FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION

PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
• Educational Psychology
• Concept & Meaning
• Role of Psychology in Pedagogy
• Role of Psychology in Evaluation
What is Psychology?
Psychology is the scientific
study of the mind and
behavior. 
The purpose of psychology is
the study of human behavior.
The psychologists are
concerned with describing,
explaining, predicting, and
evaluating (investigating) the
behavior of human being.
Educational Psychology
Educational psychology is an attempt to apply
the knowledge of psychology to the field of
Education.

It is a combination of two separate fields

Psychology and Education.

It is a distinct discipline with its own theories,

research methods, problems and techniques.

Educational Psychology is distinct from other

fields of psychology due to its focus on
understanding the process of teaching and
learning that takes place in formal
environments.
 Educational Psychology
Educational Psychology addresses two Core Questions:

1. Why do some individual learn more than others?

2. What can be done to improve that learning?
 Educational Psychology Definitions by
Philosophers
1. Skinner's View.
According to Skinner, "Educational Psychology
deals with the behavior of human beings in
educational situations."
2. Stephen's View.
According to Stephen, 'Educational Psychology
is the systematic study of the educational
growth and development of a child."
3. Judd's View.
Judd is of the view that Educational Psychology
is that science which 'explains the changes that
take place in the individuals as they pass
through the various stages of development.’
SCOPE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Educational psychology is applied to the educative process

from birth to death of an individual. The educative process
includes the following areas:
1. Learner: Developmental characteristics, individual
differences, intelligence, personal and mental health.
2. Learning Process: Psychology of learning, motivation
of learning, factors affecting learning, diagnosis of learning
problems.
3. Evaluation of Learning Performance: Use of
statistical methods in education and conducting research in
educational problems.
 Role of Psychology in Curriculum
Development
Psychology attempts to describe, explain and predict
human behavior and Educational psychology gives
us an insight into the child's development and
learning and provides various techniques
of inquiry for use in the curriculum area.

The contribution of psychological basis to curriculum

is significant and is growing.
As this is a relatively young discipline, the scope for
applying its concepts, principles, processes and values
to curriculum development is gradually increasing.
Role of Psychology in Curriculum Development
 Curriculum developers can depend upon psychology, particularly
educational psychology, for at least five areas of information.

1.
1. Educational
Educational
Objectives
Objectives

5.
5. Evaluation
Evaluation 22 Student's
Student's
Procedure
Procedure characteristics
characteristics

4
4 Teaching
Teaching 33 Learning
Learning
methods
methods process
process
Role of Psychology in Curriculum Development (Cont.)
Let us briefly examine the psychological sources that the curriculum developers can use:

1. Educational Objectives
Knowledge of the psychology of learning helps the curriculum developers to define
educational objectives suitable for various developmental levels and ages of learners.
The curriculum developers can determine whether goals and objectives are attainable or
not.
Subsequently, curriculum goals and objectives have profound influence upon the
selection of contents the for the curriculum.
2. Student/Learner Characteristics
An understanding of the nature of leaners, particularly of individual difference and
personalities will assist the curriculum making.
The study of personality can tell us weather different personalities respond to learning
experiences in different ways.
Indeed this is something the experienced teacher has long known and some teachers
have tried to accommodate these differences within their classrooms,
Similarly, an understanding of individual differences is most useful to the curriculum
developers.
Role of Psychology in Curriculum Development
(Cont.)
3. Learning Processes

Perhaps the greatest contribution that the psychology makes to curriculum is an understanding of how
people learn.

The curriculum developers, who have a sound grasp of learning and learning theory, are in a sound
position to device an appropriate curriculum for learners.
4. Teaching methods

Knowledge about the growth and development of the child has a great bearing on what to teach at given
level.

School curriculum on the whole, should aim at enabling the learners to acquire knowledge, develop
concepts and inculcate skills, attitudes, values and habits conductive to all around development of their
personality and correspond with the social, cultural, economic and environmental realities at national and
international levels.

Psychology makes a significant contribution to both the selection of learning experiences and the way
teaching is conducted in the classroom.

An understanding of Psychology is essential to the curriculum developers in devising appropriate learning
experiences, the curriculum developers should take an account of
Leaning theories
Individual difference among students
Motivational strategies
Personality
 Role of Psychology in Evaluation

5. Evaluation Procedure
The teacher wants to know how well he has done as a teacher, how well his pupils have
learned. So do his pupils and their parents. So, ultimately, does the college he enters and his
employers, and the public at large continually asks how well our schools are doing. Thus,
the teacher must test his pupils and evaluate their achievement.
Teachers prepare their own tests and administer them, as well as select and use tests made
by others. They observe the work of their students and make Judgments about it; they pass
some students and fail others. They make reports to students and parents. They prepare
records which help to decide who should be admitted to college and who should not.
The psychologist has investigated these matters, too. They have studied how to measure
the basic aptitudes of people. They have studied how to test achievement, devised
techniques for recording information gathered and for interpreting it. The teacher must
study the psychologist's findings to equip themselves to perform this task of evaluation
with professional skill.
Role of Psychology in Pedagogy
Psychologists have studied how people learn. They have investigated
the nature of motivation and its relation to learning.
They know something about how learning should be initiated.
Sometime watch a first grade teacher introduce a group of children to
the reading process. Or watch a physical education teacher giving a
first lesson to a group of children learning to swim.
If these teachers are highly skilled, they will show knowledge of
motivation and proper methods of initiating learning.
Psychologists have much to say about motivation of learning and
about drill or practice. They have formulated principles about the use
of reward and punishment. They can tell us about the material we use
in teaching, how many new vocabulary words can be used in single
lesson, what can be done to minimize forgetting.