Educational Psychology Level 3

In unit one, you’ll take a look at exactly what educational psychology is, what doing this as a job really involves, and some major perspectives that might influence your work along the way. You’ll delve into the behavioural perspective, classical conditioning, along with key frameworks such as structuralism and post-structuralism. You’ll also investigate some of the theories that describe and explain the way in which children develop into adults, such as nature vs nurture, and continuity vs discontinuity.

Next, you’ll take an in-depth look at the learning process, and the role teachers play in facilitating it. You’ll examine how memory works, the role of higher order thinking, along with emotions and motivation.

In the third unit, you’ll study the difference between summative and formative assessments, and the importance of assessment in general in educational psychology. You’ll look at how to create a diverse and dynamic learning environment, and gain an appreciation of the importance of feedback.

As you move on to unit four, you’ll investigate different learning styles, and what they mean. You’ll find out how to use a VARK assessment with students, and study Honey and Mumford’s learning style categorisations.

Moving on, you’ll take a look at some behavioural psychology models, such as operant and classical conditioning. You’ll study cognitive applications to learning, and the work of psychologists such as Piaget, Vvgotsky, and Bruner.

In the sixth unit, you’ll gain an understanding of a range of learning difficulties, disabilities, and psychiatric conditions. Furthermore, you’ll learn the range of symptoms and behaviours associated with these disorders.

Next, you’ll try to define exactly what is meant by ‘challenging behaviour’, the triggers that can be associated by it, and the range of de-escalation techniques that can be used with students who exhibit this kind of behaviour.

During unit eight, you’ll investigate a range of lifespan development theories, and the complex developmental psychology models for each life stage of life.

In unit nine, you’ll study intrinsic and extrinsic motivators, what both of these terms mean in the context of educational psychology. You’ll learn about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and understand the role of emotion in motivation.

Here, you’ll look at how diversity and equality can be championed in the classroom, and how you can be considerate and inclusive of different groups and minorities.

In the final unit, you’ll be able to describe modern classroom dynamics, change and fluidity. You’ll also discover several important skills, such as active listening and communication when facilitating learning.