Ashford Courses

DQ 1 Effective Teachers. This week students have learned how theories, laws, principles governing competent teachers, and beliefs are related. Using information from our reading assignment this week and reflections on your own personal experiences:

a. Describe two characteristics that competent (perhaps even outstanding) teachers possess and how they relate to student learning.

b. Provide an example that illustrates how teacher beliefs impact student learning.

DQ 2 Educational Psychology. In addition to the many tasks required of teachers, they must understand educational psychology as it relates to student gender and the various developmental stages (from childhood to adolescence). Address the following:

What is the significance of student gender in educational psychology? How does gender impact your instruction and the learning environment?

Why is understanding psychosocial stages in childhood and adolescence important?

Provide an example(s) to illustrate your points.

Week 2

DQ 1 Intelligence. There are many ways to measure the intelligence of a person. One well known method is the I.Q. testing. Take the I.Q. Test available at the I.Q. Test Labs website (http://www.intelligencetest.com/). Using your experience with this test and the information from our reading assignment this week respond to the following:

Do you agree with the results of your own I.Q. test? Why or why not?

How do you feel about the practice of I.Q. testing? What did you learn about I.Q. testing? How does your experience connect with information from the text on I.Q.?

If a parent asked you what you thought about I.Q. testing, what helpful information could you provide him/her about the variables, influences, and value of I.Q. testing? Could I.Q. testing be used as a valid tool in the teaching-learning process?

DQ 2 Intellectual Exceptionality. Legislation mandates that, wherever possible, children with exceptionalities be educated in mainstream education classrooms with other students. As a result, a teacher’s role and responsibilities have become increasingly complex. List some of the common characteristics of gifted students, and specific ways in which a teacher could accommodate the needs of a student who is gifted in the mainstream education classroom. What are some of the ways in which both high achieving students and students with disabilities are served in the mainstream classroom? Identify at least two ways both parties are served and then determine what works best for these student populations, and explain why.

Assignments

Applied Questions. Respond to at least three of the questions listed below. Your response must be in proper APA format and include evidence from the text and at least one other scholarly resource to support your answers. Your response should be no more than five pages in length (not including title and reference pages).

List some of the educational implications of the views of intelligence advanced by Cattell, Sternberg, and Gardner?

Explain why correlation does not prove causation.

Debate the merits and educational implications of the belief that intelligence is modifiable.

Using library resources, research the proposition that measured intelligence is related to family size, and birth order.

How might lessons be modified to encourage creativity in students?

Distinguish between intellectual disabilities and specific learning disabilities.

Describe the most important symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (A.D.H.D.).

Describe how multicultural education has been part of your schooling.

Week 3

DQ 1 Reinforcement and Conditioning. Reflect on your own educational experience and relate examples of classical and operant conditioning that were implemented in the classroom. Describe the experience and the outcome of its use. Give an example of negative reinforcement and punishment that you observed or were a party to. Did it impact learning in the classroom?

DQ 2Reciprocal Teaching. Watch the video “Watch & Learn: Text Comprehension” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?) and discuss how the students assume responsibility for helping one another learn. Explain how strategies used in reciprocal teaching can increase reading comprehension. How does reciprocal teaching accommodate diverse learners?

DQ 3 IDEAL Problem-Solving. In place of a written assignment this week, you will generate a problem that can be used to illustrate the IDEAL problem-solving strategy. Your problem must be aligned to learning outcome created by you.

Post your learning outcome along with your problem in your discussion post by Friday, Day 4.

Then, review several of your classmates’ problems and choose one to solve using the five steps in the IDEAL problem-solving strategy. Identify each step in the process and post your solution by Sunday, Day 6.

Week 4

DQ 1 Memory. How does understanding how memory works impact instructional strategies? Give an example of how sensory memory can be used in the classroom. Provide examples of instruction that require to the use of short-term and long-term memory. How can you aid memorization during instruction? What works best for you when required to commit facts to memory?

DQ 2 Preferred Learning Style. What is your preferred learning style? How would you outline the educational approaches most compatible with it? Can the traditional classroom environment accommodate all your needs? Describe the ideal learning environment for you and explain how it will increase your motivation and ability to learn. What obstacles would hinder the creation of your ideal learning environment?

Week 5

DQ 1 Corporal Punishment Debate. Effective teachers tend to use a variety of classroom management strategies to meet the developmental and learning needs of their students. Some states are still using corporal punishment as a form of behavior management. Watch the CBS Report, “Corporal Punishment in Schools” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?) and respond to the following questions:

Do you feel corporal punishment is an appropriate means of behavior management in schools? Why or why not?

Does corporal punishment impact a child’s psychological development? How?

Does corporal punishment align with any of the management models presented in our text?

In your opinion, what behavior management model works well?

DQ 2 To Test or Not to Test?. That is the question. In today’s educational culture, high stakes testing has caused many to question whether assessment is a necessary element of instruction. Does testing matter? Are assessment and measurement a valid tool for teaching and learning? Is there a better way to evaluate student needs? Can a teacher design effective instruction without assessing students beforehand? Why or why not? How will you diagnose your students’ needs in order to create effective instruction?

FINAL PAPER

For this Research Project, students will identify a topic, find at least five articles from scholarly sources on that topic, prepare an annotated bibliography including these articles and information about them, and summarize the research and the implications relevant to the chosen topic. Students will:

2. Self-select an educational psychology topic of interest.

3. State the reasons for their choice of topic.

4. Research this topic.

5. Answer specific questions about this topic.

6. Provide applications of this research to academic, professional, and personal work.

For example, a student interested in behavioral modification for children having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (A.D.H.D.) may conduct research and find and summarize results that a developing teacher could use to enhance the learning of children in a classroom situation. Or, alternatively, a social worker may determine that this new learning may be helpful in the development of intervention strategies for some of their potential clients.

Instructions

To complete the Research Project:
1. Select a topic of interest relevant to the field of educational psychology.

a. The topic selected for research should have a limited scope or defined specific area. 2. Write a brief introduction to this topic.

a. Explain the topic and why it was chosen. 3. Research the topic using scholarly journals.

a. Find least five articles, reports, or other resources relevant to your research topic. These resources must come from scholarly/professional journals or publications about educational psychology or education.

4. For each article, address the following:

a. Create a bibliographic citation in APA format for each article

b. Summarize the article, addressing the following questions: § Who?
§ What was done?
§ How was it done?
§ What were the findings?
§ What contributions has this research made?

c. Describe, in a meaningful and specific way, how the article contributed to your knowledge and understanding about your selected research topic.

§ Be brief, but also provide a complete explanation.

7. Critique the article: § Is the article well-written and well-researched? § Did it/does it lead to new ideas and findings in the selected research area?

8. Synthesize your understanding of the article with what you have learned throughout the course to describe the new learning that took place as a result of reading and thinking critically about the article.

c. Then, summarize the overall findings of your research including the summary, description, critique, and synthesis completed for each individual article.

d. Describe two applications this research and your deepened understanding of this educational psychology topic have to the following:

Academic goals

Personal goals

Current role (e.g., your current career, your role as a parent, your role as a community member, etc.)