EDU HT107: Topics in Educational Psychology

For those interested in learning in school settings, an understanding of educational psychology, including theories of how students learn and what motivates students to learn, is fundamental. This course offers a broad introduction to psychological theory and research that has attempted to better understand students' learning and motivation. The course begins with an exploration of theories of learning, including behaviorist, cognitivist, and situated perspectives. This is followed by a deep dive into motivational constructs such as self-efficacy, goal orientation, and self-determination theory. The course concludes with an examination of additional, selected topics from educational psychology that may include individual differences, gifted/talented education, ADHD, learning styles, and international/cultural differences in learning and teaching. Course readings will be grounded in theoretical and empirical literature related to theories of learning and motivation. Application of theory, including case studies, will be foundational to class sessions, as a way to ground our discussion of theory and research.