P250 General Educational Psychology

educational psychology  {ed psych}  {learning sciences}  “the study of how humans learn in educational settings, the effectiveness of educational interventions, the psychology of teaching, and the social psychology of schools as organizations.” --wikipedia

educational psychology  “the study of how humans learn in educational settings, the effectiveness of educational interventions, the psychology of teaching, and the social psychology of schools as organizations.”  big questions:  How do people learn?  Where, why, and when do people learn?  What motivates people to learn?  What role does creativity play in learning?  When learning is hard, why do some people persist when others give up?

focus on learning ecologies  the college experience (including but not limited to coursework)  semiformal learning environments (museums, libraries, art galleries, etc.)  online social networks (facebook, wikipedia, etc.)  video games

key themes  learning theory: how do people learn?  higher order thinking & metacognition: How do people know what they know (& use knowledge effectively)?  creativity: what leads to divergent thinking?  motivation: what makes people persist despite obstacles?

edPsych & technology  {new media}  {networked technologies}  {social media}  Big question: How does technology change how people learn?

edPsych & HOMAGO (hanging out, messing around, & geeking out)  hanging out  “ongoing, lightweight social contact”  ex: shopping, listening to music, reading / looking at photos  messing around  experimentation / play  ex: tooling around online, making videos  geeking out  “intense commitment or engagement”  ex: writing fan fiction, designing websites

self introduction  Make a list of 2-3 things you think you “geek out” about (or have an “intense commitment or engagement” with)  Introductions—say:  Your name  Your hometown & major  One thing you geek out about that you think makes you unique in this class  If anybody else also geeks out about that thing, you have to pick something new

edPsych & HOMAGO  what kinds of learning is possible through each genre of participation? (and why?)

big idea #1: social learning  learning that:  happens collaboratively, through interactions between individuals (& culture);  has social effects (changes a community or culture); and  changes the individuals engaged in the learning activity.  Although social learning has always been around, new technologies make social learning more possible, more powerful, and more accessible to more people.

“stump the expert”  What similarities & differences were there between our lists? Why?  How was the list generating process different for the large group vs. the one expert?  What do you think was learned?

about this class  required readings  HOMAGO  research articles  wikipedia  additional online readings  lectures detail / elaborate key ideas  immersive learning experiences  game play  editing wikipedia  visiting the Wonderlab

technology requirements  you need a computer or laptop  if you don’t own a computer or laptop, you will need to use IU’s computer labs  You may bring your laptop to class  You may use other technologies when relevant & useful

assignments  require immersion + reflection  encourage creativity  encourage multimodality Choose 3:  HOMAGO personal profile  Semiformal learning environment profile  creative production + creativity fair  game play+ game fair

for next time  Be sure to buy the book!  Read “Minds on Fire” (available in Oncourse)  Read the syllabus & bring questions