One of the great things about the annual AERA convention is the chance to meet with other researchers. This year in San Francisco, a few of us discovered a connection that has led to a collaboration. All three of us teach educational psychology out of psychology departments, and we are interested in the ways that ed psych functions as both an education course and a psychology course.
We (Rachel Eells, Allison Butler, and Alexa Darby) are conducting a document analysis that examines course objectives in syllabi for educational psychology classes. In addition to finding syllabi online, we are requesting them from the members of the TEP SIG.
Spotlight On Research In Educational Psychology
Anyone interested in the stories of immigrant children and enhancing understanding within classrooms may want to check out the following recently published works: Strickland, M. J. (2012). Storylines: Listening to immigrant students, teachers, and cultural-bridge persons making sense of classroom interactions. Middle Schools Research Journal. 7(2), 77-93.
Just released by the Foundation for Child Development, with a wealth of demographic information and current insights: Hernandez, D.J. (2012). Children in Immigrant Families: Essential to America's Future. Retrieve from http://fcd-us.org/node/1232
Did You Know….
Working memory training may not be as helpful as once thought for treating reading and language disorders. Working memory training has been shown to improve performance on tasks related to the training but not on general cognitive performance. For more information regarding this topic read the following article: Melby-Lervag, M., & Hulme, C. (2012, May 21). Is working memory training effective? A meta-analytic review. Development Psychology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0028228
References
Bryan, L. A. (2003). Nestedness of beliefs: Examining a prospective elementary teacher's belief system about science teaching and learning. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 40(9), 835-868. Spillane, J. P., & Zeuli, J. S. (1999). Reform and teaching: Exploring patterns of practice in the context of na- tional and state mathematics reforms. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 21(1), 1-27. Warfield, J., Wood, T., & Lehman, J. D. (2005). Autonomy, beliefs and the learning of elementary mathematics teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(4), 439-456. Webb, N. M., Nemer, K. M., & Ing, M. (2006). Small-group reflections: Parallels between teacher discourse and student behavior in peer-directed groups. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 15(63-119). Wideen, M., Mayer-Smith, J., & Moon, B. (1998). A critical analysis of the research on learning to teach: Making the case for an ecological perspective on inquiry. Review of Educational Research, 68(2), 130-178. Yerrick, R., Parke, H., & Nugent, J. (1997). Struggling to promote deeply rooted change: The "filtering effect" of teachers' beliefs on understanding transformational views of teaching science. Science Education, 81(2), 137-159.