Because of the importance of students' and teachers' implicit beliefs about intelligence, we designed a study to determine: (a) How is intelligence defined--as a malleable or fixed entity--in introductory educational psychology textbooks? and (b) To what extent are classroom applications of intelligence topics included in the textbooks? We…

We describe the implementation of evolving concept maps in two different graduate-level educational psychology courses: "The Adolescent Learner" and "Theories of Learning and Cognition." We provide an explicit description of how we used evolving concept maps as instructional and assessment tools in our respective classes, changes in the…

The author describes an action research project given to masters-level preservice teachers in her educational psychology classes to help them connect the theories they are learning with educational problems they have observed or experienced. Students' responses on a six-item survey indicated that they valued the better understanding of how…

Real classroom events are inherently complex and open to multiple interpretations. Narrative is therefore a vital, but underused, tool in helping future teachers understand this complexity and begin to consider the many issues involved in any one instance of teaching and learning. The author discusses how to choose rich, balanced narratives and…

This article describes the construction and development of a course assignment that uses student interviews as an instructional tool to bridge the gap between theory and practice in a graduate educational psychology course. The first part of the article describes the student interview assignment used to examine theories of motivation. The second…

Two novel technologies--digitized oral feedback on written work and the Turning Point classroom active response system--were introduced into my undergraduate educational psychology course. The cognitive and motivational academic benefits of each were compared to more traditional pedagogy over the course of one full semester. Students who received…

Although there has been research on "professional learning communities" (PLCs) in schools, little attention has been paid to them in contexts of higher education. This article chronicles the development of a PLC, involving the 18 instructors who teach educational psychology each year to 1,400 preservice teacher candidates. Through questionnaires…

In 1912 William James proclaimed that psychology and pedagogy were unquestionably intertwined and equally important foundations of effective practice. Unfortunately, many students seeking degrees in education sometimes do not recognize the importance and applicability of educational psychology to pedagogy, especially if it is taught in a way that…

Critical dialogue skills are a beneficial tool for reflective educational practice. Pre-service teachers can learn to examine underlying biases and assumptions that influence many important aspects of educational practice. Critical dialogue skills are thus of particular importance for work with diverse students and their families. This paper…

In this article, the author discusses the similarities and differences among educational psychology textbooks. Similarities among textbooks are: (1) general topics covered; (2) organizational scheme; and (3) visual appeal. Differences among textbooks are: (1) specific content; (2) writing style; (3) pedagogy; (4) design; and (5) ancillary package.…

The nature of Educational Psychology is such that the fulfillment of its primary purpose--the improvement of education--depends largely upon the effective communication and use of its findings to and by a wide variety of people outside the discipline itself; thus, it depends on the teaching of educational psychology, not only to pre-service and…