E-Folio Blog Question #1: Educational Psychology

The e-folio says that we need to respond to the series of questions over there. The first of these questions is: What is the role of educational psychology in understanding teaching and learning? How can we use research to understand and improve teaching?
 
Roblyer only briefly discusses educational psychology but he makes a great point about the topic. Everyone assumes that teaching is something that's successful based on the personality or presence of the individual in the teaching position (which I'm not entirely discounting and I will get back to discussing later). However, we know through years and years of research that educational instruction is something that anyone can learn to do effectively (Roblyer, 4).

By better understanding educational psychology we can better understand how human brains best learn and retain information. We can teach in the manner best suited to adapt to the psychology of our students so that they will get the most out of their educational experience. 

Research ought to be developing a sense of how we can best do instruction. Roblyer notes the idea of creating specific materials systematically structured to be uniform and effective and to help train teachers (Roblyer, 4). However, I'm skeptical of uniformity (uniformity leads to a conformity in instruction, the kind associated with standardized testing and modules).

I don't think we want to entirely discount the personality or individual style of teachers. Yes, certain fundamentals are true about effective instruction, but different content areas and different individuals will, and sometimes should, approach materials differently.

In Intro to Instruction and Assessment, Dr. Hollibush pointed out the fact that good teachers tend to fall into two categories. There are teachers who are good at creating and organizing tasks, and there are teachers who are ringmasters who can stand in front of the room and command it. The latter of those two types I feel is much more difficult to pull off. It's not only exhausting on a regular, day-to-day basis but you also have to have the personality and charisma to pull it off. This is why we don't see it all too often. 
 
However, I think that latter type is much more compelling mode of instruction. If someone had the capacity to pull off that, if they had the personality and presence to manage it, I'd let them have at it.

My point, in a roundabout way, is that we need to match up research from educational psychology with the specific kinds of teachers working. We have to find ways to use our new found understandings through educational psychology to mesh with the identities and styles of our teachers. And, of course, to those of our students. 

References:

Roblyer, M.D. (2016). Integrating Educational Technology Into Teaching (ed. 7). Boston: Pearson.