Educational Psychology

With the number of educational psychologists rising today, they are finding more and more ways to help out the students in our schools now. Many projects are being done, experiments being made, research being conducted, and tests being run so that educational psychologists can help fix problems that a lot of people are generally tending to have. They deal with many different aspects in their job from cognitive, to social, to behavioral problems or difficulties.

Educational Psychology

It is proven that we are all unique individuals, all different from one another. Included in this is the way we think and learn. While some may be able to take directions easily, and learn quickly, others may not be able to do the same. Educational psychologists help deal with this issue, and have been since the times of Democritus. Philosophers noticed learning differences and in-capabilities in some more than others. This is the job of educational psychologists today.

According to Wikipedia, the definition of educational psychology is, “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, 2005). This field of learning deals with the general population, but mostly gifted children and those with certain disabilities and the way they learn in certain settings and under certain circumstances. Educational psychology has five branches of study, CSPP, which is counseling and student personnel psychology, QME, which is quantitive methods in education, special education, school psychology, and psychological foundations of education.

Educational psychology is often mistaken as school psychology. Both are correct, but those of higher ranking in the field, such as a theorist would be addressed as an educational psychologist. Where as it would not matter as much whether a practitioner at school was referred to as an educational or school psychologist.

After obtaining a graduate degree, you may be considered an educational psychologist. “A minimum of 96 semester hours of graduate work beyond the baccalaureate or 64 semester hours beyond the masters’ degree is required for a doctoral degree. The plan of study for each student is prepared in consultation with, and must be approved by, the faculty advisor. All students are required to complete the core curriculum, appropriate work in the areas of specialization, a research project, and a doctoral dissertation” (University of Illinois at Chicago, 2005). The minimum hours towards credits to obtain a doctoral degree according to The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois:

Minimum hours

with Masters Degree Minimum hours

without Masters Degree

A. Core Curriculum 16 16

B. Specialization Requirement 24 56

C. Research Project 8 8

D. Dissertation 16 16

TOTAL 64 96

The University of Florida’s course description is, “An introduction to the application of psychology to the problems of education in a variety of educational settings. It examines the theoretical and applied aspects of learning, motivation, human development, personality, and measurement and evaluation” (University of Florida, 2002-2003).

Several universities where these classes can be taken are: Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, Widener Universtiy, Chester, PA, New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, Alliant International University, San Francisco, CA, Florida International University, Miami, FL, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, College of Saint Rose, Albany, NY, and New York University, New York, NY just to name a few. Most of these colleges have the same prerequisites and requirements to take an educational psychology class and receive a degree in the field.

Educational psychologists can do a number of various things. Some do research on the technical thinking and social aspects to a person’s learning abilities and development. They could also become consultants for producing educational tools, programs for in the classroom or courses that can be taken by future educational psychologists in training.

Like mentioned before, those whom work from grades k-12, according to Wikipedia, are called school psychologists. Those who become school psychologists are trained at higher levels, such as masters and doctoral (Wikipedia, 2005). These kinds of educational psychologists assess students in the classroom and learning environment. They also can counsel students, talk with teachers to find out what a student’s problem may seem to be in the classroom, they can provide trouble help if a student is causing a commotion, and they also learn how to correct any behavior problems that may occur.

As the years have gone by, research in educational psychology has become greater and clearer. This statement is the effect of the growth in number of people taking interest in this field of study.

“Employment for psychologists in the United States is expected to grow faster than most occupations through the year 2014, with anticipated growth of 18-26% … In recent decades the participation of women as professional researchers in North American educational psychology has risen dramatically. The percentage of female