Psychology and Education

Content

a) Assessing educational performance:

i) types and limitations of psychometric tests;

ii) types of performance assessments at different ages;

iii) implications of assessment and categorisation.

b) Individual differences in educational performance: cultural diversity and gender issues:

i) differences in educational performance;

ii) explanations for differential educational performance;

iii) strategies for improving educational performance.

c) Special educational needs:

i) definitions, types and assessment of special educational needs (including gifted children);

ii) causes and effects of one specific learning difficulty or disability;

iii) strategies for educating children with special needs.

d) Perspectives on learning:

i) behaviourist applications to learning;

ii) humanistic applications to learning;

iii) cognitive applications to learning.

e) Learning and teaching styles:

i) definitions, theories and measurement of learning and teaching styles;

ii) individual differences in learning and teaching styles;

iii) improving learning effectiveness (study skills).

f) Motivation and educational performance:

i) definitions, types and theories of motivation;

ii) improving motivation;

iii) motivation issues: attribution theory and learned helplessness.