The word
Psychology is derived from the Greek words Psyche and logos. The former means
soul and the latter means study. In this way, Psychology literally means the study
of the soul.
To bring a certain
amount of objectivity in the definition, it is known as the study of the human
mind. It is primarily divided into either pure or applied in nature. One of the
branches of applied psychology is educational psychology.
Nature of Educational Psychology:
·
According
to Skinner, it is the branch of psychology which deals with teaching and
learning.
·
The
elements of educational psychology are the learner, the teacher, the learning
experience, the teaching experience and the learning environment.
·
Educational
Psychology studies the behavior and the experiences of the learner in response
to the learning environment.
·
It
is a positive science and the predictions made by the subject cannot be exact
as it deals with human behavior which is inherently unpredictable by nature.
·
However,
the discipline employs scientific methods and follows a scientific approach in
its study of the learner’s behavior through the responses in the learning environment.
·
Moreover,
it tries to study the subject by controlling external factors and achieves a
fair deal of success in predicting behaviors in a general sense.
·
Owing
to these qualities, educational psychology is a scientific subject.
Scope of Educational Psychology:
·
The
scope of educational psychology is
limited to its five elements of interest and their mutual interrelationships.
·
The
learner is at the pivot of the subject and the act of learning should be based
on the psychological factors like inner abilities, individual differences,
growth and development of the learner.
·
The
teacher as a facilitator of the logistics of learning and the creator of a
learning environment succeeds in his or her tasks if he or she possesses the
traits of a teacher in the personality.
·
With
respect to the learning experiences, educational psychology suggests techniques
which enhance the selection and effective acquisition of the desirable experiences
based on the principles of psychology.
·
Educational
Psychology helps the teachers in their primary job by helping them in understanding
the learners and the laws, principles, theories and concepts of learning itself.
·
They
are remembering, forgetting, perception, concept formation, thinking, reasoning,
problem solving and transfer of training.
·
The
learning environment is vital in deciding the fate of the teaching learning
experience.
·
Hence,
the subject provides knowledge of the factors which facilitate smooth functioning
of the teaching learning process through
topics like guidance and counseling, classroom dynamics and evaluation techniques.
Need of Educational Psychology:
·
To
know the learner
·
To
know once own self as a teacher
·
To
suggest effective techniques of teaching and learning experiences
·
To
create a favorable teaching environment
·
To
acquaint with the influence of heredity and environment
·
To
provide guidance
·
To
maintain discipline
·
To
make just evaluation and assessment
·
To
solve classroom issues
Conclusion: The knowledge and proper application
of the subject of educational psychology is vital in the professional growth of
a teacher and that is why is a major subject in a teacher training course.
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