shape and adapt your ideas to the audience. Some major differences between writing to learn and formal writing are:

Writing will be used as an integral part of learning and interacting in the course. The major types of writing will be:

1. Discussion Assignments (DA's).  These writing-to-learn assignments involve you in thinking about reading assignments and how the concepts and ideas might apply to problems in the course. Some DA's will be responses that you post to the web-based Discussion Forums, and others will be responses you send to me. I read DA's quickly to determine whether you have incorporated ideas from the readings, and responded thoughtfully to the questions or problems or whether the response is off the cuff and simply slapped together to complete the assignment. I look for thoughtfulness and careful reflection in response to the questions, problems or issues, and incorporation of concepts and ideas from the reading assignments. Discussion Assignments are not "opinion pieces" that state what you already know or believe; they are assignments in which you show the development of your ideas and thinking in light of the course material. 

2. Portfolio assessments (PA's). Several times during the semester you will assemble a portfolio of your course work and write an analysis of your learning. The portfolio is a culminating demonstration of your understanding and ability to use the concepts and ideas in the course, and reflects your progress toward the course goals. Each portfolio includes specified coursework (never throw away an assignment that you have done) and a portfolio analysis or problem. I do not grade the individual pieces in the portfolio, but the portfolio must contain all the relevant material to receive full credit. I will evaluate the portfolio analysis for a grade.

3. Authentic writing project.  The project is a substantive piece of formal writing, due at the end of the semester. You will be able to select a topic of interest, and develop the project in one of several formats that I will describe in a separate handout. 

Feedback and Guidance on written work.  Feedback is an important part of learning. In some cases I will provide individual feedback; however, it is simply impossible to give detailed individual feedback on every assignment. Much of the feedback will be directed to the class as a whole and based on patterns of thinking and ideas I see in your work.

Guidance is also important for learning. Guidance is advice intended to help you improve your work. It is impossible to give detailed guidance on every assignment, and sometimes unproductive. For example, suppose you hand in a final copy of a paper, and the instructor grades it and also gives you detailed information about how to make it stronger. It seems to me that the guidance is a little late, especially if you have no intentions of rewriting the paper.

To be most effective, guidance needs to be well timed so that you can use it in the development of your work. Moreover, it needs to make sense to you. In the past I have provided detailed written comments on drafts of papers only to find out that many students did not understand the comments or know how to use them. Consequently, I will set aside class time during the semester for feedback and guidance on important work. In these cases, I will consult with individuals or groups of students. In addition, I will try to clarify the criteria and standards for written work so that you can use them to adjust your effort. And, occasionally we will use peer review by other students as a source of feedback and guidance.