According to the American Psychological Association, “Educational psychologists apply theories of human development to understand individual learning and inform the instructional process.” Another way to say this is: educational psychologists give us an insight into how individual people’s brains process, organize and conceptualize information, as well as help us define individual needs. Teachers, instructional coaches, families and students all benefit first hand from the research of educational psychologists. Learning is a neurological, psychological, social, and emotional process. We need to understand and support the psychological aspect to successfully support a child’s learning. While I am teaching, I use educational psychology research to inform how I organize the space, what order to do activities in, how long to do an activity, how to recognize signs of learning fatigue, and which words to use in order to effectively communicate with students.

I found that organizing the space has a significant impact on my students’ learning. In the Journal of Learning Spaces, Rands and Gansemer- Toph wrote an article about the impact of learning spaces on student engagement. They stated, “ the design of the classroom space is a physical manifestation of educational theories, philosophies, and values.” According to their research, the classroom space itself can be a tool to elicit motivation and encourage active learning. They explain that space has a notable impact on our psychological processes like motivation and nervous system regulation. Their research can contribute to our understanding of how many factors need to be considered to support learning. In this article, Rands and Gansemer- Toph show how grouping desks in pods versus rows has a higher positive outcome for learning engagement. They also show that by “erasing the line” between student spaces and teacher spaces, students feel more valued and are more likely to actively participate. Educational psychology has contributed to concepts in classroom design like: multiple seating design, shared teacher and student spaces, color theory integration and sensory stations.

References:

Learning Science, McGraw Hill, www.mheducationca.com

The Room Itself is Active: How Classroom Design Impacts Student Engagement, Rands, L, Melissa, Gansemer-Toph, M, Ann, Journal of Learning Spaces, Vol. 6 No. 1

Educational Psychology Promotes Teaching and Learning, www.apa.org, 2014