U1 Introduction to Educational Psychology

Question 1

List qualities of a good teacher

Answer 1

• Skills in communication
• Listening
• Collaboration
• Adaptability
• Empathy
• Patience

Question 2

List characteristics of effective teaching.

Answer 2

• Engaging classroom presence
• Value in real-world learning
• Exchange of best practices
• Lifelong love of learning

Question 3

What is the role of teachers in Educational Psychology?

Answer 3

Educational psychology is an important tool for teachers, as it helps them understand what students need to succeed in school and how they can teach effectively.

Teachers help students understand concepts and ideas through lectures, discussions, assignments, tests, and projects.

Question 4

How is Educational Psychology important for teachers?

Answer 4

• Understand how learning takes place, and how it should be initiated.
• Develop a student personality, as the whole educational process is for student personality development.
• How to motivate, memorize or learn
• Understand & guide students in the right direction with their abilities and individual differences
• Adjust their methodologies to the nature/demand of the learner.
• Understand how to solve learning problems of a student.
• Know how to evaluate students (whether purpose of teaching and learning has been achieved)

Question 5

What are the important methods and techniques of collecting data by researchers to conduct research studies?

Answer 5

• Introspection
• Observation
• Case Study
• Survey / Differential Method
• Scientific / Experimental Method

Question 6

Describe Introspection?

Answer 6

A method to collect data about the conscious experience of the subject.

• Means “to see with in one self or self-observation”, to understand one’s own mental health and state of mind
• Developed by structuralists in psychology who defined psychology as the study of conscious experiences of the individual.

Question 7

List advantages (merits) of introspection

Answer 7

1. Provides information on one’s own self (difficult in other methods)
2. Easy method, requires no equipment
3. A base for other methods, such as experimental & observation method

Question 8

List disadvantages (demerits) introspection

Answer 8

1. Subjective in nature & lacks scientific objectivity
2. Introspection cannot be employed on children and insane propel.
3. The human mind is not static like inanimate objects (ex. stone, chair) our mental process is under constant changes. So when one attempts to introspect, the state of mental process disappears and it becomes a retrospect.
4. Human mind is divided in two parts:
   - own mental operation
   - object to which mental operation is directed. To expect any individual to attend the workings of his own mind during a mental process, especially in a complex and emotional state such as anger or fear, is a mistaken idea.
5. There are conflicting reports on the findings collected from different introspectionist’s.

Question 9

What is the Observation method?

Answer 9

Observation = means looking outside oneself, and observing behavior.

Important method for collecting data in all types of research studies.

There are different types of observation used in research such as:
- direct or indirect
- scheduled or unscheduled
- natural or artificial
- participant and non-participant

There are two basic types of observation:

1. Natural observation
    - The observer observes the specific behavior and characteristics of subjects in natural settings
    - The subject is not aware that their behavior is being observed.
    - Natural observation can be done anywhere without any tools.

2. Participant observation
    - The observer becomes part of the group he wants to observe.
    - Observational study is important, as it produces significant results on developmental characteristics of children.
    - Observation is a scientific technique of collecting data, as results can be verified and relied on to locate behavioral problems

Question 10

List advantages (merits) of Observation

Answer 10

1. Natural & normal way of knowing the external world & also the subjects mind
2. Objective in nature & free from personal bias or prejudice
3. Suitable for children & abnormal people who can’t be examined through introspection.
4. We can observe as many children as we like using this method.
5. Can be used anytime & anywhere

Question 11

List disadvantages (demerits) of Observation

Answer 11

1. Only useful for collecting data on overt behavior which is created through different activities.
   
   • Overt behavior doesn’t provide reliable information on the internal mental process. We can only guess their mental state based on the overt behavior which might not be true.
2. Subjectivity of interpretation
   
   • Observer might interpret sensation of external stimulus based on their past experience, making it biased.
3. Subject to two types of errors:
   
   • Sampling error: due to inadequacies of selecting situation to be observed
   • Observer error: due to lack of knowledge and background of the situation to be observed.