Shaping the Way We Teach Through Psychology Psychology is the study of how the brain functions and the responses we, as humans, have to changes around us. Upon entering my Pre-Calculus class in the eleventh grade, I quickly realized that I had been called to become a post-secondary teacher. Psychology is used in many careers such as law, nursing, medicine, and teaching. The role of teachers is unlike any other. They need to know how to maintain order throughout their classroom, commit to their students, and realize that every student is diverse in their learning needs. Before taking Psychology 2012 at Hillsborough Community College, I never realized I would use psychology in my teaching career; however, it has become so evident to me the importance of it that I am now going to minor in Psychology as well as majoring in Mathematics Education. As we all are fully aware, each student is diverse and has special needs when it comes to learning. There are three types of learners: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Visual learners learn best when shown how to do an assignment. They prefer diagrams, pictures, and charts. Simply allowing your class to create flashcards and color coding notes can help these types of learners memorize the information. Our brain organizes information through a process. Creating flow charts will help the brain map out the information from the lesson given. Auditory learners learn best when a teacher presents information by talking to the student. When directions are read aloud, they tend to succeed. Allowing time for students to discuss the material in a group before moving on to the next is beneficial for these types of learners. Kinesthetic learners are learners who excel when engaged in the learning activity. By participating in labs, skits, and presentations, they acquire the information faster. Starting the class with a few warm up activities, next a lecture, then a classroom discussion, and wrapping up with a review will help all types of learning styles. Without the knowledge from psychologists about the different types of learners and their special needs, teachers would not know how to respond to their students who may struggle with the material given. The key aspect of teaching is engaging the students. I can testify that I learn best when the teacher is involving me, as well as others, in the assignment. Making the material personal is a useful skill and helps the students learn at a faster rate.
In a classroom, the class is a single unit, and teachers teach to the class’s needs, rather than to each individual students’ needs. I enjoy being able to work individually with students in order to cater my teaching toward each one’s specific needs so that I can instill them with passion for each subject.
Psychology is an ever growing field in today’s job field. Psychology comes from the Greek words “psych” meaning soul and “ology” meaning logic, it translates to “the science of the soul” (Ferguson). It was founded by a man named Wilhelm Wundt, he founded experimental psychology which later led to others discovering more in psychology Psychology is both a science and a profession, it is counted as a science because it’s about understanding people's behavior (Ferguson). Psychology is a great and interesting career choice for many generations
Learning styles is one of the ways schools have changed over the past couple of years in regards to diversity. The varieties of learning styles of students have become more aware to educators. There are three main learning styles; visual learning, kinesthetic learning, and auditory learning. Visual learners take up about half of student learners using textbooks, charts, course outlines, and graphs are useful instructional aides (Sadker, p. 47). Kinesthetic learning is also known as tactile learning. These students learn by hands on learning. Planning for student to have movement in class will help these learners. Our last learning style is the less of the three called auditory learning. These students learn best by hearing; they can remember the details of conversations and lectures and many have strong language skills (Sadker, p. 47). By providing a time for these students to recite the lesson themselves can support this form of learning. To be an effective teacher for all the learning style diversities means being able to be flexible and incorporate a variety of teaching techniques.
In order to be an effective teacher there needs to be an understanding that we all learn differently, this means that no single teaching strategy is effective for all students/learners all the time. This makes teaching a complex process because you need to understand and meet the requirements of all of your learners. Students learn best when they aren’t asked to simply memorise information but when they form their own understandings of what is being taught. When a student has successfully learnt a new idea they are able to then intergrate this information with their previously learnt information and make sense of it. To be an effective teacher you need to work jointly with students to asses where they are at, be able to give feedback on how the student is going and ensure that they are understanding the lesson (Killen, 2013) According to Lovat and Smith (2003) students learning must result in a change in a student’s understanding of the information being taught. In order to show understanding they must be able to share this information with others and want to learn more (Killen, 2013). In order to have a deeper understanding of what is being taught they need to be aware of the relationship that exists between what they knew previously and the new information that is being learned (Killen, 2013).. Students need to be given goals that they can achieve in order to feel a sense of mastery over their own learning, this gives students motivation that they are able to complete tasks and to keep going.
...ase. Psychologists can work in courts, laboratories, the government, or educational settings. These are other career options I should explore during my academic career so that I can be sure to find the most enjoyable career for my future. Keeping my future career in mind, it is crucial I earn the appropriate degree. This class provided me with a basic understanding of what degree I need to earn to achieve my occupational goals.
Psychology deals with the study of mental processes and a variety of behaviors. In order to fully comprehend ourselves, we need to understand the causes of our behaviors and our outlook on life. Habits and behaviors have positive and negative effects in our life. When we know ourselves and learn about our unique personality, we can develop and pursue goals. Psychology also helps us to understand other people and the differences of people. Gaining this knowledge can improve the relationships and enhance our communication skills. Throughout the psychology course I gained knowledge in various areas, and the topics that impacted me the most included: the introvert, anxiety disorders, stress management, self discipline and how to develop strong relationships.
First off, I will strive to present information in exciting and different ways. I will teach verbally, visually, and hands-on. This way of teaching increases the possibility of drawing all students’ attention, because each student has their preferred way of learning. I want to teach in this way because I understand why students lose interest in school; therefore, I want my class to be as interesting and fun as
What is psychology? “Psychology is currently defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes” (Roesch). Psychology allows us to figure out what a person is feeling and going through psychologically and it seems like a vital subject for those that will have constant interactions with people. For example, lawyers, teachers, policemen and even doctors have daily interactions with people and yet many have not even given psychology a second though after taking an introductory class in high school or college. How can a subject that focuses on the way people behave and think be regarded as just another requirement to graduate? The thought is quite unsettling and it is unfortunate that psychology has not been given the importance and recognition it deserves.
Psychology is such a broad field, which makes it hard to narrow it down to which specific job people want to go into. Along with clinical psychology, one could become an educational psychologist, or counseling psychologist just to name some. One main difference between a clinical and an educational psychologist is that an educational psychologist focuses on children. “The majority of educational psychology is geared toward children, from infancy to adolescence. It is the study of how humans learn and retain knowledge, primarily in educational settings like classrooms” (“Educational Psychology Careers”). Educational psychologist are extremely important because not everyone can retain information easily or quickly. “Many of us might take learning and education for granted. Going to class and being taught is or was just something that we did. For others, however, learning in a classroom is not so simple. For these people, school is an annoying and frustrating torture, which can often lead to behavioral issues or even the lack of an education” (“Educational Psychology Career”). Everyone is created differently, and because of that, people learn differently. When it comes to school, everyone has seen people struggle while learning. It is inevitable that people will struggle, so having an educational psychologist is needed, to help those that happen to fall into that boat. Another
Psychology explores human mental process and human behavior then tries to find a way to treat or make it better. There are different techniques and steps used to treat a patient. What really excites me is, from psychology I learn backgrounds, religious beliefs, race and other factors that determine human behavior. I learned many different disorders from this class. Everybody has some disorders in their lives. And that one little disorder can
The teacher is the head of the classroom, which mean that he/she is the example and should lead as such. Qualities like hard work, dedication and patience are all things that student can learn from their teacher. As a knowledgeable practicing professional, it is essential that he/she knows his/her content. If you do not fully understand something yourself, it could be difficult to relay it to someone else. Knowing your content also allows you to teach it in different ways to assist the needs of students learning styles. Classroom management is also a very important characteristic of an effective teacher. If you do not have good classroom management skills, knowing your content will mean nothing. This skill allows you to provide structure for your students and ensure that your time to display your content knowledge is used wisely. Having high expectation for your students is a must in the classroom. While educating, I want to help my students with personal growth. Having high expectations is the most important characteristic to me. I feel that it is most important because even if you know your content and manage your class well, if your students don’t feel like you believe in them, they will have no reason to want to work hard. Knowing that someone is cheering you on and
I want to teach students more than just the material; I want students to be able to apply skills learned in the classroom, to the real world. An important factor in teaching is to teach life skills as well as giving students the tools to survive in the real world. Teachers are like role models; at least we should look at ourselves in that way. Our job is to aid our students in becoming functional individuals in society and our experiences can be used as a guide. Taking an active part in my students learning is essential to me. Posing questions encourages students to think. This gives the students an opportunity to analyze, discuss, synthesize and apply the material in real life.
Willingham, D. (2009). What can Cognitive Psychology do for Teachers? Encyclopedia Britannica Blog. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2009/04/what-can-cognitive-psychology-do-for-teachers/.
The second step in developing an engaging lesson is to focus on the instructional strategies used to help the students understand the material. It is at this point, the teacher decides what activities they will use to help address the “big ideas” or the “essential questions”.
In this course I experienced an important change in my beliefs about teaching; I came to understand that there are many different theories and methods that can be tailored to suit the teacher and the needs of the student. The readings, especially those from Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2011), Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu, R. (2007), and Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Sinclair, C., Nanlohy, P. (2010), have helped me to understand this in particular. In composing my essay about teaching methods and other themes, my learning was solidified, my knowledge deepened by my research and my writing skills honed.