The Introduction to Educational Psychology examination covers material that is usually taught in a one-semester undergraduate course in this subject. Emphasis is placed on principles of learning and cognition, teaching methods and classroom management, child growth and development, and evaluation and assessment of learning.
The examination contains approximately 100 questions to be answered in 90 minutes. Some of these are pretest questions that will not be scored. Any time candidates spend on tutorials and providing personal information is in addition to the actual testing time.
Knowledge and Skills Required
Questions on the Introduction to Educational Psychology examination require candidates to demonstrate one or more of the following abilities.
5% - Educational Aims and Philosophies
10% - Pedagogy
The examination contains approximately 100 questions to be answered in 90 minutes. Some of these are pretest questions that will not be scored. Any time candidates spend on tutorials and providing personal information is in addition to the actual testing time.
Knowledge and Skills Required
Questions on the Introduction to Educational Psychology examination require candidates to demonstrate one or more of the following abilities.
- Knowledge and comprehension of basic facts, concepts, and principles
- Association of ideas with given theoretical positions
- Awareness of important influences on learning and instruction
- Familiarity with research and statistical concepts and procedures
- Ability to apply various concepts and theories as they apply to particular teaching situations and problems
5% - Educational Aims and Philosophies
- Lifelong learning
- Moral/character development
- Preparation for careers
- Preparation for responsible citizenship
- Socialization
- Attention and perception
- Memory
- Complex cognitive processes (e.g., problem solving, transfer, conceptual change)
- Applications of cognitive theory
- Classical conditioning
- Operant conditioning
- Schedules of reinforcement
- Applications of behavioral perspectives
- Cognitive
- Social
- Moral
- Gender identity/sex roles
- Social-cognitive theories of motivation (e.g., attribution theory, expectancy-value theory, goal orientation theory, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, self-determination theory)
- Learned helplessness
- Teacher expectations/Pygmalion effect
- Anxiety/stress
- Applications of motivational theories
- Intelligence
- Genetic and environmental influences
- Exceptionalities in learning (e.g., giftedness, learning disabilities, behavior disorders)
- Ability grouping and tracking
- Classroom assessment (e.g., formative and summative evaluation, grading procedures)
- Norm- and criterion-referenced tests
- Test reliability and validity
- Bias in testing
- High-stakes assessment
- Interpretation of test results (e.g., descriptive statistics, scaled scores)
- Use and misuse of tests
10% - Pedagogy
- Planning instruction for effective learning
- Social constructivist pedagogy (e.g., scaffolding)
- Cooperative/collaborative learning
- Classroom management
- Research design (e.g., longitudinal, experimental, case study, quasi-experimental)
- Research methods (e.g., survey, observation, interview)
- Interpretation of research (e.g., correlation versus causation, descriptive statistics