Educational Psychology: Concepts, Research and Challenges

Book excerpt: Research in educational psychology has had a huge impact in terms of enhancing understanding and challenging thinking about teachers and learners. Educational Psychology: Concepts, Research and Challenges brings together the latest research across many areas of educational psychology, introducing and reporting on the most effective methodologies for studying teachers and learners and providing overviews of current debates within the field. With chapters from international authors, this academic text reveals theoretical overviews and research findings from across the field including: teaching and learning research methods motivation and instruction curriculum – reading, writing, mathematics cognition special educational needs and behaviour management sociocultural and socioemotional perspectives assessment and evaluation. Educational psychology has historically had a focus on students with particular learning needs. This book provides a discussion about the gradual movement toward inclusion and the possibility of developing a more cohesive and potentially more effective education system for all students. It also provides recent research into effective behaviour management and presents specific and valuable techniques employed in applied behaviour analysis. The contributors also deliver analysis on the motivation of students and how home and society in general can contribute towards constraining or enhancing student learning. This book is a must-read for academics, researchers, undergraduate and graduate students who recognize the substantial contribution of educational psychology to increasing our understanding of students and their learning, teachers and their teaching.