Handbook of psychology volume 7 educational psychology

584

Research to Policy for Guiding Educational Reform

The definitions of educational psychology have been varied

over the past century of psychological research on learning, but

one commonality exists: There is widespread agreement that

educational psychology is by definition an applied science.

What that means to me is that it functions to conduct

applications-driven research, development, and evaluation in

the areas of human motivation, learning, and development. This

research creates knowledge that informs practice and can be

applied to the teaching and learning process in school settings

in ways that enhance human potential and performance.

Applications of educational psychology’s knowledge base

must of necessity acknowledge the complexities of individu-

als and the educational systems and structures within which

they operate throughout kindergarten to adult school settings.

Systemic and multidisciplinary attention to how what we

have learned about teaching and learning from diverse areas

of research—including cognitive, motivational, social, and

developmental—must be integrated with applications in

schooling areas that include curriculum, instruction, assess-

ment, teacher development, and school management (to

name a few). Those of us working in this arena must therefore

understand the context of schools as living systems—systems

that operate at personal, technical, and organizational levels

and that support personal, organizational, and community

levels of learning; this places a responsibility on those work-

ing in the field of educational psychology to have both a

breadth and depth of knowledge—not only about teaching

and learning at the individual or process levels, but also about

how this knowledge can be comprehensively integrated for

application in diverse school settings and systems.

Given its applied nature and broad function, educational

psychology also has to satisfy the tension between scientifi-

cally defensible research and research that has ecological va-

lidity in pre-K–20 school settings. This tension has been with

the field since the beginning, and we have learned much in

over a century of research. One of our biggest challenges will

be to educate others about what we have learned and in the

process help them recognize our current and future roles in

twenty-first-century educational reform efforts.

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT

LEARNING, TEACHING, COGNITION,

MOTIVATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES?

To establish a context for discussing what we have learned

that is applicable to educational reform issues, this section

begins with a brief review of major educational reform

initiatives occurring nationally and internationally in the

areas of assessment, standards, and accountability. It includes

my perceptions of how educational psychology has been in-

volved in reform movements and how the growing knowl-

edge base can address reform issues in the twenty-first

century. An example of a comprehensive project to define

and disseminate the psychological knowledge base on learn-

ing, motivation, and development is then provided. This ex-

ample involves the work of the APA Task Force on

Psychology in Education (1993) and the APA Work Group of

the Board of Educational Affairs (1997)—notably, their de-

velopment and dissemination of the Learner-Centered Psy-

chological Principles as a set of guidelines and a framework

for school redesign and reform.

Defining Educational Reform and the Status 

of Twenty-First-Century Reform Efforts

Education reform has been a topic in the forefront for educa-

tors, researchers, policy makers, and the public since the

1983 Nation at Risk report. From the 1990s into this century,

reform efforts have focused on a number of issues, including

state and national academic standards, standardized state and

national testing, and increased accountability for schools and

teachers. The overall goal of all these efforts has been to

create better schools in which more students learn to higher

levels (Fuhrman & Odden, 2001). In the process of moving

toward this goal, there has been increased recognition that

improvements are needed in instruction and professional

development and that transformed practices rather than more

of the old methods are needed. A current focus on high-stakes

testing has produced results in some schools but not in all.

There is growing recognition that many practices need to

be dramatically changed to reflect current knowledge about

learning, motivation, and development. Educators and re-

searchers are beginning to argue that a research-validated

framework is needed to guide systemic reform efforts and

that credible findings from educational psychology provide a

foundation for this emerging framework.

Links between school reform and research in educational

psychology are discussed by Marx (2000) in an introduc-

tion to a special issue of the Educational Psychologist on

this topic. He points out that over the past quarter century,

considerable progress has been made in providing new con-

ceptions, principles, and models that can guide thinking

about reforms that match what we know about learning,

motivation, and development. Applying what we know to

existing schools is not a simple matter, however, and requires

the field to navigate through political and social issues

What Have We Learned about Learning, Teaching, Cognition, Motivation, Development, and Individual Differences?

585

and to attend to the best of what we know concerning the

reciprocity of learning and change from a psychological

perspective.

For example, Goertz (2001) argues that for effective

reform we will need ways to balance compliance and flexi-

bility in implementing standards-based reform that is sensi-

tive to federal, state, and local contexts and needs. Educators

will also need ways to ensure that substantial learning oppor-

tunities are provided for all learners in the system—including

teachers, school leaders, students, and parents (Cohen &

Ball, 2001). New policies will be needed as well as increased

resources for capacity building if performance-based ac-

countability practices are to be successful (Elmore &

Fuhrman, 2001); ways to bridge the divide between sec-

ondary and postsecondary education will also be needed

(Kirst & Venezia, 2001). Wassermann (2001) contends that

the debate about the use of standardized tests to drive teach-

ing must be balanced with collaborative efforts to define what

is important to us in the education of our youth. Others are

arguing for the increased use of assessment data to guide

reform efforts, the need to attend to cultural changes, and

the importance of strengthening the role of effective leader-

ship and support for reform efforts (Corcoran, Fuhrman, &

Belcher, 2001). To support these changes, Odden (2001)

argues that new school finance models are needed to incorpo-

rate cost findings into school finance structures such that

adequate fiscal resources are available to districts and schools

for effective programs. Finally, these challenges must be met

in an era of increased localization of funding.

The Role of Educational Psychology in Reform Efforts

The past century of research on learning has journeyed

through a variety of theories that have alternately focused on

behavioral, emotional, and cognitive aspects of learning. This

range of theoretical perspectives, and the ways in which

knowledge that is derived from these theories has been ap-

plied to school and classroom practices, have had (at best) a

checkered history of successes and failures. For many educa-

tors, research-based has become a dirty word—a word that

connotes something that is here today and gone tomorrow

when the next research fad appears. Since the past decade or

two of research, the picture appears to be changing. Current

research in educational psychology is looking at learning

from a more integrative perspective.

This integrative focus—shared by many authors in this

volume—is based on a growing recognition from various

perspectives (e.g., neurological brain research, psychologi-

cal and sociological research) that meaningful, sustained

learning is a whole-person phenomenon. Brain research

shows that even young children have the capacity for com-

plex thinking (e.g., Diamond & Hopson, 1998; Jensen, 1998;

Sylwester, 1995). Brain research also shows that affect and

cognition work synergistically, with emotion driving atten-

tion, learning, memory, and other important mental activities.

Research evidence exists on the inseparability of intellect and

emotion in learning (e.g., Elias, Zims, et al., 1997; Lazarus,

2000) and the importance of emotional intelligence to human

functioning and health (e.g., Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi,

2000). For example, brain research related to emotional intel-

ligence, reported by Goleman (1995), confirms that humans

have an emotional as well as an intellectual (or analytical)

brain, both of which are in constant communication and in-

volved in learning.

Recent research highlighted by many of the chapters in

this volume is also revealing the social nature of learning. In

keeping with this understanding, Elias, Bruene-Bulter, Blum,

and Schuyler (1997) discuss a number of research studies,

including those in neuropsychology, demonstrating that

many elements of learning are relational—that is, based on

relationships. Social and emotional skills are essential for the

successful development of cognitive thinking and learning

skills. In addition to understanding the emotional and social

aspects of learning, research is also confirming that learning

is a natural process inherent to living organisms (APA Work

Group of the Board of Educational Affairs, 1997).

From my research and that of others who have ex-

plored differences in what learning looks like in and outside

of school settings, several things become obvious (e.g.,

McCombs, 2001b; Zimmerman & Schunk, 2001). Real-life

learning is often playful, recursive, and nonlinear—engaging,

self-directed, and meaningful from the learner’s perspective.

But why are the natural processes of motivation and learn-

ing seen in real life rarely seen in most school settings? Re-

search shows that self-motivated learning is only possible in

contexts that provide for choice and control. When students

have choice and are allowed to control major aspects of their

learning (such as what topics to pursue, how and when to

study, and the outcomes they want to achieve), they are more

likely to achieve self-regulation of thinking and learning

processes.

Educational models are thus needed to reconnect learners

with others and with learning—person-centered models that

also offer challenging learning experiences. School learning ex-

periences should prepare learners to be knowledge producers,

knowledge users, and socially responsible citizens. Of course,

we want students to learn socially valued academic knowledge

and skills, but is that sufficient? In the twenty-first-century

586

Research to Policy for Guiding Educational Reform

world, content is so abundant as to make it a poor foundation on

which to base an educational system; rather, context and mean-

ing are the scare commodities today. This situation alters the

purpose of education to that of helping learners communicate

with others, find relevant and accurate information for the task

at hand, and be colearners with teachers and peers in diverse set-

tings that go beyond school walls.

To move toward this vision will require new concepts

defining the learning process and evolving purpose of educa-

tion. It will also require rethinking current directions and prac-

tices. While maintaining high standards in the learning of

desired content and skills, the learner, learning process, and

learning environment must not be neglected if we are to ade-

quately prepare students for productive and healthy futures.

State and national standards, however, must be critically

reevaluated in terms of what is necessary to prepare students to

be knowledgeable, responsible, and caring citizens. Standards

must move beyond knowledge conservation to knowledge

creation and production (Hannafin, 1999). The current focus

on content must be balanced with a focus on individual

learners and their holistic learning needs in an increasingly

complex and fast-changing world.

The needs of learners are also changing and an issue of

concern given its relationships to problems such as school

dropout is that of youth alienation. Ryan and Deci (2000)

maintain that alienation in any age population is caused by

failing to provide supports for competence, autonomy, and

relatedness. Meeting these needs are also essential to healthy

development and creating contexts that engender individual

commitment, effort, and high-quality performance. Unfortu-

nately, there are too many examples in the current educa-

tional reform agenda of coercive and punitive consequences

for students, teachers, and administrators when students fail

to achieve educational standards on state and national tests.

Educational psychologists’ attention to these issues is obvi-

ous in several of the chapters in this volume.

Educational psychology’s growing knowledge base sup-

ports comprehensive and holistic educational models. A cur-

rent challenge is to find these models and link their successful

practices to what has been demonstrated relative to the

needs of learners in research on learning, motivation, and de-

velopment. The stories of teachers and other educators must

also become part of our credible evidence. For example,

Kohl, founder of the open school movement, shares his

36-year experience as a teacher working in dysfunctional,

poverty-ridden urban school districts (in Scherer, 1998). He

emphasizes the importance of teachers projecting hope—

convincing students of their worth and ability to achieve in a

difficult world. Kohl advocates what he calls personalized

learning based on caring relationship and respect for the

unique way each student perceives the world and learns.

Respecting students, honoring their perspectives, and provid-

ing quality learning are all ways that have been validated in

research from educational psychology and related fields.

Research from a multitude of studies and contexts has

demonstrated the efficacy of these strategies for engaging

students in learning communities that encourage invention,

creativity, and imagination.

The Learner-Centered Psychological Principles

In keeping with an awareness of these trends, proactive ef-

forts have been made in the past decade to make educational

psychology’s knowledge base more visible and accessible to

educators and policy makers. One such example is the work

of the American Psychological Association (APA). Begin-

ning in 1990, the APA appointed a special Task Force on

Psychology in Education, one of whose purposes was to inte-

grate research and theory from psychology and education in

order to surface general principles that have stood the test of

time and can provide a framework for school redesign and

reform. The result was a document that originally specified

twelve fundamental principles about learners and learning

that taken together provide an integrated perspective on

factors influencing learning for all learners (APA Task Force

on Psychology in Education, 1993). This document was

revised in 1997 (APA Work Group of the Board of Educa-

tional Affairs, 1997) and now includes 14 principles that are

essentially the same as the original 12 principles, except that

attention is now given to principles dealing with learning and

diversity and with standards and assessment.

The 14 learner-centered principles are categorized into

four research-validated domains shown in Table 23.1. Do-

mains important to learning are metacognitive and cognitive,

affective and motivational, developmental and social, and in-

dividual differences. These domains and the principles within

them provide a framework for designing learner-centered

practices at all levels of schooling. They also define learner-

centered from a research-validated perspective.

Defining Learner-Centered

From an integrated and holistic look at the principles, the fol-

lowing definition of learner-centered emerges: The perspec-

tive that couples a focus on individual learners (their

heredity, experiences, perspectives, backgrounds, talents,

interests, capacities, and needs) with a focus on learning (the

best available knowledge about learning and how it occurs

What Have We Learned about Learning, Teaching, Cognition, Motivation, Development, and Individual Differences?

587

TABLE 23.1

The Learner-Centered Psychological Principles

Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors

Principle 1: Nature of the learning process.

The learning of complex subject matter is most effective when it is an

intentional process of constructing meaning from information and

experience.

Principle 2: Goals of the learning process.

The successful learner—over time and with support and instructional

guidance—can create meaningful, coherent representations of 

knowledge.

Principle 3: Construction of knowledge.

The successful learner can link new information with existing knowledge

in meaningful ways.

Principle 4: Strategic thinking.

The successful learner can create and use a repertoire of thinking and

reasoning strategies to achieve complex learning goals.

Principle 5: Thinking about thinking.

Higher-order strategies for selecting and monitoring mental operations

facilitate creative and critical thinking.

Principle 6: Context of learning.

Learning is influenced by environmental factors, including culture,

technology, and instructional practices.

Motivational and Affective Factors

Principle 7: Motivational and emotional influences on learning.

What and how much is learned is influenced by the learner’s motivation.

Motivation to learn in turn is influenced by the individual’s emotional

states, beliefs, interests and goals, and habits of thinking.

Principle 8: Intrinsic motivation to learn.

The learner’s creativity, higher-order thinking, and natural curiosity all

contribute to motivation to learn. Intrinsic motivation is stimulated by

tasks that have optimal novelty and difficulty, are relevant to personal

interests, and provide for personal choice and control.

Principle 9: Effects of motivation on effort.

Acquisition of complex knowledge and skills requires extended learner

effort and guided practice. Without learners’ motivation to learn, the

willingness to exert this effort is unlikely without coercion.

Developmental and Social Factors

Principle 10: Developmental influence on learning.

As individuals develop, they encounter different opportunities and

experience different constraints for learning. Learning is most effective

when differential development within and across physical, intellectual,

emotional, and social domains is taken into account.

Principle 11: Social influences on learning.

Learning is influenced by social interactions, interpersonal relations, and

communication with others.

Individual Differences Factors

Principle 12: Individual differences in learning.

Learners have different strategies, approaches, and capabilities for learning

that are a function of prior experience and heredity.

Principle 13: Learning and diversity.

Learning is most effective when differences in learners’ linguistic, cultural,

and social backgrounds are taken into account.

Principle 14: Standards and assessment.

Setting appropriately high and challenging standards and assessing the

learner and learning progress—including diagnostic, process, and outcome

assessment—are integral parts of the learning process.

Note. Summarized from the APA Work Group of the Board of Educational

Affairs (1997, November). Learner-centered psychological principles:

Guidelines for school reform and redesign. Washington, DC: American

Psychological Association.

and about teaching practices that are most effective in

promoting the highest levels of motivation, learning, and

achievement for all learners). This dual focus then informs

and drives educational decision making. The learner-centered

perspective is a reflection in practice of the learner-centered

psychological principles in the programs, practices, policies,

and people that support learning for all (McCombs &

Whisler, 1997, p. 9).

This definition highlights that the learner-centered psy-

chological principles apply to all learners—in and outside of

school, young and old. Learner-centered is also related to the

beliefs, characteristics, dispositions, and practices of teach-

ers. When teachers derive their practices from an under-

standing of the principles, they (a) include learners in

decisions about how and what they learn and how that learn-

ing is assessed; (b) value each learner’s unique perspectives;

(c) respect and accommodate individual differences in learn-

ers’ backgrounds, interests, abilities, and experiences; and

(d) treat learners as cocreators and partners in teaching and

learning.

My research with learner-centered practices and self-

assessment tools based on the principles for teachers and stu-

dents from K–12 and college classrooms confirms that what

defines learner-centeredness is not solely a function of partic-

ular instructional practices or programs (McCombs & Lauer,

1997; McCombs & Whisler, 1997). Rather, it is a complex in-

teraction of teacher qualities in combination with characteris-

tics of instructional practices—as perceived by individual

learners. Learner-centeredness varies as a function of learner

perceptions that in turn are the result of each learner’s prior

experiences, self-beliefs, and attitudes about schools and

learning as well as their current interests, values, and goals.

Thus, the quality of learner-centeredness does not reside in

programs or practices by themselves.

When learner-centered is defined from a research perspec-

tive, it also clarifies what is needed to create positive learning

contexts and communities at the classroom and school levels.

In addition, it increases the likelihood of success for more

students and their teachers and can lead to increased clarity

about the requisite dispositions and characteristics of school

personnel who are in service to learners and learning. From

this perspective, the learner-centered principles become

foundational for determining how to use and assess the effi-

cacy of learner-centered programs in providing instruction,

curricula, and personnel to enhance the teaching and learning

process. The confirm that perceptions of the learner regarding

how well programs and practices meet individual needs are

part of the assessment of ongoing learning, growth, and

development.