Master of Education Developmental Psychology

What is Developmental Psychology? the scientific study of age-related changes throughout the human life span. A discipline of scientific inquiry, developmental psychology recognizes humans of all societies and cultures as beings who are “in process,” or constantly growing and changing. This discipline identifies the biological, psychological, and social aspects that interact to influence the growing human life-span process the branch of psychology that studies the social and mental development of children wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn the field of psychology that examines the impact of maturational processes and experience on behavior academics.tjhsst.edu/psych/oldPsych/ch1/terms.html Some definitions:

Why study Developmental Psychology?  Child development research can help teachers understand how children change over time and what explains the observed changes  Teachers with a solid foundation of knowledge of children’s development are more effective teachers  Schools play an important role in children’s intellectual, social and emotional development Meese & Daniels 2008

Structure CORE courses MEd 871 Educational Inquiry I MEd 872 Educational Inquiry II

This is an introductory course on research methods in educational enquiry. At the end of this course, students are expected to have some understanding of processes involved in generating and interpreting research data. This course is designed to provide skill and knowledge in the utilisation and evaluation of research. Students will be exposed to the fundamentals of research methodology. Issues involved in formulating research questions, conducting literature review, selecting research methodologies, and report writing will be introduced. Given its introductory nature, the course is not designed to equip students with the necessary skills to conduct their own empirical research studies. For students who are thinking of enrolling in the thesis option, further studies in qualitative and quantitative data analyses are encouraged. This course is not suitable for students with undergraduate training in research methodologies or for higher degree research students, that is, those enrolled in the MA, MSc, or PhD programme. It is a pre-requisite for MEd872, which will introduce different types of research methodologies designed for the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data. MEd 871 Educational Inquiry I

The aim of this course is to equip students with the abilities to understand and evaluate educational research. Students will be exposed to introductory material on study design, data evaluation, and analysis. Different types of research methodologies, designed for the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data, will be introduced. The focus this semester is on various methods in qualitative designs and aspects of experimental and quasi-experimental designs. MEd 872 Educational Inquiry II

Structure REQUIRED courses MDP 801: Social and Emotional Development of Children and Adolescents MDP 802: Child and Adolescent Cognitive Development MDP 803: Counselling Children and Adolescents

MDP 801: Social and Emotional Development of Children and Adolescents Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to: 1)explain the main features in the social and emotional development of children and adolescents; 2) discuss current issues and research related to child and adolescent development; and 3) identify research questions relevant to social and emotional development in the Singaporean context. Topics covered include the development of self-concept and self-esteem, moral development, resilience, the role of parents and peers, delinquency, the impact of Internet and video gaming, and sexuality issues.

MDP 802: Child and Adolescent Cognitive Development The course examines the development of cognitive understanding and cognitive processes from infancy through adolescence. The main goals of this course are to promote your understanding of the development of basic cognitive abilities during childhood and adolescence, to introduce you to the use of research methods in studying cognitive development, and to teach you how to apply newly learned concepts to novel and meaningful settings. Topics covered include the role of working memory in education, the information- processing approach to understanding learning, the role of motivation in cognitive development, and application of cognitive strategies to enhance learning.

MDP 803: Counselling Children and Adolescents The aim of the course is to provide students with an understanding of major current affective, cognitive, and behavioural models and how these approaches are used in counselling children and adolescents. The course also examines the development of counselling skills through the counselling process involving phases of relationship building, problem exploration and identification, goal- setting, intervention, and termination. Ethical and professional practice issues will also be discussed. NOTE: Exemptions are allowed for this module for students who have successfully completed advanced counselling courses that are deemed to be at least of a Masters standard or its equivalent.

Structure SPECIALIZATION Elective courses MEd 838: Motivation, Volition and Instruction MEd 841: Individual Differences and Learning

MEd 838 Motivation and Instruction The purpose of this course is to examine recent literature related to enhancing the motivation and instruction of students in pre-school to postsecondary classes. Cognitive strategy instruction should not be seen as and "add-on", but rather should be routinely included in ongoing instruction and that the specific strategies that are taught should be address academic tasks that children are currently confronting in schools. Thus, well-validated strategies that fit well with the curriculum will be explored with emphasis on long-term and thorough teaching in these procedures. MEd 841 Individual Differences and Learning This course aims to familiarise students with current research issues in the field of educational and cognitive psychology. Focus is on the concept of intelligence, the identification of individual differences and dynamic-interactive approaches to assessment of individual learning potential in the areas of cognitive, social and emotional development. Several intervention programs designed to modify the cognitive structure of students in classrooms and individually with diverse populations will be introduced. Hands-on sessions and case studies will be discussed and interpreted.

Structure –coursework route OPEN Elective courses Choose any TWO Masters modules offered by NIE Critical Inquiry MMM 800 This capstone course requires the participants to identify a problem which forms the focus of inquiry, locate and read the most relevant literature and undertake some data analysis (as appropriate) to generate suggested potential solution(s) to address the problem. The solution(s) should show evidence that they are able to take the available information and restructure it in an appropriate way to deal with the problem. (This course is only available to participants selecting the coursework only option.)

Structure – Dissertation route OPEN Elective course Choose any ONE Masters module offered by NIE Dissertation A research project of about 15,000 words

For further information regarding course content, please contact Associate Professor Angeline Khoo Tel: