Educational Psychology, EDC 241

UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA

COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION, KUMASI

DEPARTMENT OF INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES

Course Title: Educational Psychology

Course Credit: 2
Credit Code: EDC 241
Course Instructor: Nana Owusu-Banahene
Office: LTB 7, DIS Offices
Contact: 024-368-4586
Email: [email protected]
Consultation:After lectures or by appointment

Required text: Owusu-Banahene, N. O. (2008). Educational psychology: The science of

learning (3rd ed.). Kumasi, Narco Publishers

Course Description
The course is designed to expose students to the state-of-the-art concepts and issues in
educational psychology. These issues and concepts will be carefully discussed and
systematically related to everyday classroom teaching and learning situations. Students
will be exposed to some of the classical and contemporary theories of learning,
principles and practices that inform effective teaching and learning. These will include
issues of human development, various approaches to learning, motivation and learning
and classroom management and discipline.

Course Objective
The general objective of this course is to build a knowledge foundation in students’
teaching (as professional teachers and instructors) and their learning (as students and
life long learners) by heavily relying on the constructivist approach to teaching.
Students will therefore be exposed to learning theories, principles and research findings
from educational psychology.

Specifically, it is expected that by the end of the course, students will be:
• able to demonstrate a good understanding of the current issues and concepts in
educational psychology which will help students become effective teachers and
instructors and also make accurate professional decisions as seasoned teachers in
schools and instructors in any learning setting.

• be able to apply their knowledge and skills gained to improve teaching and
learning and educational delivery in educational institutions

1
 Educational Psychology, EDC 241
Course Schedule
WEEK DATE TOPIC READINGS
3 18th – 22nd Feb., 2008 Welcome and Course Introduction EPSL Chp.1
4 25th – 29th Feb., 2008 Research Methods in Educ. Psych. EPSL Chp.1
5 3rd – 7th Mar. 2008 Human Growth and Development EPSL Chp. 2
6 10th – 14th Mar. 2008 Theories of Human Development EPSL Chp. 3
7 17th – 21st Mar. 2008 Theories of Human Development EPSL Chp. 3
8 24th – 28th Mar. 2008 Behavioural Approach to Learning EPSL Chp. 4
9 31st Mar.– 4th Apr. 08 Behavioural Approach to Learning EPSL Chp. 4
Social Cognitive Approach EPSL Chp. 5
10 7 – 11 April 2008
th th
Cognitive Information Approach EPSL Chp. 6
11 14th – 18th April 2008 Cognitive Information Approach EPSL Chp. 6
Friday, 18th April ’08 CLASS QUIZ EPSL Cph 1-6
12 21st – 25th April 2008 Constructivism EPSL Chp. 7
13 28th April –2nd May Motivation and Learning EPSL Chp. 8
08
14 5th – 9th May 2008 Classroom Management EPSL Chp. 9
* EPSL – Educational psychology: The science of learning

Course Structure
The various class groups will have their lectures as stipulated on the University’s
official academic time table for this semester. The mode of instruction will be by
lectures, group discussions and readings.

Lectures. In general, lecture material will be highly related to your assigned readings
from the textbook Educational Psychology: The Science of Learning by Owusu-Banahene
(2008). Lecture synopsis will be given to the class representative to be made available to
class members prior to each class. You will benefit most from lectures if you read the
assigned readings prior to coming to class. Attendance to lectures is strongly, strongly
recommended. In case you miss a lecture, you are responsible for obtaining any
additional notes and materials provided in class from a fellow student.

Group Discussion Sections. Group discussion sections will provide you with an
opportunity to engage in small group discussions and activities. Students are advised
to quickly get their study groups or group discussion sessions active in order to discuss
the lecture notes or lecture synopsis at that level before attending lectures. This will
enable students to be abreast with and understand issues discussed in class better and
faster.

Readings. A schedule of readings from the main textbook (Owusu-Banahene, 2008)

appears on the course schedule located on page 2 of this syllabus. Occasionally, some
additional reading materials will be given to students in class to supplement the
required reading text. As noted above, you are advised to complete readings prior to
coming to class.
2
 Educational Psychology, EDC 241

Assessment Procedure
There will be three exams (one class quiz, a group project and an end of semester
examination) in this course.

Exam Day Time Location

Class Quiz Friday, 18th April 2008 06:00 – 07:00 Lecture Theatres
Group Project In course of the semester - -
Final Exam May 2008 Not known yet Lecture Theatres

The class quiz will be scored over 20 marks. It will be made up of mostly short answer
type questions. For the group project, students will be assigned to investigate into an
educational concept in a chosen school after which the group will submit its report. The
project will assessed over 20 marks. Both the quiz and the group project will form the
continuous assessment for students, which will total 40 marks. The final examination
will be written at the end of the semester in May. The examination will be made of one
hundred (100) multiple choice questions, which will scored over 60%.

A note about make-up quiz

Make-up exams will not normally be given in this course. You will only be allowed to
take a make-up exam if you can document illness, family emergencies, immovable
medical appointments, and so on, that interfere with your ability to take the regularly
scheduled exam. Make-up exams must be scheduled with the instructor. You will
receive a zero for an exam if you miss it without a legitimate reason.

A Note on Class Civility

Students are expected to assist in maintaining a classroom environment that is
conducive to learning. To assure all students have the opportunity to gain from time
spent in class, students are prohibited from engaging in any form of distraction.
Inappropriate behaviour in the classroom (such as shall result, minimally, in a request
to leave the class.

A Few tips for doing well in Educational Psychology, EDC 241

Most students are sometimes seduced into believing that because they might have done
some psychology or educational psychology at the training college or elsewhere, they
don’t need to study and prepare as rigorously for quizzes and exams in Educational
Psychology, EDC 241 as they must in other courses. Not true. Because your course
grade in large part reflects your performance on three exams, I would like to relay a few
reading and study tips.

1. Complete all reading assignments for the day on which they appear on the course
outline. That way you’ll have a way to organize and make sense of new information
that is presented in lectures.
2. Read carefully and actively, both before class and while studying for exams. That is,
to absorb and remember information for which you are held accountable on exams,
reading your text as you talk on the phone seldom ensures success. What do I mean
3
 Educational Psychology, EDC 241
by “reading carefully and actively?” For the EPSL readings, this means, use the
PQ4R method, which stands for Preview, Question, Read, Reflect, Recite and Review.
For a good explanation of each of these strategies and how to use them to your
advantage in reading and studying, refer to page 252 and 2254 of the reading text.

3. As soon as you close from lectures, take about 20-30 minutes to go back through
your notes to fill in gaps, while the lecture is still fresh in your mind. You’ll be
amazed at how much you’ll remember, and at how complete your notes will be
when you prepare for exams.

4. After you’ve studied, review with one or two other students in class (i.e., quiz each
other). The best rules of thumb for making good use of your exam preparation time
is “study alone, review together.”

6. Attend each and every class; no one can take notes for you better than you, yourself,
can. Again, you get deeper understanding and insight to most of the concept and
issues that might have confused you in your readings.

7. Office hours are scattered liberally throughout the week. Come see the instructor
with questions or concerns. It might be helpful as you read your assignments or
review your class notes to use the margins to jot down questions or sources of
confusion. From these notes, you can make a list of topics or issues about which you
would like clarification when you meet with the instructor.

Suggested Reading List

Crowl, TK et al., (1997). Educational psychology: Windows on teaching. Chicago: Brown and
Benchmark.

Elliot, SN et al., (2000). Educational psychology: Effective teaching, effective learning.

Oladele, JO (1992). Fundamental for psychology of education: A handbook for students and
teachers (3rd ed). John Lads Publishers

Owusu-Banahene, NO (2008). Educational Psychology: The science of learning (3rd ed.).

Kumasi, Narco Publishers
Santrock, JW. (2001). Educational Psychology. Boston, McGraw-Hill