Teaching Educational Psychology
Special Interest Group
AERA 2005 EDITION
Vol. 3 Issue 3
Take Off to the Great White North!
Welcome to Montreal AERA 2005
The annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association is set for the city of Montreal, Québec Canada April 11-15, 2005. As of today I am sorry to report that AERA has not published the official program and is still scrambling to find additional hotel space for the expected 14,000 registered conference goers. If you are planning on going and have not made your hotel reservations we suggest that you go to www.aera.net as soon as possible and register.
The theme of the meeting as take from the AERA Annual Meeting Web site:
:
AERA 2005 April 11-15
Demography and Democracy in the Era of AccountabilityMarilyn Cochran-Smith, President
Ana María Villegas, Chair, Program Committee
Theme: Demography and Democracy in the Era of Accountability —
La démographie et la démocratie à l’ère de l’imputabilité
Over the past three decades, the racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity of the student and adult populations in North America, as well as other parts of the world, has increased substantially, due in part to changing migration patterns and to varied birth rates. In the United States, the number of students with disabilities has also grown. Many members of the educational research community are concerned about the challenges that diversity poses for equity and excellence. In particular, they are concerned about the persistent achievement gap between students who are poor and from racial, ethnic, and linguistic minority groups and their peers as well as continued disparities in the distribution of educational resources. In addition, there are many concerns about the extent to which responses to student diversity take into account cultural, linguistic, social, and economic factors in teaching, learning and schooling.
At the same time that the demographic landscape has dramatically changed, accountability issues have taken center stage in many of the most important discussions about education around the world. While most educational researchers and practitioners agree on the need for accountability, substantial disagreement exists about what students and educators ought to be held accountable for and how best to assess results. Some believe that an emphasis on testing, the cornerstone of the current accountability movement, is essential to ensuring that all students are educated to high standards. Furthermore, there are many who believe that a “free market” approach to education will pressure educators to raise students’ test scores. Others, however, think that a singular focus on testing for purposes of accountability is inappropriate and that more attention is needed to the social and political dimensions of accountability and to equity issues at the societal level.
Underlying differing views of accountability are profoundly different conceptions of democracy and beliefs about the role that education plays in democratic societies. Some argue that a democratic society and a free market economy go hand in hand, and that education is the system for cultivating the human capital a society needs to be economically competitive. For others, the role of education in a democratic society is to cultivate the human potential—including dispositions, knowledge, and skills—needed for active participation in a vibrant and evolving representative government. From this perspective disparities in educational resources among diverse groups are seen as anti-democratic, and education is seen as one important way to ameliorate disparities.
Understanding the convergence of these three trends—increasing diversity among students within the context of disparities in achievement and resources, increasing tension regarding the role of education in a democracy, and increasing accountability through testing—requires thoughtful and purposeful examination. The theme for the 2005 AERA Annual Meeting, “Demography and Democracy in the Era of Accountability,” is intended to promote such examination from all research paradigms and perspectives. Program organizers welcome the full range of perspectives on these critical issues from researchers in the United States and the larger international community. We are particularly interested in proposals that consider the implications for democratic and emerging democratic societies of research, practice and policy related to quality education and fair assessments for all students.
Some Additional Information you may find useful: A quick trip the internet resulted in a wonderful website that you can use to find out information on the nightlife, entertainment and the find dining that is available in Montreal. www.montrealvip.com will give you information on restaurants; sight seeing opportunities and other helpful information an out of town travel may need in planning their AERA experience.
Also for those like me, hit by a university budget cutback on travel allowances Rachel Ray who does a show on the Food Network recently did a show on Montreal. Her suggestions included:
Famea (For Starbucks like Coffees)
14 Jean Torlar Street West
514-276-2671
St. Viateur Bagels (For a quick Bagel Breakfast)
263 St. Viateuer Street
514-276-8044
Stash Café (Polish Cuisine)
200 St. Paul Street West
514-845-6611
www.stashcafe.com
Continental Bistro American
200 St. Paul Street West
514-845-6611
(From $40 a Day with Rachel Ray)
Hope this information is helpful in planning your trip to Montreal.
We look forward to seeing you at the conference.
From the Desk of our President Rosemary Sutton:
Greetings!
As I write this snow is falling again in Cleveland, Ohio were I live but seeing signs in my garden that Spring is near and knowing that AERA is in Montreal is helping me keep positive at the end of a long hard winter.
One of the reasons that I like SIG TEP so much is that the sessions focus on applying educational psychology principles to our own teaching. According to Berliner (1993) the relationship between educational psychology and educational practice has moved historically “from interest, to distain, to respect for practice.” Alexander (2004) recently argued that the next generation of educational psychology will involve a resurgence of involvement with educational practice and then the merits of the field will be widely recognized (p. 153). Those of us in this SIG do not have to wait for the next generation; rather we can go to the excellent AERA SIG round table and paper sessions, participate in the business meeting, and talk to our colleagues in the hallways or in one of Montreal’s great restaurants.
This spring the first issue of the new Teaching Educational Psychology journal will be launched furthering out involvement with educational practice. The editors have been
busy sending out manuscripts to reviewers and I encourage everyone to read the first issue. The journal is an important step in the SIG’s development.
Please come to this year’s business meeting (Wednesday evening 6:15-7:45pm) where you will be able to meet interesting people committed to studying and improving their teaching of educational psychology. We will take nominations and elect several new TEP-SIG officers at the meeting, receive the latest information about the TEP journal, discuss outreach to doctoral students, and if possible continue the discussion from last year started by Kelvin Seifert on “How does educational psychology inform and support teacher education programs?”
I want to thank the members of the Executive Committee for their work this year: Marguerite Lodico and Kathy Voesthle put together an excellent program; Mick Verdi continued to produce an outstanding newsletter; Gail Delicio kept track of the finances; and Jeff Swartwood took on the new position as graduate student coordinator.
I look forward to seeing you in Montreal.
Rosemary Sutton
References
Berliner, D. C. (1993). The 100-year journey of educational psychology: From interest to distain to respect for practice. In T.K. Fagan & G. R. VandenBos (Eds). Exploring applied psychology: Origins and critical analysis. Washington DC: American Psychology Association.
Alexander , P. (2004). In the year 2020: Envisioning the possibilities for educational psychology. Educational Psychologist, 39(3),149-156.
TEP 2005 Program:
Teaching Educational Psychology SIG: Sessions for 2005 AERA Annual Meeting
By Marguerite G. Lodico and Katherine H. Voegtle, Program Co-Chairs
The Teaching Educational Psychology SIG program for the 2005 AERA meeting reflects our members’ ongoing examination of how educational psychology contributes to the preparation of future educators in an era of educational reform. The presentations for our program include many innovative pedagogical approaches as well as deep reflection on the role that educational psychology plays within schools of education. Below we have listed the schedule for these programs and the papers being presented. We anticipate lively discussion of these important issues and approaches and invite you to join into the conversations and debates!
· Educational Psychology and Teacher Education: Issues and Strategies
Date/Time: Tuesday, April 12, 2:15-3:45
Building/Room: Delta Centre-Ville/Salon 528
Papers:
o Added Value: Pre-Service Teachers' Learning from Early Community Experiences in an Introductory Educational Psychology Course.
Nancy Knapp, University of Georgia
o Do Friends Help in Learning Educational Psychology?
Kelvin Seifert, University of Manitoba
o “It’s Not as Easy as It Looks”: Learning to Teach in an Educational Psychology Course.
Jayne Downey, Montana State University
· Pedagogical Approaches to Teaching Educational Psychology
Date/Time: Wednesday, April 13, 10:35-12:05
Building/Room: Delta Centre-Ville/Salon 528
Papers:
o A Writing-Intensive Learner-Centered Approach to Teaching Introductory Educational Psychology.
David Holliway, Washington State University-Tricities Campus
o An Investigation of the Use of Concept Map Representations as Facilitators of Academic Achievement.
Ariel Aloe, Loyola University Chicago; Ronald Morgan, Loyola University Chicago
o The Meaningfulness of Case Studies in an Educational Psychology Class: Students’ Perspectives.
Summar Razvi, College of St. Rose; James Allen, College of St. Rose
· Reflective Judgment and Ethics in the Teacher Education Classroom
Date/Time: Thursday, April 14, 2:15-3:45
Building/Room: Hilton Montreal Bonaventure/Fundy
Papers:
o An Ethical Toolkit for Encouraging Reflective Judgment.
Gail Delicio, Clemson University
o Teaching Pre-Service Teachers to Apply Reflective Judgment in Solving Problems About the Environment.
Cheryl Lane, Clemson University; Lorilei Swanson, Clemson University
o Embracing Diversity: It’s Never Too Early. . .or Too Late.
Linda Pickett, University of Michigan–Flint; Otilia Salmon, University of North Florida
o Assessing Future Teachers’ Feelings of Competence to Teach Ethics. Susan Pass, Clemson University
· Teaching Educational Psychology Roundtable
Date/Time: Friday, April 15, 9:05-9:45
Building/Room: Marriott Montreal Chateau Champlain/Salle de Bal Ballroom & Foyer
Papers:
o Challenges of Teaching Educational Psychology.
Kelvin Seifert, University of Manitoba
o Co-Constructing Educational Psychology.
Elizabeth Arch, Pacific University
o Constructivist Pedagogy and the Development of Epistemic Identity: Investigation of Possible Sources of Inference.
Lee Ann Delli, Loyola University Chicago; Ronald Morgan, Loyola University Chicago
o Motivation in Preservice Teacher Education: Possibilities for Transfer of Learning.
M. Alderman, University of Akron; Julia Beyeler, University of Akron
o Teaching Theories Behind Classroom Management: Helping Urban Novice Teachers Tie Learning Theories to Management Concepts.
Sheila Lane, University of California–Los Angeles; Joann Isken, University of California–Los Angeles; Nancy Parachini, LAUSD/University of California–Los Angeles
In addition, we hope you will join us at the TEP-SIG Business Meeting to plan our future discussions and activities. The Business Meeting is scheduled as follows.
· Teaching Educational Psychology Business Meeting
Date/Time: Wednesday, April 13, 6:15-7:45 pm
Building/Room: Marriott Montreal Chateau Champlain/Maisonneuve, Section C
SIG Officer Nominations 2005
Nominations for TEP-SIG Officers
As is the case at our annual meetings we are in need of electing two new officers for the SIG. Each will be elected for a three year term. Currently the following positions are to be filled at the business meeting in Montreal.
The positions that we will hold elections for are:
(1) The Program Chair/President-elect/ Past President (term: 2005-2006/2006-2007, 2007-2008))
The Program Chair/President-elect shall acts as the Program Chair for the AERA meeting following the year in which she or he is elected, following the guidelines put out by AERA. These duties shall include, but not be limited to, submitting the call for proposals to AERA; soliciting proposals via the SIG website or other forums; recruiting members to serve as reviewers, discussants and chairs; receiving proposals and assigning them to reviewers for blind review (when possible); following-up to ensure receipt of reviews; taking reviews received into account, deciding on proposals to be accepted and scheduling them in appropriate formats; in consultation with others on the Executive Committee, deciding on a substantive format for part of the business meeting and arranging for such; submitting abstracts of all sessions to the Newsletter Editor/Recording Secretary for publication in the pre-AERA newsletter, and submitting all required program-related forms to AERA in a timely manner.
In the year following service as Program Chair (2005-2006), the Program Chair/President-elect shall automatically assume the office of President (2006-2007), and the office of Past-President the following year (2007-2008).
(2) Newsletter Editor-Recording Secretary (term: 2005-2008)
The Newsletter Editor-Recording Secretary shall be responsible for writing and editing the newsletter three times a year (Summer, Fall and two weeks before the AERA meeting). In addition it is the responsibility of the Editor to distribute the email over the email mailing list. Finally, the Newsletter Editor also serves as the recording secretary at all business and board meetings of the SIG
As of today we have a nominee for each of the positions.
For Program Chair:
Mick Verdi, California State University San Bernardino
I have been a member of the Teaching Educational Psychology SIG for the past ten years. During my time as a member, I have served the SIG in a numerous ways most recently serving as the Newsletter Editor for the past three years. Currently I am an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, soon to go up for Full, and I teach Educational Psychology and Adolescent Development and Learning for CSUSB. I know that I will have time to devote to the additional demands of being Program Chair. I appreciate being nominated and will be honored to accept and to continue to serve the SIG if it is the choice of the members. I look forward to seeing you all in Montreal.
For Newsletter Editor-Recording Secretary
David Holiway, Washington State University-Tricities
I would like to nominate myself for the TEP newsletter editor. I am currently an Assistant Professor in Educational Research in the Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling Psychology at Washington State University at the Tricities campus. At this year’s AERA conference in Montreal, I will present a paper at the TEP SIG sponsored session entitled Pedagogy in Educational Psychology. This past year I had a chapter on Informal Assessment published in a text book on classroom assessment. In addition, I had recent article published in the Journal of Research in Childhood Education that reports on a mixed-methodological study on writing development and audience awareness. I would be honored to serve the TEP SIG as the TEP newsletter Editor/Recording secretary for the term 2005–2008. Safe travels and I hope to meet you in Montreal!