Overview of Course

In today’s complex, technology-driven society educators around the globe are challenged as they seek to understand how to support and teach children and youth to learn to the best of their ability. In this course, we will study the principles of various learning theories and seek to understand the learning process. We will focus on how students learn and how they are influenced by cultural and social contexts and norms.

We will examine the three main philosophical frameworks under which learning theories fall: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. In order to fully understand the various theories and the concepts associated with the learning process, we will become aware and explore our own personal theory and style of learning – gaining a deeper understanding of our own backgrounds and the educational systems and classroom practices of the 12 countries we will visit during our voyage. Topics covered in Educational Psychology include the psychological conditions of effective classroom practices, assessment, understanding the needs of exceptional and diverse children, student motivation, cognition and learning, memory, and child and adolescent development.