Instructional Psychology

EDP 382L

Spring 2001

Instructor:	Marilla D. Svinicki
Office:	Main 2209 (The Tower)
Office Hours:	T-W-Th 1-2 or by appointment
Phone:	232-1777
Email:	msvinicki@mail.utexas.edu
Website:	www.utexas.edu/courses/svinicki/382L
Text:	National Research Council How People Learn;
	Jonassen and Land , Theoretical Foundations of Learning Environments
	Packet of readings available after start of class

Overview:

This is a course in the application of theory and research in psychology to the analysis and design of teaching and learning. While the specifics of content will vary depending on the needs of the participants, we will be aiming at the following objectives:

1. To evaluate the relevance of current trends in theory and research for the everyday needs of teaching and learning.

2. To analyze current practices in teaching and learning with regard to their basis in theory and research.

3. To evaluate instructional situations and design solutions based on theory and research findings.

4. To make a connection between current thinking about learning and your own professional needs.

Course Plan:

I am currently operating on the assumption that the participants in this class have a thorough enough grounding in human learning and development that the lower order cognitive objectives of information acquisition would be inappropriate and we can move on to discussing the higher level objectives of at least application and preferably beyond.

My current plan is to operate in two directions with regards to theory and practice. In one direction we will look at theory and research and try to analyze what they have to offer us in terms of practical strategies for instructional design. This is like learning about a new finding in research and trying to determine what its implications for you as a teacher or learner might be.

In the other direction we will look at current educational practice and try to decide whether it can be justified on the basis of theory and research. This is like learning about a new method and trying to decide if it will actually produce learning according to theory.

Assignments:

Readings: There are two levels of reading in this class. We will begin with a fairly simple and straightforward exposition of the principles of learning as provided by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Science. In reading these chapters we’ll be looking for basic guidelines about what appears to be critical for learning of various types. These readings will also be accompanied by some more expansive summaries on different topics associated with the basics that I don’t feel are covered adequately. In one instance we will use an information sharing strategy for dividing up the reading, in which small groups of four will divide up the reading and share the burden by explaining the parts each person has read to the rest of the group. I have found that this makes the reading easier and allows one to read at a greater depth of processing than if everyone tries to read everything.

In the second part of the course, we will read the Jonassen and Land book, which focuses on some of the most recent ideas related to situated learning, learning communities and the design of environments based on constructivist principles. I’ve made this change from previous years because I see a lot of development in this area both in the research literature and in the implementation of new learning environments. So I thought we should give it a try. This more complicated reading will be done in the information sharing format described above.

Connection Essays: Perhaps the most important thing you should get out of this class is how Instructional Psychology is related to your own area of study. One of the ways of fostering that goal is by making deliberate connections between what we’re reading and talking about in class and your area of interest. There will be two essays dealing with the issues outlined above. I have an example of a connections essay on the class website along with the grading criteria. These are short (3-4 pages) and due on the days shown on the calendar. Each essay will be worth 20% of the final grade.

Case study paper: For one longer written assignment, you will prepare a critique of an instructional method commonly used in your field using the checklist we have developed as a class, and you will make recommendations about improving the method on the basis of your critique. This assignment will end up being 5-6 pages and in the form of case study outlining the type of instructional situation you are analyzing and discussing how the checklist that is developed in the first part of the semester would assess the “learning worthiness” of the strategies used in this kind of a situation and make recommendations for its improvement. This paper will be worth 25% of the grade.

Specialty application paper: For the second longer written assignment (5-6 pages) I am asking you to critique the applicability of constructivist, situated cognition and learner-centered theories we’ll explore in the second part of the semester to the particular area in which you are specializing. So, for example, if you are in instructional technology, critique the degree to which the ideas of Jonassen and Land’s edited volume are useful in thinking about the design of online learning. In this case you could also write about the opportunities that online learning offers in support of the main ideas being discussed in the articles of that book. If you are in school psychology, can you see yourself helping teachers to design learner-centered environments? I am also open to other types of papers as long as they center on the way that you would use the ideas of the second half of the semester in your future professional activities. This paper would be 25% of your grade.

Participation inclass and information sharing: Because the success of the class will depend heavily on the contribution of each class member, I will make special note of attendance and participation. Participation means being present, having read the material and prepared the portion that was your responsibility and explained it to your colleagues. It also means making contributions in the form of questions or comments to further the discussion when possible. This will be worth 10% of the final grade.

Grading

The activities just described will be weighted as follows:

2 connections essays @ 20 points each	40 points
1 case study using the checklist	25 points
1 specialty application paper	25 points
Participation (attendance and involvement)	10 points

The grades themselves will fall out as A’s for those receiving 85% of the above, B’s for 70%. I doubt there will be anyone at this level falling below that line, but if it looks like you are in danger early, we’ll talk.

If you find that you are having trouble understanding the class discussions because of a lack of background in the area of learning and motivation, I recommend that you pick up any introductory educational psychology textbook and review the basics. I don’t want this to be a course in basic learning theory; I want to be able to move beyond that and into the more recent research and ideas about instructional design. If that doesn’t help, please come and talk to me early in the semester.