This course has an assignment that is due by 11:55 pm Central Standard Time on Wednesday night of the first week of class.  Failure to complete this assignment will result in your removal from the course for non-participation.

Eggen, Paul and Kauchak, Don.  (2020) Using Educational Psychology in Teaching (Eleventh Edition).  Pearson.  ISBN 9780135240540  

This course is a study of general psychology theories to the prospective special education teacher. There is a brief introduction to developmental stages, learning theories, individual differences, and motivation with application in the special education classroom regarding teaching methods, content presentations, and evaluation procedures. Meets MEd Standard 1.  2 Credit Hours.

Upon successful completion of the course, each participant should be able:

• to describe expert teaching and explain how expert teaching influences student learning 
• to identify factors that influence teaching in today's classroom 
• to describe the concept of development and explain how Bronfenbrenner's theory contributes to our understanding of development 
• to use Piaget's theory of intellectual development to explain events in classrooms and everyday living 
• to describe personality development and explain how it can influence academic success and success in life after school years 
• to describe culture and explain how different aspects of culture influence learning 
• to describe ways that teachers can accommodate linguistic diversity in their students 
• to describe different views of intelligence, and explain how ability grouping influences learning 
• to describe the legal basis for working with students having exceptionalities, including the provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 
• to describe the influence of modeling and the outcomes of modeling on people's behaviors 
• to describe principles of cognitive learning theory, and identify applications of the principles in classrooms and life outside school 
• to analyze factors that influence the transfer of learning 
• to describe the processes involved in knowledge construction and analyze examples that illustrate these processes 
• to define motivation and describe different theoretical explanations for learner motivation 
• to identify the learning climate variables that increase students' motivation to learn 
• to use cognitive and behavioral learning theories to explain effective interventions 
• to identify the essential characteristics of effective assessments 
• to describe assessment for student learning and explain how formative and summative assessment contribute to it 
• to describe the relationships between standards, accountability, and standardized testing 
• to describe instructor roles in standardized testing processes.