Handbook of psychology volume 7 educational psychology

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learning outcome assessments would involve a range of mem-

ory, comprehension-monitoring, motivation, goal-setting, and

adult-student or peer-student relationship variables (see chapter

by Slavin et al. in this volume). Calls also were made to merge

what we know across the domains of intelligence, cognition,

metacognition, self-regulation, motivation, and affect (see

chapters by Mayer, by McCormick, by Pintrich, and by

Sternberg in this volume). Finally, Pintrich (this volume) sug-

gests that synthesis and appraisals of generalized constructs

over extended periods and divergent situations would enhance

our knowledge of the enduring, global nature versus the domain

specificity of motivational beliefs.

PRACTICE INITIATIVES

The work of educational psychologists has transformed and

inspired educational practice and policies and has stimula-

ted dynamic instructional strategies, curriculum innovation,

and teacher education programs. Educational psychologists

also have contributed to high standards of credible pedagogi-

cal evidence. Although important cautions have been made

against blind translations to practice, educational psycholo-

gists have been at the forefront in helping to make this im-

portant knowledge base more visible and accessible to

educators and educational policy makers in the future. 

Strategies for Instruction

Instructional innovations for diverse learners and settings

have been developed through comparative studies of expert

learners engaged in cognitive pursuits, controlled experi-

ments that demonstrate gains in performance following in-

struction, and observations of exceptional teachers in

classrooms in which students prosper and develop advanced

academic skills. Content-area instruction in mathematics,

science, reading, and writing has consistently been bolstered

by research on cognitive, metacognitive, and self-regulatory

strategies that focuses on how students monitor, modify, and

adapt ongoing processes during learning (see chapters by

Mayer, by McCormick, and by Schunk & Zimmerman in this

volume). Instruction has also been influenced by sociocul-

tural studies of teaching processes that foster critical argu-

ment, cooperative learning, and individual expression (see

chapters by John-Steiner & Mahn, by Lehrer & Lesh, and by

Pressley et al. in this volume). Work on motivational and so-

cial relational strategies also have been forwarded that can

deeply influence learning behavior in the classroom (see

chapters by Pintrich; by Pianta et al.; by Wentzel; and by

McCombs in this volume). Several examples of this burgeon-

ing literature are noted in the following discussion.

Emerging strategy research in mathematics emphasize

how individual students think about concepts like units of

measure and also how students collectively come to partici-

pate in mathematical conversations and arguments in a class-

room (see chapter by Lehrer & Lesh in this volume).

Researchers of mathematics learning have moved beyond

strategies of early number and arithmetic learning; they now

include investigations of central mathematical concepts in

geometry and measurement and data modeling and statistics.

There is a strong focus on how students form mathematical

habits of mind by learning symbols and arguments. The em-

phasis is now on teaching formats that emphasize multiple

forms of mathematics rooted in practical activity and adult- or

peer-guided activity and that foster the growth of mathemati-

cal reasoning (see chapters by Lehrer & Lesh and by Mayer

in this volume). Similar strategy approaches are used exten-

sively within technological environments to foster problem-

solving and science inquiry (see chapter by Goldman-Segall

& Maxwell in this volume).

Work on literacy development is an excellent example of

psychological theory and research informing meaningful ed-

ucational practice (see chapter by Pressley in this volume).

Instructional strategies in phonemic awareness have a sub-

stantial impact on reading immediately and several years

later in comparison to other cognitive and conceptual train-

ing. Context and instructional strategies to promote infant

and toddler prelanguage (i.e., babbling, repetition, rhythm,

and tonal play) and communicative ability have focused on

important literacy prerequisites embedded in functional

adult-child relational strategies (see chapter by Goelman

et al. in this volume). As one example, early childhood re-

searchers have established that singing to infants without (vs.

with) words and using only repetitive neutral syllables appear

to concentrate their auditory attention, leading to better vocal

reproductions. The effectiveness of broad repertoires of read-

ing comprehension strategies also have been studied that

encourage students to transact with text, construct interpreta-

tions with other readers, and react to multiple perspectives

(Pressley & El-Dinary, 1997).

Integrative strategies to enhance writing have been devel-

oped that focus on planned, higher-order messaging

processes (also see chapters by McCormick and by Mayer in

this volume) and connections between discussion, collabora-

tion, reading, and writing (Flower et al., 1990). There also is

a growing emphasis on dialogue, argument, writing, and in-

scription strategies that highlight the integral connections be-

tween literacy and mathematical thinking processes (see

chapter by Lehrer & Lesh in this volume). One area for future

collaborative endeavors is the blending of effective strategies

for reading, writing, and mathematics with special attention

given to systems of inscription used in mathematics and

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Future Perspectives in Educational Psychology

literacy that help students integrate their cognitive and social

resources to better develop arguments (see chapter by Lehrer

& Lesh in this volume).

Motivational strategies have been forwarded that posi-

tively influence self-regulation of thinking and learning.

Learning engagement and achievement are thought to occur

best when children are given the choice and control to create

personally meaningful outcomes (see chapters by McCombs

and by Pintrich in this volume). Strong evidence exists to

confirm the impact of teacher attitudes, characteristics, and

connections with students that promote more persistent acad-

emic engagement and greater literacy and mathematics per-

formance (see chapters by Pianta et al. and by Wentzel in this

volume). New strategies of cooperative learning have con-

tributed to our knowledge of how to present and design group

instruction to effectively enhance learning and motivation for

a variety of learners and contexts (see chapters by Schunk &

Zimmerman and by Slavin et al. in this volume).

Although tremendous gains have been made in the design

of effective instructional strategies across the domains of re-

search reviewed here, evidence of significant short-term im-

provements must be bolstered in the future by evidence of

maintenance and generalization to group and classroom set-

tings and across domains of learning. Work is needed to de-

sign integrative and holistic strategies to enhance cognitive

and information-processing mechanisms as well as social,

motivational, and interpersonal processes that underlie

human performance. Greater understanding of student learn-

ing and development would also benefit from collaborative

endeavors across content areas on the role of conjecture,

proof, and argument in classroom discussion and in the for-

mation of relationships that promote higher engagement and

motivation. Progress in these areas will add to our ability to

design more effective strategies for instruction that capitalize

on students’ strengths and compensate for weaknesses. Con-

tinued studies of exemplary practices will help guide princi-

ples of instruction and will lead to instruction better matched

to meet the needs of the diverse student populations of the

twenty-first century.

Tensions in Designing Instruction

Current debates exist as to whether it is better to teach critical

strategies or to facilitate a student’s discovery of them. Un-

doubtedly the role of systematic instruction in identified

skills and abilities has long been a contentious issue in many

areas of study (Shulman & Keislar, 1966). Tensions between

advocates of direct versus indirect instruction are present

in discussions of content learning, self-regulatory skills, and

instructional approaches for reading and writing. On the one

hand is the notion that abilities are contained within the child

as an innate need to grow and explore, and such abilities will

unfold given supportive environments without direct inter-

vention. Constructivist theories posit that the learner actively

and consciously engages in building his or her own knowl-

edge base. On the other hand is the view that more structured

pedagogical approaches can nurture opportunities for learn-

ing and development.

Contemporary researchers appear to have moved from a

focus on settling this argument in an either-or, all-or-none

fashion to a more centrist focus. Increasingly, evidence

suggests that a multitude of cognitive and self-regulatory

processes develop more successfully over time with some di-

rect and systematic environmental intervention. Arguments

from a middle-ground stance are reflected in contemporary

views of play in education. Children are hypothesized to

construct their understanding of the world through freely ex-

pressed forms of play but also through play activity facili-

tated by teachers, who create a scaffolded environment for

inquiry (see chapter by Goelman et al. in this volume). This

centrist view also is reflected in contemporary calls for bal-

anced literacy instruction, in which explicit instruction in

critical phonological and language skills is embedded within

meaningful, contextualized, and functional contexts (see

Pressley, 1998; also see chapter by Pressley in this volume).

Finally, greater recognition of the heterogeneity within iden-

tified groups of exceptionalities also have pointed to the need

to recognize the differential effectiveness of various learning

and instructional approaches (Gagne, 1998; also see chapter

by Siegel in this volume).

The consensus view was apparent across many chapters.

Vygotskiian theoretical notions of adult guidance, scaffold-

ing, and guided learning within the zone of proximal devel-

opment (Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 1985) were referenced

in chapters on interpersonal, instructional, and relational

processes and also were vital to chapters on learning, curricu-

lum applications, and exceptional learners. Effective teachers

sensitively guide children toward important discoveries, sup-

port children’s efforts at mastery, and translate learning expe-

riences so that students gain a sense of accomplishment that

contributes to their sustained interest and desire for further

growth and mastery (see chapter by John-Steiner & Mahn in

this volume; Wertsch, 1998). Classroom practices based on

constructivist and relational notions are contributing to our

knowledge of how to create motivating, exciting, and inviting

environments that facilitate students’ achievement and social-

emotional performance (see chapters by Pianta et al. and by

Pressley et al. in this volume). Researchers in mathematics

have found important links between teaching practices that

revoice or transform student comments during discovery

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623

learning into mathematical references that draw attention to

central concepts (see chapter by Lehrer & Lesh in this volume

for more on these practices). Consequently, teachers are

learning how to balance the need for children to freely ex-

plore with their need to be encouraged by adults and provided

assistance that will help them master a range of cognitive,

metacognitive, and motivational abilities.

Teacher Impact and Preparation

Teachers create environments that nurture and enhance chil-

dren’s learning as well as their mental and moral develop-

ment. Studies of the role of the teacher have moved beyond

simple outcome assessments of student achievement. Con-

temporary research on teaching has helped delineate an es-

sential teaching knowledge-base and most recently has

shifted to studies that focus how teachers’ beliefs, values, at-

titudes, and strategies guide everyday classroom judgments

and decisions (Feiman-Nemser & Reimillard, 1996). Educa-

tional researchers have begun to recognize and assess the

multiple challenges faced by initial and veteran teachers (see

chapter by Pressley et al. in this volume; Roehrig, Pressley, &

Talotta, 2002) and increasingly are studying contexts that

foster teachers’ development and improvement—especially

during programs of initial teacher preparation (see chapter by

Whitcomb in this volume).

Contemporary work views teaching as an active, social,

and sophisticated interpretive activity reciprocally influenced

by a intricate array of person-internal and contextual vari-

ables (Darling-Hammond & Sykes, 1999). The demands of

today’s diverse and politicized climates have led researchers

to conclude that teaching is a highly challenging and complex

process (see chapter by Pressley et al. in this volume). A

growing number of studies have focused on how teachers be-

come committed to and effective at meeting individual stu-

dent needs (see chapter by Whitcomb in this volume).

Educational psychologists have helped clarify the important

role of mediated interpersonal interactions between peers,

teachers, and students (see chapters by Pianta et al.; by Slavin

et al.; and by Wentzel in this volume) and scaffolded teaching

opportunities (see chapter by John-Steiner & Mahn in this

volume). Overwhelming evidence points to improvements in

reading and writing when teachers prompt, coach, and scaf-

fold learning and personally model their own reading and

writing processes (see chapter by Pressley in this volume).

Increasingly, educational researchers have clarified the crit-

ical impact of teacher attitudes, characteristics, and classroom

management on interpersonal relations, academic engage-

ment, and achievement levels. Teachers who highlight per-

sonal goals of value, utility, and interest effect more cognitive

engagement, self-regulation, and achievement in students (see

chapters by Pintrich, by Pressley et al., and by Wentzel in this

volume). The quality of interpersonal processes and relation-

ships between students and teachers has been shown to predict

evaluations of self-efficacy and learning (see chapter by Pi-

anta, Hamre, & Stuhlman in this volume). Teachers also play a

critical role in creating equitable climates that lead to consis-

tent performance across males and females (see chapter by

Koch in this volume). Furthermore, student motivational be-

liefs have been positively enhanced through teachers’ attribu-

tional feedback, and teachers who promote strong self-efficacy

beliefs play a key role in boosting individual cognitive and

self-regulatory strategies and subsequent classwide achieve-

ment (see chapter by Pintrich in this volume).

Educational psychology researchers have begun to trans-

late current theory and models of learning into recommended

best practices for teacher education reform (see chapter by

McCombs in this volume). For example, researchers have

recommended that new teachers be trained on how to incor-

porate effective, empirically validated practices (i.e., cooper-

ative learning) in the classroom (see chapter by Slavin et al.

in this volume). McCormick (this volume, citing Hartman,

2001) stresses the need to prepare teachers to teach with and

for metacognition. The former refers to getting teachers to

use metacognitive processes to enhance their own learning

through reflection on their goals for teaching and on student

characteristics in relation to these goals. The latter refers to

making teachers aware of how to activate metacognitive

processes in their students and infuse these principles into

their daily instruction. It is also clear that pedagogical content

knowledge alone is insufficient for producing competent

teachers. Just as critical to a teacher’s success is the ability to

manage the flow of information in a classroom—especially

in the diverse and intellectually heterogeneous classrooms of

today’s society (see chapter by Pressley et al. in this volume).

Teachers need to become more aware of their own attitudes

and beliefs and recognize their role as relationship builders in

making personal connections among and with students (see

chapter by Pianta et al. in this volume) and in creating cultur-

ally relevant (see chapter by John-Steiner & Mahn in this vol-

ume) and gender-equitable classroom climates (see chapter

by Koch in this volume). Teachers also must know how to

produce challenging and positive learning and interpersonal

climates. Climates that encourage choice, self-control, and

self-reflective thinking (see chapter by McCombs in this vol-

ume) and foster proof-based discussions in which cycles of

conjecture and revision in light of evidence is promoted (see

chapter by Lehrer & Lesh in this volume) have been found to

promote literacy processes and mathematical understanding

in students of all ages.

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Future Perspectives in Educational Psychology

Whitcomb (this volume) reviews the growing literature on

how new teacher candidates develop such views of teaching

and teaching practice. She also points to the ongoing politi-

cized debates about the best means of changing and directing

the practice of teaching—especially during initial teacher

preparation programs. Growing evidence exists that initial

teacher preparation programs must do more to ensure that

teachers are able to flexibly respond and effectively adapt

classroom instruction to meet diverse student needs (Kennedy,

1999). The most promising models of initial teacher prepara-

tion emphasize modeling of newly learned practices in au-

thentic contexts, encourage constructive evaluations of

personal judgment and decision-making, and incorporate re-

flective discussions with communities of experienced teach-

ers (Borko & Putnam, 1996; Putnam & Borko, 2000).

However, Whitcomb (this volume) and others have called for

more comprehensive and rigorous studies designed to help

clarify how knowledge, beliefs, and values filter an initial

teacher candidate’s perceptions, interpretations, and subse-

quent responses to classroom events. It remains to be seen

whether currently proposed teacher preparation reforms trans-

late to modifications in actual teaching practice and ultimately

to impacts on student achievement.

It is very likely that in the future, educational research will

be more effectively translated into preservice and in-service

teacher preparation programs. Indeed, teachers need to be

viewed as continuing learners whose own performance and

professional development should mirror the best of what we

know about learning, motivation, and development (see

chapter by McCombs in this volume). Until recently, re-

searchers knew little about which issues and topics were en-

tering into the lexicon of teaching practice or why certain

information entered and not others. Whitcomb (this volume)

predicts that future teacher training and development models

will seek to build a richer conceptual content knowledge, a

deeper appreciation of and belief system about the pedagogy

of teaching, and a broader array of instructional decision-

making and judgment processes in teacher candidates. She

and McCombs (this volume) predict that core professional

skills, judgments, and values will increasingly be based upon

and guided by well-founded, learner-centered principles aris-

ing from the educational psychology literature; this also will

involve training teachers to use and analyze rules of credible

evidence to enhance their ability to ask critical questions

about and make informed judgments on the relative impact

of interventions (see chapter by Levin, O’Donnell, &

Kratochwill in this volume).

A critical opportunity exists for educational psychologists

to have a strong impact on strengthening our knowledge of the

complex processes, challenges, and self-reflective abilities of

highly competent teachers. This potential will increase be-

cause of the predicted shortage of new teachers and because of

a greater emphasis on student performance accountability

standards. Competent teachers will be in great demand, in-

creasing the importance of our burgeoning knowledge base

and the need for sound pedagogy and more rigorous research

to inform and transform the field of teaching and teacher

preparation. Whitcomb (this volume) suggests that these goals

will best be accomplished through a greater integration of

work across the individual traditions studied in educational

psychology and the work currently underway to study initial

teacher preparation and continued teacher learning.

Technology and Its Role in Practice

The emergence of the widely available public Internet has led

to unheard-of possibilities for long-distance and other forms

of collaborative learning. Goldman-Segall and Maxwell (this

volume) posit the emergence of the Internet as the beginning

of a new research field in computer-assisted learning. Virtual

environments in which students can meet and interact and

collaboratively work on research are more readily available

as a new learning format. These researchers call for a move

beyond an individual focus to one of a community of minds

in which the focus is on how knowledge is constructed be-

tween people engaged in real-life inquiry. Their newly pro-

posed perspectivity theory corresponds to a move from

viewing a computer as an object with which to think to a view

of the computer as a partner or as a tool that allows people to

think and rethink in relationship with others. Their ideas

build upon past work that views the computer as a cognitive

partner in learning, as part of the cultural milieu, and as a

convivial tool (Illich, 1972). Innovations such as collabora-

tive design boards, real-time meeting space, scaffolded con-

ferencing and note-taking, hypertext and media, and video

conferencing have provided the medium for studying how

groups of learners work together to create an ecology for

learning. These innovations also will help us to rethink the

kinds of human relations that can be built with multimedia

tools.

One controversial future question is whether these new on-

line environments are as effective as direct collaborative en-

gagement with others during learning. Future research is

needed to establish whether there are links between what we

know about face-to-face cooperative learning groups and

those offered through new media and technology advances

(see chapters by Goldman-Segall & Maxwell and by Slavin et

al. in this volume). We hope that future researchers will move