From studying educational environments to cognitive development, educational psychology looks at many facets of the educational system. If you are interested in the latest information on educational psychology, check out these five great books that cover a wide range of teaching and learning concepts.
1. Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
Authors Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger and Mark A. McDaniel challenge the traditional ways that many students use to learn new subjects. Common study techniques like underlining key phrases, cramming main ideas or spending countless hours doing rote repetition are shown to be good for short-term learning only. Instead, the authors focus on more effective and long-lasting educational practices such as self-testing, reviewing new material after some time has passed and weaving in one topic with another one. These productive techniques are drawn from the latest information in cognitive psychology.
2. How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character
Taking a closer look at why some children fail while others succeed, author Paul Tough reveals fresh insights into educational psychology. While many people measure a child’s success through standardized tests, the author states that character rather than intelligence helps children more. Based on new research, important life skills such as curiosity, optimism, perseverance and self-control will actually help children succeed in school and in life.
3. Mindsets in the Classroom: Building a Culture of Success and Student Achievement in Schools
Author Mary Cay Ricci provides a conversational and informational book on the power of a growth mindset for students, teachers and parents. While many teachers and parents have mixed mindsets on different topics, developing a growth mindset in all areas takes time. By creating a welcoming environment in the classroom that embraces failure as stepping stones to success, teachers can empower both struggling and gifted students. Best of all, this book provides a planning template and step-by-step instructions on how to adopt a growth mindset in your classroom.
4. Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners
Written by authors Ron Ritchhart, Mark Church and Karin Morrison, this research-based book discusses the Visible Thinking program that began at Harvard’s Project Zero. This informational book is a collection of practices that help students understand topics at a deeper level and develop their comprehension skills. From small groups of questions, short step sequences and helpful thinking routines, students learn how to think critically and independently about different topics. In addition, this book includes simple classroom strategies and a useful DVD featuring the Visible Thinking program in several classroom environments.
5. Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning
Written as a sequel to the educational psychology book called Visible Learning, John Hattie authored Visible Learning for Teachers in 2011. The original book focused on the results of 15 years of educational research to find out what effective schools use to improve learning in their students. This newer book goes further into how teachers can take the principles of Visible Learning and apply it to their own classrooms. With practical step-by-step directions on implementing these concepts, John Hattie empowers teachers to maximize their teaching efforts. Moreover, this useful book provides case studies, checklists and exercises to boost every area within the classroom.
Related Resource: 49 Most Affordable Small Colleges for a Master’s Degree in Psychology 2016
Whether you are looking for some inspirational reading or need fresh educational resources for your teaching, these five fantastic books are a great addition to any teacher’s library.