News on AERA 2012 conference TEP Sig

After reviewing the many strong proposals we received, the TEP SIG has assembled three sessions for the annual meeting, with a special focus on promising and unconventional approaches for the teacher education classroom. We will offer two paper sessions, titled "Educative Experience in Teacher Education" and "Self‑Knowledge, Metacognition, and Motivation in Pre‑Service Teacher Education."  These sessions will present research on a wide range of innovative techniques for preparing pre‑service teachers, as well as enlightening theoretical perspectives on teaching educational psychology.  Our poster session is titled "Representations as Pedagogical Tools in Pre‑Service Teacher Education," and will examine effective techniques for the use of images and models to aid pre‑service teachers' learning. In addition to these sessions, we'll have our annual business meeting and reception, where attendees can learn about the SIG's recent activities, network with fellow educational psychologists, and enjoy rich conversations about current developments in the field.

We hope to see you in Vancouver, British Columbia, April 13-17, 2012

Open Access Educational Psychology

Members of TEP SIG have repeatedly expressed frustration with the ed psych texts currently available on the market. The quality of the material is generally high, but the books themselves are far too large for the typical one-semester course, and their cost has started to seem excessive (most current major texts are prices well in excess of $100). Instructors often end up skimming, or even omitting, many chapters, and students end up resenting paying for material that is scarcely used in the course.

A partial solution to these problems exists in the form of various open-access initiatives already available online. Three of these deserve special mention:

1. The Teaching Educational Psychology Wiki (http://teachingedpsych.wikispaces.com). This website contains several hundred class activities, course assignments, and readings suitable for teaching introductory educational psychology. All are free to download and use; they are not under any restrictive copyright. The website is sponsored by TEP SIG and managed by Kelvin Seifert (a former chair of TEP SIG) and Zsuzsanna Zsabo. This fall, Zsuzsanna is planning to involve her graduate students in assessing the quality of the materials, and in recommending revisions as needed.

2. Educational Psychology, 3^rd edition, by Kelvin Seifert and Rosemary Sutton (http://cnx.org/content/col11302/latest/). This is a textbook about introductory educational psychology that is open-access—meaning that it is available free to download by anyone, without copyright restrictions. The book is a comprehensive textbook, and it has been “modularized” by the website managers, so that instructors and students can download short individual parts that are truly useful for their local needs. The text has been peer-reviewed and revised twice, and is currently published by Connexions, a major online, open-access publisher based at Rice University in Houston. Both of the authors are former chairs of TEP SIG.

3. The Educational Psychology Adopters Group (email: edpsych.adopters@gmail.com). This is an online discussion group focused on further reviewing and revising the content of the Seifert/Sutton Educational Psychology text. Individual instructors within the group focus on particular themes or topics (e.g. information processing theory, motivation, or assessment of learning). They gather student feedback about the topic, recommend additional open-access material to strengthen it, and where necessary write new modules or materials to supplement or replace existing text. In addition to its periodic discussions, the group is applying for funding from the Hewlett Foundation to support the posting of open-access text content about ed psych. If you are interested in participating in the discussions, send an email request to edpsych.adopters@gmail.com.

Book review

Vygotsky and Creativity: A Cultural-historical Approach to Play, Meaning Making, and the Arts. Peter Lang Publishing. First printing edition (April, 2010).

Reviewed by Paige Lunde

Why have the arts all too often been neglected by leaders and scholars in our contemporary society? M. Cathrene Connery, Vera P. John-Steiner, and Ana Marhanovic-Shane have edited a meaningful, passionate and all-embracing book on the mediation between imagination and creativity. Their focus on the ideas of Russian psychologist, L.S. Vygotsky examines connections between past theory and future tools. More importantly, they focus on his framework for defining the association between feeling, imagination, and sign systems.

Art making, role-playing, and dance are the breath of children coming into understanding themselves and the world. And, lucky for us, Vygotsky was compelled to dedicate his life’s work to the psychology of art and how it related to child development. His theories focus on how play and learning awaken a variety of developmental processes that appear when the child is interacting with peers. He explores concepts of thought and speech, further defining connections between the way we receive and relate information in our developmental process.

How do people use art for communication? They communicate through experience. As Georgia O’Keefe said, “The meaning of a word to me is not as exact as the meaning of a color.” Connery seeks to examine how artists develop a visual language, introspectively reviewing her own painting through the lens of Vygotsky. His framework offers a psychological window of how the mind makes and reacts to meaning. Connery delves into that semiotic mediation that uses psychology and physical tools through art making.

Vygotsky asserts that creativity creates cultural meaning through social interactions. Seana Moran explores this process in her chapter entitled Commitment and Creativity: Transforming Experience into Art. She presents a study on writers and the ways they commit themselves to their literature and culture. She interestingly breaks down different genres – questioning the writer’s commitment to their environment. This valuable study highlights how people are not just consumers, but contributors of meaning.

In short, this book creates a picture for the arts throughout child development and takes a rich look at how student engagement enhances student imagination. The chapters speak to the idea that learning is inseparable from the act of creating, and supports committed educational theory and practice - always with the aim of reforming education through the arts.

Call for Editor --TEP Sig Newsletter

Call for Editor

Executive officers of the Teaching Educational Psychology Special Interest Group (TEP SIG) are accepting applications for the position of editor of Teaching Educational Psychology (TEP).  The editor position is a three-year term.

Teaching Educational Psychology (TEP) is an online, peer-refereed journal devoted to increasing the shared knowledge base about the teaching of educational psychology to a variety of educational constituencies, including pre-service and in-service teachers, administrators, policy-makers, parents, and the public.  TEP is affiliated with the TEP SIG of the American Education Research Association and Division 15 of the American Psychological Association. 

TEP is published three times a year (fall, spring, summer) pending appropriate submissions. 

Deadline: January 31, 2012 or until Editor is named.

Qualification and requirements: Qualities needed for the position of editor or co-editor include a record of research related to the scholarship of teaching educational psychology and evidence of managerial skills to oversee the review and publication process.

Major responsibilities of the future editor or co-editors of TEP include

• Communicating with and assisting authors throughout the publication process,
• Making executive decisions regarding which manuscripts to publish,
• Selecting a  pool of competent reviewers to reach conclusions and make decisions on manuscripts in a timely fashion
• Overseeing and managing the journal website
• providing a clear vision for the direction of the Journal

Qualified applicants should send email and copy of curriculum vitae to TEP@millersville.edu. 

Run for Program Chair & Treasurer

2012 Officer Slate Announced!

The following individuals have expressed willingness to serve the Teaching Educational Psychology SIG for the next year.  Please consider these individuals who have volunteered to run for the program chair and secretary-treasurer openings.

Program Chair (Term 2012‑2013)

Cynthia Bolton‑Gary:  Dr. Cynthia Bolton‑Gary is associate professor at the University of South Carolina Beaufort and serves as the Assessment/ Accreditation Coordinator for the Department of Education. Currently, Dr. Bolton‑Gary is the Treasurer / Secretary for TEP‑SIG. Her research interests include: educational psychology, innovative pedagogical strategies, motivation, and assessment.

Pat Haugh: Dr. Pat Haugh is assistant professor at West Virginia University.  Currently, Dr. Haugh is teaching educational psychology online to a cohort of graduate students. Her research interests include undergraduate autobiography, adult problem solving, and reading. 

Maria Oreshkina: Dr. Maria Oreshkina is assistant professor in the Education Department at the University of Scranton (PA). She currently teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in educational psychology and middle childhood education. Dr. Oreshkina's research interests include the study of cognitive and metacognitive development in school children, preservice teacher's beliefs, and the study of learning and development from a socio‑cultural perspective.

Secretary - Treasurer (2012‑2013)

Henry Brzycki:  Dr. Henry Brzycki is Dean of the School of Education at American Public University.  His scholarly work includes investigations of the intersection of education and psychology, teaching educational psychology, and integrating positive psychology into K‑12 curricula. Dr. Brzycki has been a regular contributor to the AERA Annual Meeting and has served the TEP‑SIG for several years as Newsletter Editor.

Martha Strickland: Dr. Martha Strickland is assistant professor of education in the School of Behavioral Sciences and Education at Penn State University. She is currently teaching educational psychology and learning theory at both undergraduate and graduate levels, and she has been a regular contributor to the AERA Annual Meeting.  Dr. Strickland's research interest focuses on enhancing connections between teachers and immigrant/refugee students

Literacy --Assistant Professor Position at Marist College

Position Title: Assistant/Associate Professor of Literacy

Department: School Social & Behavioral Sciences : Marist College; Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Type of Position: Full Time

Classification: Faculty

Duration of Position: 9 Month

Brief Summary:

The teacher education program at Marist College is searching for a tenure-track Assitant or Associate Professor for secondary education. Teacher education at Marist provides high quality programs at the undergraduate and graduate (Master's) levels that lead to both initial and professional certification in a range of areas and levels including elementary, middle grades, secondary, and special education. With 13 full-time faculty, the teacher education group offers a working environment that emphasizes quality teaching, support for a range of research and scholarship, and a collegial working environment that is very supportive of new and established faculty alike.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The courses you will teach will depend on your areas of expertise and interest, but they may include theory courses, methods courses, and courses on working with special populations such as ESL, linguistically diverse learners, or adults. Courses on specific topics such as family literacy or content-area literacy are also a possibility.

Qualifications:

The ideal candidate will have an earned doctorate degree in an appropriate field but if you are ABD and near completion you will also be considered. Candidates should have experience working in schools and demonstrate a potential to contribute to the intellectual vitality of the teacher education program as well as the ability to work collegially with other faculty and with school leaders and teachers in the region. Experience working with diverse populations and in high needs schools is highly desired.

Required Applicant Documents: Resume, Cover Letter, References, Teaching Philosophy

http://jobs.marist.edu/view_position.php?postingid=99

Educational Technology --Assistant Professor Position at Marist College

Position Title: Assistant/Associate Professor for Educational Technology

Posting Number: 106

Department: Education ; Marist College; Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Type of Position: Full Time

Classification: Faculty

Duration of Position: 9

Brief Summary:

The teacher education program at Marist College seeks an Educational Technology Specialist for a tenure-track faculty position.  Teacher education at Marist College offers high quality programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels.  Programs lead to initial certification and professional certification in a range of K – 12 grade levels and assignments, including special education.   Marist’s Teacher Education Department has 13 full-time faculty that work in a collegial environment emphasizing quality teaching, research and scholarship, and service to the college and community.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The successful candidate will teach courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Course content will include theory, assessment application, research, and innovative practices. Service to students, the department, college and community is expected for tenure as is an active agenda of research and publications.

Qualifications:

The candidate will have earned a doctorate degree or may be an ABD nearing completion of a program.  This advanced study might be in technology, assessment, curriculum, or other area directly related to K- 12 education.  Candidates should have experience working in schools.  Candidates should demonstrate a potential to contribute to the intellectual vitality of the teacher education program as well as the skills to work collegially with college faculty and educators from the region. Experience working with diverse populations and in a high needs school is highly desirable.  
Candidates for the position should have an understanding of contemporary theories, models, and best practices associated with the use of educational technology.  Teaching experience at the undergraduate and graduate levels is preferred.  It is important that the candidate have experience with formative and summative assessment methods at various levels of K-12 education and use of digital portfolio techniques, and the integration of technology within content areas (e.g. STEM).  Knowledge of state and ISTE standards is essential.  The successful candidate will also be considered for her/his demonstrated passion for education, leadership in how the use of educational technology prepares future educators for student achievement, and an understanding of the importance of educational technology in the lives of students.  The selected candidate will complement the work of faculty and add to its significance as a recognized source of quality educators.

Required Applicant Documents: Resume, Cover Letter, References, Teaching Philosophy

http://jobs.marist.edu/view_position.php?postingid=106

Fall Survey

Dear Friends of the Teaching Educational Psychology Special Interest Group:


Please take a few minutes and give this leadership team your responses to our annual survey / accounting of our membership.

Please give us some input concerning your connection to educational psychology, and we
will give you both the results of this survey and our best efforts at creating an organization that meets your needs!

Click this link to go straight to Survey.  Takes only several minutes.


Have a happy and successful fall!

TEP 2011 CONFERENCE PROGRAM

The Teaching Educational Psychology SIG Program Co-Chairs, Dr. Sandra Deemer and Dr. Laurie B. Hanich,  have been extremely busy putting together an outstanding program of scholars, researchers, and innovators, which we present here for your review.

Teaching Educational Psychology – Special Interest Group

The 2011 Conference Program

We hope you’ll enjoy the lineup of TEP sessions for the 2011 annual meeting.  Please mark your calendars for the following sessions. 

Paper Session:  Innovative Approaches to Instruction and Assessment Scheduled Time: Sun, Apr 10, 10:35am - 12:05pm  Building/Room: Sheraton / Salon 820 Daily Quizzes Help or Harm: Some College Psychology Students Learn
Kathryn Ley (University of Houston - Clear Lake), Dawn Young (Bossier Parish Community College - Lousiana)
Pooh's Imagination: Using Children's Literature and Comics to Teach Educational Psychology
*Cynthia Bolton (University of South Carolina - Beaufort)
Students' Perspectives of Reciprocal Questioning to Understand and Apply Principles of Learning
*James D. Allen (College of Saint Rose)
The Anne Frank Task: Using a Case Study Approach to Learn About Human Development
*Florian C. Feucht (University of Toledo)
Discussant: Susan K. Green (Winthrop University)
Chair: Laura Reynolds-Keefer (University of Michigan - Dearborn)

Paper session:  Technological Approaches That Facilitate Learning Scheduled Time: Mon, Apr 11, 12:25pm - 1:55pm  Building/Room: Sheraton / Salon 820
In Their Own Words: Using Teacher Blogs in Educational Psychology Courses *Laura Reynolds-Keefer (University of Michigan - Dearborn)
Preservice Teachers Create YouTube Videos: Evidence of Learning
*Alandra S. Weller-Clarke (Benedictine University)
Students' Perceptions of Case-Based Discussions in an Online Educational Psychology Course
*Emily J. Hixon (Purdue University - Calumet)
Discussant: Kelvin L. Seifert (University of Manitoba)
Chair: Cynthia Bolton (University of South Carolina - Beaufort)

Roundtable Session 48 Scheduled Time: Mon, Apr 11 , 4:05pm - 5:35pm  Building/Room: Sheraton / Grand Ballroom A The Impact of Educational Psychology Within Two Different Models of Teacher Education on Teaching Efficacy
*Lisa C. Duffin (Western Kentucky University)
The Method Behind the Madness: Educational Psychology Students
*Alandra S. Weller-Clarke (Benedictine University)
Using the Self Theory in Schooling and Positive Psychology to Engage and Motivate
*Henry G. Brzycki (American Public University)
Chair: Ida Rose Florez (Arizona State University)

TEP 2011 BUSINESS MEETING AGENDA

Don’t forget about our business meeting.  We hope you’ll come meet current TEP members and officers, say goodbye to our previous serving officers, and see how you can get involved in TEP.  We’ll provide food and beverages and plenty of good conversation.  Business dealings will be conducted early in the meeting so we have time for socializing.  Our TEP Wikimaster, Kelvin Siefert, will provide a presentation of our WIKI, which is full of sound educational resources for the teaching of educational psychology – a data base of teaching best practices compiled over numerous years.

TEP Business meeting:  Scheduled Time: Sun, Apr 10, 6:15pm - 7:45pm  

Building/Room: Sheraton / Salon 820

LATEST NEWS FROM THE TEACHING ED PSYCH WIKI

Excellent Source for Best Teaching Practices – Take a Look!

As many of you know, TEP SIG sponsors a website called teachingedpsych, a wiki-style archive of materials that support the teaching of introductory educational psychology in teacher education programs. If you haven’t seen it yet, go to  http://teachingedpsych.wikispaces.com,  and browse through the materials, which are organized by 17 general topics. You may see something that you can use with one of your classes! At last count teachingedpsych includes about 300-400 items, grouped on about 175 individual webpages.

Here are the 17 general topics of teachingedpsych. Each topic has an opening page linked to a number of other pages and related Internet websites:

• Class activities and demonstrations
• Course assignments
• Course syllabi or outlines
• Classroom management
• Human development
• Motivation
• Thinking and cognition
• Special education
• Assessment of K-12 learning
• Introduction to psychology
• Teacher education
• Theories of learning
• Social relationships
• Blogs, wikis, and discussion lists
• Introductory ed psych textbooks
• Articles, chapters, and books,
• Multimedia

Teachingedpsych began in May 2009, and since then has proved increasingly popular. In 2009, it averaged about 48 views per day; in 2010, it averaged about 143 per day (a 196% increase!); and so far in 2011, it is averaging about 231 views per day (a 62% increase over 2010). Since it began, teachingedpsych has received about 122,000 “hits” or views. Viewers come from all over the world. Only 70% are from the USA and 18% are from Canada; the other 12% come from about 100 other countries—too numerous to list!

Where is teachingedpsych headed in the future? In addition to welcoming additional new materials, the website would benefit from the following:

• More thorough indexing, cross-linking, and “tagging” of items and materials to facilitate searching
• Clarification, expansion, and/or revision of explanations of items in some cases
• Most important: One or more person(s) to assist in gathering items from TEP SIG members and others, in posting the items, and generally insuring a tidy, easy-to-figure-out website

As a SIG, in addition, we might want to consider broadening the mandate of teachingedpsych beyond the teaching of intro ed psych per se. Many of the items are useful in other teacher education courses and might therefore be well-received by other SIGs or divisions of AERA. Those groups might also contribute materials to the website helpfully. It’s something to think about and discuss in the coming year.

--Kelvin Seifert

Teachingedpsych wiki managerhttp://teachingedpsych.wikispaces.com

TEP MEMBER NEWS

TEP SIG members would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to our outgoing President, Dr. Greg Goodman.  Dr. Goodman’s accomplishments are too numerous to mention in this Newsletter, and include: organizing and conducting the 2010 TEP Membership Survey, which informed our understanding of our membership profile and future interests; infusing TEP with extraordinary spirit and collaboration; and helping to build a solid foundation for future growth.  Dr. Goodman’s energy and inspirational leadership will be missed.  Thank you Greg!

Please look for Greg at our 2011 Conference and Business Meeting and thank him personally

ELECTION OF NEW TEP OFFICERS: CANDIATE PROFILES

We are holding our annual and special AERA TEP SIG elections, so if you are interested in providing leadership please consider running.  Thank you to those who are running. Candidate profiles are below. Here are the slate of officers:

1.      Program Chair / President / Past President

a.       Duties include: setting the Annual meeting program, running the SIG, and picking a slate of officers

b.      Term: 2011-2014

2.      Treasurer / Secretary

a.       Duties include: tracking finances, keeping minutes of meetings

b.      Term: 2011-2013

3.      Newsletter Editor

a.       Duties include: assembling and distributing a newsletter several times per year

b.      Term: 2011-2013        

 Candidate Profiles:

Program Chair: Stacy DeZutter

Affiliation: Millsaps College

 I am an Assistant Professor of Education at Millsaps College. I teach a diverse set of educational psychology-based courses, including courses in human development, creativity, and methods of instruction. My research builds on insights from sociocultural theory to examine two separate (but sometimes related) topics: group creativity and teacher cognition. I hold a PhD in the Learning Sciences from Washington University in St. Louis. I have been active in the leadership of AERA since 2003, having served in a number of roles including Chair of the Graduate student Council (a role which also included serving on AERA's Association Council) and Secretary/Treasurer for the TEP SIG. The TEP SIG has been a valuable resource for me, and I am eager to use my experience in AERA leadership to support its efforts. In particular, I'd like to forge stronger connections between our SIG and the graduate student membership, as a means to bring new members to our group and to foster mentoring relationships between experienced ed psych professors and those newer to the endeavor. I am also proud of how our various web-based outlets (TEP wiki, blog, newsletter, and online journal) have flourished in recent years, and I would like to build on this success.

Treasurer / Secretary: Cynthia Bolton-Gary

Affiliation: University of South Carolina, Beaufort

Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, 1994.  Currently, Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina Beaufort, Assessment and Accreditation Coordinator (2009-present), Chair of the Department (2009-2010), Director-Center of Excellence in Collaborative Learning (2008-present).  Previous faculty appointments at the University of South Carolina Aiken, and Aurora University.  Fellow at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (2006-2008).  Research interests:  assessment, teacher preparation, classroom management, children’s literature.

Newsletter Editor: M. Cecil Smith

Affiliation: Northern Illinois University

M Cecil Smith is a professor of educational psychology at Northern Illinois University where he has taught educational psychology, research methods, and human development courses since 1988. He has been a member of AERA since 1984, and has served as a proposal reviewer for various Divisions and SIG for many years. He was co-chair of Division C (1999) and is currently webmaster and newsletter editor for the Adult Literacy and Adult Education SIG.