Educational Psychology
Introduction to the Program
The science of learning, teaching, and assessment is at the core of Educational Psychology at Penn State. Students in our graduate program explore how people learn across the lifespan and ways that learning and teaching interconnect and reciprocally influence each other in formal and informal educational settings. Given our focus on the science of learning, teaching, and assessment, students are exposed to a variety of approaches to the design of empirical research, the creation of measures for latent variables, and the use of advanced statistical techniques. Our goal is to provide students the theoretical and methodological tools needed to conduct research on the development and assessment of model learning communities.
To accomplish this goal, we have adopted an Apprentice Scholar model that enables students to develop an extensive understanding of relevant research and to produce knowledge through their own research. As students in our program develop expertise, they learn to participate as members of a research community that is concerned with the nexus of learning, teaching, assessment, and research methodology. Graduate students in our program work within an intensive research apprenticeship that includes several key components:
- Collaboration with faculty mentors on research initiatives and projects
- Coursework in fundamental knowledge and skills
- Advanced seminars and colloquia in specialized areas
- Professional development seminar
Given the expertise of our program faculty, some students orient their studies and experiences with a greater depth in learning and teaching processes, while other students choose to place more emphasis on measurement and research methodology. Program faculty facilitate this process by helping students to select an emphasis area and develop their expertise.
