In this theoretical paper, I review the history of research in educational psychology that inspired Shulman's notion of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and I critically examine interpretations of PCK reflected in prominent theoretical frameworks for mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT). I propose a theory of PCK--grounded in radical…

The psychology of science is a field of research emerged in the late 80's and its basic interest is the study of the conditions determining the rise and development of scientists and researchers. However, in spite of its apparent novelty, it is feasible to find background widely disseminated in the work of previous authors. One of them is R. Ross,…

Several philosophers and psychologists of education have taken the position that wellbeing should be at theheart of our educational system, if not its primary goal. The aim of this paper is to outline, question, andchallenge this position. It starts by discussing the main approaches that consider student wellbeing as theprimary goal of the…

This paper reflects on the changes in Educational Psychology in South Africa in a ten year period (2005-2015) after the first democratic elections. It shows how Educational Psychology as a scientific discipline, and as a helping profession, has responded to the changing landscape and how the post-democracy years inspired a complete departure from…

In this paper, we discuss the historical relationship between empathy and reasoning from a historical and philosophical (continental and Western philosophy) point of view. We explain how empathy has lost its original aesthetic connotations through its journey from one language and culture to another. Nowadays, we often find a quite reduced…

This paper considers how teachers, psychologists and policymakers can respect the rights of all school students, through methods that are principled, humane, cost-effective and democratic. It examines how special educational needs and disability (SEND) services affect all school students and teachers, and their rights. The paper considers the…

In classrooms, the students spend lots of time by interacting each other. This paper debates the role of importance of the schools for rising students' social relations. Interaction between students is inevitable. That is because, they are together in projects, class discussion and peer working groups. Multicultural diverse school climates demand…

This article discusses practical and theoretical aspects related to PBL. In the first section of the article, potentials related to professional training of forthcoming educational psychologists following PBL-principles are analyzed. It is argued that PBL constitutes a good platform for creating stimulating interplays between theory and practice.…

This article overviews the theoretical and applied works of the psychologist and pedagogue Leonid Zankov. Zankov's model of teaching is based on Vygotsky's theory that appropriate teaching methods stimulate cognitive development, whose core notion is the Zone of Proximal Development. This educational psychology research was verified by large scale…

There is a breadth of psychological research that points to potential cognitive benefits of game play. Games engage and motivate learners while promoting mastery of skills and content knowledge. Further, thoughtfully applying gaming elements and structures to classroom environments, an approach called gamification, has the potential to optimize…

The psychoeducational intellectual work of Lev Vygotsky (1896-1943) provides a theoretical and sociohistorical meaning that allows you to see from a contextualized perspective the higher forms of self-regulation, conscious control and forms of self-governance. This contribution to the theory of the psychology of education is clearly consistent…

Although Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory (HNT) is one of the most prevalent theories in psychology, the authors argued that it is also one of the most misinterpreted or misrepresented, particularly in educational psychology textbooks. Therefore, after carefully reading Maslow's writings on HNT they conducted a content analysis of 18 educational…

We examined the effects of an educational psychology course on students' beliefs about motivating students. After providing opportunities to engage in systematic intentional inquiry of their beliefs about teaching and learning, we expected that students' beliefs would become more soundly based in theory and research. Following several classes on…

The study compared the academic achievement, as measured by final examination scores, of an experimental group of undergraduate educational psychology students who were provided with concrete mechanisms designed to promote metacognition and the use of specific encoding strategies to the achievement of a control group of similar students who were…

Background and purpose: Studies of education and learning that were described as experiments have been carried out in the USA by educational psychologists since about 1900. In this paper, we discuss the history of randomised trials in education in the USA in terms of five historical periods. In each period, the use of randomised trials was…