Indira Gandhi National Open University School of Health Sciences

BNS-105
Behavioural Sciences

Educational Psychology

COURSE COMMITTEE
Mrs. B. Bhattacharya Principal RAK College of Nursing New Delhi Mrs. S.A. Samuel Principal College of Nursing P.G.I., Chandigarh Dr. Madhavi Devi Sharma Ex. Principal College of Nursing AIlMS, New Delhi Block Preparation Team Dr. (Mrs.) Manju Mehta Additional Professor of Psychology AIIMS, New Delhi Dr. S.K. Verma Additional Professor of Psychology Dept. of Psychiatry P.G.I., Chandigarh Mrs. Uma Handa Reader, SOHS IGNOU Mrs. Pity Koul Lecturer, SOHS Mrs. Rita Sarkar Lecturer, SOHS Faculty Members School of Health Sciences IGNOU Prof. (Col.) P.K. Dutta Director, SOHS Mrs. Uma Handa Reader, SOHS Mrs. Pity Koul Lecturer, SOHS Mrs. Rita Sarkar Lecturer SOHS

COURSE REVISION TEAM

Dr. Manju Mehta Professor Centre for Behavioural Sciences AIIMS, New Delhi-29 Mrs. Bimla Kapoor Reader SOHS, IGNOU New Delhi-68 Mrs. Raminder Kalra Faculty RAK College of Nursing New Delhi-24

BLOCK PREPARATION TEAM

Writer Dr. R.G. Mathur Faculty RAK College of Nursing New Delhi-24 Editor Mrs. Bimla Kapoor Reader SOHS, IGNOU New Delhi-24

COORDINATION
Pror. A. K. Agarwal Director SOHS, IGNOU New Delhi-110 068 Mrs. Bimla Kapoor Course Coordinator SOHS, IGNOU New Delhi-110 068 Mrs. Bimla Kapoor Programme Coordinator SOHS, IGNOU New Delhi-110 068

PRODUCTION
Mr. Sunil Kumar Section Officer (Pub.) SOHS, IGNOU New Delhi-110 068 Mrs. Promila Soni Section Officer (Pub.) SOHS, IGNOU New Delhi -110 068

July, 2004

Indira Gandhi National Open University, 2004

ISBN-81-266All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission in writing from the Indira Gandhi National Open University. Further information about the School of Health Sciences and the Indira Gandhi National Open University courses may be obtained from the University's Office at Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110068 (India). Printed and published on behalf of the Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, by Prof. A.K. Agarwal, Director, School of Health Sciences. Paper Used: Agrobased Environment Friendly Laser Typeset: Rajshree Computers, 5A/177, W.E.A., Karol Bagh, New Delhi-110005. Printed by :

Indira Gandhi National Open University School of Health Sciences

BNS -105
Behavioural Sciences

Block

4
EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
UNIT 1 Introduction to Educational Psychology UNIT 2 Individual Differences UNIT 3 Intelligence and Abilities UNIT 4 Learning UNIT 5 Memory and Forgetting UNIT 6 Attitudes 5 13 19 32

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BLOCK INTRODUCTION
Education Psychology block is a part of your course on Behavioural Sciences. Educational psychology by its very nature is dynamic and constantly evolving from childhood till death. Man learns by his intelligence, ability and motivation. In Unit 1 you will study introduction to educational psychology. You will learn about definition and scope of educational psychology. The study of educational psychology is important as it helps you to deliver health education to patients and community. Also it helps you to act as an efficient class-room nurse educator for your nursing students. In Unit 2 you will study the individual differences. Individual differences mean physical and behavioural variations seen in all species. Knowledge of individual differences helps in clinical work and also in educational set up. In Unit 3 you are going to learn about intelligence and ability. Intelligence is the capacity of an individual to comprehend, act purposefully, and think rationally. Knowledge of intellectual functioning and its assessment is of great importance in clinical practice. Unit 4 deals with learning. Learning is central to all our behaviour and which differs from individual to individual. Here you will come to know how learning takes place and different types of learning. Unit 5 deals with memory and forgetting. Memory is the ability to remember. Memory plays a very important role in our learning and psychological growth. In this unit you will learn about the types of memory and methods to improve memory. Unit 6 deals with attitudes in which you will study about development, measurement and methods to change attitudes. Attitude is defined as the positive and negative affect for or against a psychological object or an expression of likes and dislikes.

UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION TO EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Structure
1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Objectives Introduction Definitions Scope of Educational Psychology
1.3.1 1.3.2 1.3.3 Learner Learning Process Evaluation of Learning Process

1.4

Method of Educational Psychology

1.4.1 1.4.2 1.4.3 Observation Clinical Case History Method Experimental Method

1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9

Special Education Significance of Educational Psychology to Nursing Let Us Sum Up Key Words Answers to Check Your Progress

1.0
q q q q q

OBJECTIVES
define educational psychology; list the scope of educational psychology; describe methods of studying educational psychology; explain nature and goals of special education; and explain significance of study of educational psychology to nursing.

After going through this unit, you should be able to:

1.1

INTRODUCTION

In this unit you will learn about education and its relations with psychology. You will also study about significance of educational psychology to nursing. A mother helping her child to write is teaching that child. A boy helping his friend to operate a computer is teaching. Stimulating and directing the learning of others, is teaching. Educational psychology is that branch of psychology which deals with teaching and learning. Education is a way of developing skills, attitudes, knowledge and also desirable habits. In the process of education, we try to shape the behaviour of young children for adequate adjustment. To achieve the goals of education, learners capacity and needs should be kept in mind.

1.2

DEFINITIONS

The most simple definition of educational psychology is the application of psychological finding in the field of education. Educational psychology is the systematic study of the development of the individual within the educational setting. It helps the teacher to foster harmonious overall development of the student.

Educational Psychology

Relationship of Psychology and Education Psychology as a behavioural science aims to study the behaviour. Behaviour is an action which can be seen and observed in an objective way. The basic aim of education is to modify behaviour. Any modification of behaviour presupposes a knowledge of the development of behaviour. Psychology as a science helps to understand, control and predict behaviour. Psychologists, through scientific descriptions of human behaviour and the organic and emotional requirement of the human organism, have had a profound influence upon the objectives of educations. The goal of education is to help the individual become increasingly self-directive. The teachers have a unique responsibility for teaching certain types of knowledge, skills and developing certain attitudes. Educational psychology must also include study of problems of teaching and learning, besides the learning process. Therefore, the science most basic to education is psychology. The teacher needs psychology to bridge the lives of the young and aims of education. To be a successful teacher one also need to understand the learners, just as to be a successful nurse you are required to have professional knowledge and skill as well as the knowledge about the nature of the patient. Check Your Progress 1 Define educational psychology. ...................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................................

1.3 SCOPE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Educational psychology has a vast scope because it is concerned with the education process. It deals with transmission of knowledge, nurturance of social and personal development and enhancement of motor and artistic skills. These educative process in a broad sense is a life long process. We shall now focus on the specific areas where educational psychology has very important applications, namely, i) ii) iii) Learner, Learning Process, and Evaluation of learning performance.

1.3.1 Learner
The success of education depends on adapting teaching to individual differences among learners. Educational psychology helps in understanding the developmental characteristics of the students, their individual differences related to intelligence and personality, their adjustment abilities and their attitudes towards learning. Each learner is an unique individual with different abilities, interests, ways of thinking and responding, thus these characteristics have a significant influence on ones learning styles. It is being realised that students use different learning strategies. They have different methods of, reading, interpreting and coding the information. Sometimes these strategies are useful but some students also develop pathological learning strategies. The teachers should help their students to learn to successfully control their cognitive processes including learning to learn, to remember and to think. In order to successfully pursue the goal of teaching students how to learn, it is useful to understand the learning process i.e. what goes on in the learners head during learning. To instruct effectively in the class, the teacher must understand her students, their problems and methods to modify the problem. 6

With the help of educational psychology teachers is able to understand individual differences and may adjust teaching to the needs and requirements of the class. He may also study the factors which are responsible for individual differences. He may be helpful in creating conducive environments in the schools where the students can develop their inherent potentialities to the maximum. Good mental health is very important for efficient learning. The teacher from the study of psychology can know the various factors which are responsible for the mental ill-health and maladjustments. As a teacher one may understand the causes of the problems of children which occur at different age levels and can successfully, solve them. There is a great difference in the method of solving problems of children by a trained teacher. The teacher who is familiar with the fundamental principles of human behaviour applies his knowledge of educational psychology to solve and prevent problems. You will see in the last unit (Unit 6) of this block that development of positive attitudes is also very important for effective learning and teaching process. Thus the knowledge gained here would help to develop positive attitudes towards nursing profession and as a prospective teacher this would provide you with the necessary competencies to meet the classroom challenges. With this knowledge you can increase your students motivation and change negative attitudes which interfere with the learning process. It has been recognized that personality factors contribute something beyond intellectual abilities to perform an academic task. Personality needs of the individual are of major importance to learning readiness. Studies have consistently shown the importance of the individuals value system and the controlling influence of intrinsic motivation on learning. Although it is now been shown that student does not receive stimulus from teacher alone, but selects information which best meets with his need and accord with his values. Although there have been numerous personality factors related to academic achievement but main focus has been on academic motivation and its constituentsachievements motivation, anxiety, self-concepts and locus of control. Among the most replicated results are findings concerning school-related anxiety, which show a curvilinear relationship between anxiety and performance i.e. poor performance with too little or no anxiety and also when it is too high particularly when short-term memory demands are (Sarason, 1980). Lens (1983) has demonstrated the same inverted U-shaped relationship for both test anxiety and need for achievement. Weiner (1979) has shown in several experiments that the manner in which academic performances are interpreted by individuals has a strong influence on subjective statements of affect, motivated behaviour towards tasks, and actual task performance. Internal attributions for success generate positive affect, increased effort towards tasks, and greater higher performance expectations. Some investigations have been in actual classroom contexts with teachers and students. The results have shown that poor performance patterns are often the results of interactions among classroom performance demands, lowered coping capabilities (including factors like increased anxiety and lowered efficacy expectations that reflect unfavourable self-assessments of ability), and lower levels of intellectual ability (Clifford, 1979; Schunk, 1994). Knowledge of educational psychology would help to reduce performance demands for lower ability students who appear less able to cope with traditional instruction. Some of the aspects of individual differences, intelligence and learning would be discussed in later units of this block. Details of motivation and personality have been discussed in Block 3 General Psychology.

Introduction to Educational Psychology

1.3.2

Learning Process

Learning process is how the student learns. The knowledge of educational psychology provides the knowledge of learning process in general and problems of classroom learning in particular. Our daily experiences indicate that some teacher are successful in the classroom than others. Some communicate very effectively subject- matter in the class to students and some fail irrespective of their knowledge of the subject matter. Success depends on something other than the subject. The knowledge of principles of behaviour helps to understand the behaviour of students one teaches, the developmental characteristics, their abilities, an influence and contribution of heredity and environment in the process of an individuals personality. To

Educational Psychology

instruct effectively in the class, the teacher must understand the principles of learning and various approaches to the learning process, problems of learning and their remedial measures. It also gives the knowledge of various approaches to understand the learning process, factors affecting and guidance for effective learning. The details of how we learn and remember are discussed in Units 4 and 5 of this block. For effective outcome and performance with knowledge of learning process, one can modify the method of teaching and learning. Lack of proper methods of teaching sometimes results in failure of communications in the classroom. Educational psychology gives us the knowledge of appropriate methods of teaching. It helps in developing new strategies of teaching. It is related and uses several theories of teaching-learning. The teacher must be acquainted with the knowledge of various theories in order to organise his classroom teaching. Educational psychology provides us with the knowledge of different approaches evolved to tackle the problems of teaching at different age levels. The learning environment should be such that distractions are minimized, attention of the learners could be sustained for optimum period of time. Psychological principles are also used in formulating curriculum for different stages. Needs of the students, their developmental characteristics, learning patterns and needs of the society, all these are to be incorporated in the curriculum. The curriculum in recent years includes the needs of the individual and society so that maximum transfer may occur from school to social situations. Another important contribution of educational psychology is the provision and organisation of the special education for the exceptional children (handicapped). The details about this shall be discussed in Section 1.5.

1.3.3

Evaluation of Learning Process

With the help of psychological tests learning outcomes or curriculum, course content can be evaluated. Measurement of aptitudes and any innovations introduced in teaching by the teacher should also be evaluated, as an immediate feedback and knowledge of results enhances learners motivation. Evaluation is also important for research studies. Check Your Progress 2 List the specific areas for application of educational psychology. ...................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................................

1.4 METHODS OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Educational psychology is an applied branch of general psychology, therefore, it uses the research findings and principles developed by psychologist to improve teaching learning process. The main aim of educational psychology is to develop necessary skills and competencies in the prospective teacher to enable him to understand, control and predict the behaviour of learners in educative process at different levels. To accomplish this, various methods are employed to collect data on problems of behaviour of the learners. Generally educational psychology uses similar methods as that of general psychology, like introspection, observation, experiment, case history and clinical methods, which you have already studied in Block 2. Here we shall concentrate on some specific methods used by the educational psychologist to collect data.

1.4.1

Observation

This is one of the important and basic methods for collecting data in almost all the research studies. Observation of behaviour can give useful information about learners interest, motivation and personality variables. Observation should be systematic, natural.

In natural observation we observe the specific behavioural characteristics of children or adults in natural setting. The subjects do not know that they are being observed for example observation in the ward or in the playground. In participant observation, the observer becomes the part of the group, which he wants to observe. For example you may become part of patients group to observe their attitudes towards patient care given at your hospital. Observational studies are important in studying certain developmental characteristics and to identify behavioural problems. But this method has some limitations as we can only observe behaviour, which may not always be the true behaviour in adults. Secondly interpretation in observation is subjective thus possibility of observers bias cannot be ruled out. With proper planning and precise recording some of the limitation can be overcome.

Introduction to Educational Psychology

1.4.2 Clinical Case History Method

Some students are not able to perform satisfactorily in their course. With clinical methods their problems can be studied. It could be due to emotional problems, like conflict at home, anxiety over certain issues or poor coping skills. In some cases the under achievement could be due to less intelligence. With case history interview and psychological tests, problem can be identified and modified to help the students.

1.4.3

Experimental Method

The experimental method is considered to be most useful in a certain areas of educational psychology. It is a precise planned, systematic and controlled observation as you have studied earlier in Block 2, in experimental method on there is independent variable and dependent variable and the experiment tries to study their interrelationship under controlled conditions. If you want to study the role of motivation in learning, then you would need to have two groups A and B comparable in age, intellectual level, socio-economic status and educational background. Both the groups would be given similar learning task but incentive on learning would be given to the experimental group (A), while the control group (B) gets no incentive. Learning outcome of the two groups is compared to see which group has done better. The merits of experimental method are as following: i) ii) iii) It is most systematic, provides objective and reliable information. Findings are verifiable by other investigations under identical conditions in which original experiment was conducted. Cause effect relationship can be studied and provides guidelines to solve teaching and learning problems.

The limitations of the experimental method are mainly centered around controlled conditions in which it is conducted, as some natural behaviours or total insight into the behaviour cannot be understood by experiment alone. Another problems are related to cost effectiveness in term of time and money. Check Your Progress 3 List the methods of studying educational psychology. ...................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................................

1.5 SPECIAL EDUCATION

You have earlier seen that individual differences of the learner affect the learning process and outcome of learning performance. There are numbers of children who may have any one of the 9

Educational Psychology

handicaps like hearing, speech and language, vision mental retardation, learning disability or emotional handicaps. Special Education is required for these children with special needs. It provides education in different setting in different amounts, with objectives related to individuals needs and specific age and developmental levels. Special education offers a continuous form of special teaching for children who need either special environment, special medical treatment, special methods of teaching or a special curriculum. For some handicapped children, it is needed over most of their school life; for others still (such as some ill or physically handicapped children) special education may be required during the period of months or years when their illness is being treated. Special education is also referred as remedial or compensatory education in this block. Remedial education trends to be part-time, relatively short-term and limited to specific objectives such as remedying failures or difficulty in learning certain school subjects, especially in basic educational skills. It is teaching which is additional to normal schooling rather than an alternative form of education. Compensatory education embraces a great variety of modifications of curriculum, methods of teaching, educational-social work required by pupils whose development has been retarded by cultural and social limitations. Goal of special education is to provide appropriate educational assistance for all handicaps students. Children whose learning and adjustment are hampered by personal disabilities or environment handicaps, often are seen to be having effects which spread to other aspects of their development and progress. It is part of the normal experience of teachings to meet and have to provide for such children since the majority of children with some degree of disability are catered for in ordinary classes in ordinary schools. Some require and receive special help by placement in a special class. By remedial teaching, or by the work of speech therapists, child guidance, and medical or social services. It is increasingly recognized that many of the special needs of children with one kind of major handicap are very similar to those of children with other handicaps. Thus the need for special teaching for children with mental limitations, specific learning difficulties, language and speech retardation, social and emotional handicaps occur in varying degrees in all handicapped groups and provide common elements in all forms of special teaching. Check Your Progress 4 Explain the nature and goals of special education. ...................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................................

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY TO NURSING

As you have read that educational psychology has application from the time an individual is born till he dies, so it also has significance for nursing students. The study of educational psychology would help you as a student to study more effectively, improve your memory and understand your differences from your other colleagues. With the knowledge of your capacity and ability, you can plan your academic achievements accordingly. If aspiration are set too high without matching capabilities then the result is frustration due to failure. Similarly, if aspirations or goals are lower than the capability then your motivation would also be lowered, as there would be no challenges to meet. Health Education All of you are educators in one sense or another ---- as a parent, supervisor, nurse ----- to a patient and their families demonstrating health care skills but so far you might not have undergone a formal training as an educator. This IGNOU programme you are right now undergoing is a step in that direction.

10

An emphasis on health education will not only help you in improving the quality of life of patients and communities but also reduce the cost of health care. The study of educational psychology would help you not to just act as the effective transmitter of knowledge but also as a manager and designer of health education. As there are individual differences not only in terms of type and severity of illness but also in terms of age, sex, ability, socio-cultural background, motivation, and place of education of patient and community leading you to individualize approaches to health education. Study of educational psychology would also help you to identify their health related attitudes and to modify the negative attitudes. Similarly educational psychology will also highlight to you the importance of developing within you a positive attitude towards patients, patient education, nursing care, problems of nursing care and newer technology. Later where you become a teacher, this knowledge would help you to understand your students, their problems. You would be able to teach more effectively and understand advancement in educational technology. Check Your Progress 5 Explain significance of study of educational psychology to nursing. ...................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................................

Introduction to Educational Psychology

1.7 LET US SUM UP

Educational psychology is that branch of psychology which deals with teaching and learning. Educational psychology is growing as an important area because of advancement in educational technology and realisation that all learners cannot be taught by the same methods. Learning principles can be applied to improve learning and teaching methods. Hence the scope of educational psychology extends from the learner to learning process and evaluation of the learning outcome. The specific methods used in the study of educational psychology are observation, clinical and case study method and experimental method. The study of educational psychology is important for nurses as it would help them as a learner to improve their learning and studying skills and also would prepare them to be future educators.

1.8

KEY WORDS
: An organized set of formal education and/or training intentions. Identifiable delay in normal development. In reference to mental retardation, the ages between birth and 18 years. Development of an individual that includes exposure to significant experiences. A broad term used to describe individuals whose major difficulty is managing their emotions and maintaining them within the range of acceptability. In an experimental design contrasting two groups, that group of subjects given the treatment whose effect is under investigation. A process of judgement based on comparison of a certain measurement against criteria. A general term that describes a less than normal functioning; implies injury or deficiency. 11

Curriculum

Developmental disabilities : Developmental period Education Emotionally disturbed : : :

Experimental Group

Evaluation Impairment

: :

Educational Psychology

Learning disabled

A general term used to describe individuals who demonstrate a discrepancy between the expected level of achievement and their actual achievement. Usually implied is lower-than-average ability to understand or use spoken and written language. Studying events as they occur in nature, without experimental control of variables. The individual characteristic and ways of behaving that in their organisation or patterning account for an individuals unique adjustment to his total environment. Refers to individuals with defects of the limbs or other health problems. As generally used in special education, does not include conditions such as mental retardation, emotional disturbance, blindness, deafness, or learning disabilities. A general term referring to the assistance provided for handicapped persons. It may refer to providing hearing aids, and prosthetic devices, counselling, job placement, psychological, social, and/or educational evaluations, and other related services. The mechanical (vocal) operations that produce audible, identifiable sounds and words.

Observational Method Personality

: :

Physically handicapped

Rehabilitation

Speech

1.9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Check Your Progress 1 Educational psychology is the systematic study of the development of the individual without the educational setting. It helps the teacher to foster harmonious overall development of the student. Check Your Progress 2 i) ii) iii) Learner Learning process Evaluation of learning performance

Also refer to Section 1.3. Check Your Progress 3 i) ii) iii) Observation Clinical Case History Method Experimental Method

Also refer to Section 1.4. Check Your Progress 4 Refer to Section 1.5. Check Your Progress 5 i) ii) iii) iv) 12 You can plan your academic achievements carefully. Develop positive attitudes towards patients. Understand your students and their problems. Teach more effectively.

Also refer to Section 1.6.