Graduate School of Education
Multiple and Single Subject Credential Programs
EDU 770: Educational Psychology& Classroom Management
Spring 2017
Wednesdays6-9 PM Lander 113
Instructor: Daniel Mikkola
E-mail:
Office Hours:Before or after class, by appointment
Mission of the Graduate School of Education
The mission of the Graduate School of Education is to promote social justice by serving the community and larger society through the preparation and continuous support of professional educators to meet the needs of a constantly changing, challenging, and diverse student population.
Touro University Institutional Student Learning Outcomes (ISLOs)
Touro University California students will demonstrate the ability to:
1)Apply knowledge from their discipline in a context reflecting real, complex situations in their profession
2)Think critically to make evidence-informed decisions and evaluate conclusions
3)Communicate effectively with a variety of audiences
4)Act in a professional and ethical manner
5)Serve the needs of their communities
6)Collaborate with colleagues across disciplines
7)Access and evaluate information
8)Commit to lifelong learning
Course Description
This course examines core principles and underlying assumptions in educational psychology including learning theory, cognitive development, memory, motivation, educational assessment, higher-level cognitive processes, personal and social development, and strategies for creating an effective classroom environment. The practical, social, and ethical dimensions of the classroom environment, and the teacher’s role in creating that environment, are examined. Candidates will be required to articulate their plan for an organized environment conducive to learning while building students’ capacity for self-control, responsibility, and cooperation. Emphasis on practices that support educational equity and high academic achievement for all students, assist youth in building a healthy lifestyle, and encourage supportive relations between school, family, and community structures.
Course Objectives
Upon completion of the course, candidates will:
- Child Development: Recognize indicators of differing cognitive, linguistic, social, cultural, emotional, moral, and physical developmental stages of children and adolescents and the implications for learning and instruction.
- Heterogeneous Classrooms: Understand concepts of individual and group identity and difference, and their role in motivation for learning.
- Learning Theories: Be familiar the major views of learning (behaviorist; cognitive; social-cognitive), the theorists who developed them, and the societal constructs they represent.
- Role of Research: Become a critical reader of research, questioning the bases and biases of educational theory.
- Assessment: Understand the link between assessment and effective instruction for learning, and the purpose of three levels of assessment: entry-level, formative, and summative. Recognize the range of methods for student evaluation, including standardized testing and performance assessment.
- Professional Responsibility: Understand and accept their professional and legal responsibility as teachers for creating a classroom environment that promotes the health and safety of students, is free from harassment, and supports an ethos of civic responsibility and the skills of democratic participation in students.
- Develop Plan: Develop a classroom environment and community building plan consistent with the laws of California and individual ethical perspectives, including effective techniques for:
- Setting high expectations for social and academic performance;
- Supporting student autonomy, initiative, dignity, and responsibility;
- Establishing positive student-to-student interactions;
- Conflict management and resolution;
- Preventing and defusing situations of conflict and violence.
- Building Community: Examine diverse family structures, community cultures, and child rearing practices, and develop strategies to promote positive interaction between those structures, cultures, and practices and the classroom community.
Teacher Performance Expectation (TPE) Competencies
This course is designed for candidates seeking the Multiple or Single Subjects Credential. Candidates will develop the skills, attitudes, and knowledge necessary to become effective teachers and be able to actualize in practice the theories for the benefit of all students in their classrooms. The following TPEs (X indicating of Primary or Secondary Emphasis) are incorporated in this course:
Teacher Performance Expectation (TPE) Overview
TPE / TPE Descriptions / MAJOR EMPHASIS / MINOR EMPHASIS1 / Specific Pedagogical Skills for Subject Matter Instruction
2 / Monitoring Student Learning During Instruction / x
3 / Interpretation and Use of Assessments / x
4 / Making Content Accessible / x
5 / Student Engagement / x
6 / Developmentally Appropriate Teaching Practices / x
7 / Teaching English Learners
8 / Learning About Students / x / x
9 / Instructional Planning / x
10 / Instructional Time / x
11 / Social Environment / x
12 / Professional, Legal, and Ethical Obligations / x
13 / Professional Growth / x
Required Textbooks and Readings
Candidates will read the weekly assigned material and be prepared to discuss these readings in class. The required textbook is available on reserve in the library. The digital reader for Education Psychologist will be released weekly in Blackboard.
Wong, Harry & Wong, Rosemary. (2014). The Classroom Management Book. Harry Wong Publications, Inc.
Student Handbooks
The edTPA Handbook is required for this class as well as the Touro Handbook.
The complete Touro University-California student handbook can be found at
The Student Handbook contains policies and requirements which govern academic performance and student conduct. These policies are unique to Touro University California (TUC), and are designed to promote standards for academic competency, professional discipline and personal responsibility. It represents the parameters of achievement and behavior the faculty expects of its students. It is the responsibility of all students to be knowledgeable about TUC policies. These policies will be applied to all aspects of the student’s academic progress and personal conduct for as long as the student is enrolled.
This handbook applies to all currently enrolled students in the Graduate School of Education (GSOE), and only where stipulated, do policies and requirements apply differently for individual classes or programs.
TUC reserves the right to make changes at any time in this handbook or in the requirements for admission, graduation, tuition, fees and any rules or regulations. TUC maintains the right to refuse to matriculate a student deemed by the faculty to be academically incompetent or otherwise unfit or unsuited for enrollment.
The following is a summary of key policies found in the handbook and have a direct effect on courses; therefore they are included in each GSOE course syllabus.
Grading
Grading will be both competency-based and comparative. Thus, grades reflect demonstration of a student's competencies in an assignment and of a student's standing in comparison with the class. Grades on assignments will be given in numerical percentages that translate to letter grades. Touro University’s College of Education uses the following grading system:
A+ / A / A- / B+ / B / B- / C+ / C / C- / U / UP / INC / W / WU100-97% / 96-93% / 92-90% / 89-87% / 86-83% / 82-80% / 79-77 % / 76-73% / 72-70% / 69-0%
4.0-3.85 / 3.8-3.65 / 3.6-3.5 / 3.45-3.35 / 3.3-3.15 / 3.0-3.1 / 2.9-2.7 / 2.3-2.6 / 2.0-2.2 / 0.0
- Satisfactory (A, B, or C): 70% or above is considered a satisfactory grade. Candidates must earn a 3.0 overall GPA in the program in order to remain a student in good academic standing and be recommended for their degree.
- Unsatisfactory (U): An unsatisfactory grade, below 70%.
- Unsatisfactory with successful remediation (UP): If an unsatisfactory performance has been successfully remediated, a U/number will replace the U on the transcript. The U denotes the initial grade of unsatisfactory and the number represents the final recorded grade.
- Incomplete: An incomplete grade indicates that a student was unable to finish all required work for issuance of a letter grade. It is a temporarily grade which may be given at the instructor's discretion only when illness, unavoidable absence, or other reasons beyond the control of the student prevented completion of a small portion of course requirements by the end of the academic term. Certain responsibilities must be fulfilled regarding this grade.
Instructor Responsibilities / Student Responsibilities
- Incompletes may only be given if the student has regularly attended class and submitted passing class work.
- An incomplete may not be assigned in order to give a student a chance to do more work to improve a grade or because a student did not complete assignments by the last course session
- Students who are unable to complete a course and who do not meet these circumstances should be advised to withdraw from the course
- When completing the incomplete form: a) the deadline for completion of missing work must be specified at the time of original submission of the complete grade form and b) a comprehension list of remaining work to be complete must be listed on the incomplete form.
- Replacement of an incomplete grade will be under the direction of the instructor who issued the original grade.
- After course instructor consultation and approval, it is the student's responsibility to complete the Incomplete Grade Form before the last session of the course and to turn this form into staff at the Graduate School of Education.
- It is the student's responsibility to meet all timelines for completing course requirements as stated on the form. No extension will be granted for more than a full calendar year from the date of the issuance of the Incomplete grade.
- Students who do not contact the course instructor regarding completion of course requirements are subject to a U grade. If the required work is not completed within the specified time, the I will be automatically converted to an unsatisfactory grade of U which is equivalent to an F.
- Students who are unable to complete a course and who do not meet these circumstances should consider withdrawing from the course.
- Withdrawal (W): A withdrawal indicates that a student has registered for a block and then withdrawn before the end of the semester. A W will remain on the student’s transcript.
- Withdrawal Unsatisfactory (WU): If a student withdraws from the semester during finals week, the student will receive a WU.
Minimum Cumulative Grade-Point Average (GPA)
The minimum GPA is based on a student's program of study. Transfer credits will have no effect on the GPA for the purposes of financial aid satisfactory progress. Minimum GPA associate with the GSOE is 80% (B) Students who fall below 80% in GPA are subject to being placed on Academic Probation and should check the Student Handbook for consequences of this status and its effect on their studies.
Academic Probation
Students must meet the minimum standards and requirements set by the institution in order to remain in good academic standing. Students will be placed on academic probation if they receive a grade of Unsatisfactory/Fail in any course or field placement, fail to successfully complete required licensure examinations and/or fail to meet the minimal cumulative weighted academic requirements. A student will be removed from academic probation only after successfully remediating the course or field placement, achieving the minimal cumulative weighted academic requirements and successfully completing licensure exams. Students who are directed to repeat a year of curriculum for academic reasons remain on academic probation until successful completion of all courses scheduled within that academic year.
Terms of Probation
- When a student is placed on academic probation, it is noted in the student's academic file and official transcript. Subsequently, when a student has successfully satisfied the requirements of probation, this is also noted in the student's file and transcript.
- When a student is placed on academic probation, following approval by the Dean of the College, he/she will be notified in writing by the Dean and the reasons will be stated. When the terms of academic probation have been satisfied the Student Promotion Committee will notify the Dean that probation has been rescinded and a letter will be provided to the student.
- A student on academic probation may not serve as an officer of any official University club or organization. A student on academic probation may not serve as a representative of the College in the operations of the Admissions Office or on University committees. A student on academic probation may not serve as a representative of the College at off-campus conferences or sponsored events.
Academic Integrity
Plagiarism
The 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association defines plagiarism as claiming the words and ideas of another as [ones] own. Aquotation marks should be used to indicate the exact words of another. Each time you paraphrase another author (i.e., summarize a passage or rearrange the order of a sentence and change some of the words), you need to credit the source in the text. (p. 15)
Related to the dispositions of honesty, integrity, and ethical and professional behavior, a student who has plagiarized must expect consequences for such action. The instructor will take one or more of the following disciplinary actions:
- Report the action in writing to the student, the student’s Program Chair, and the Dean.
- Assign a 0% on the assignment with no possibility of making up the grade by means of additional work.
- Assign a 0% for the course, and notify the Dean of the Graduate School of Education
- Suspend the student for a period ranging from the term in which the infraction occurs to dismissal from the university.
Student Dispositions
The Touro University California Graduate School of Education credential and degree programs are guided by Program Standards (10 f,g,&h) for the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing that state:
- Each candidate exhibits intellectual integrity, serves students honestly, protects their privacy, respects their work, and sustains open discussion of ideas;
- Each candidate assesses his or her own progress, accepts professional advice, considers constructive criticism, and engages in a continuous program of professional development; and
- Each candidate models respect for the cultures, religion, gender and lifestyle orientation of students and their families.
In conjunction with the elements of the above standards, Touro University California’s Graduate School of Education has high expectations regarding student candidate dispositions. This dispositions are expected to be met during all class sessions, field work and practicum, and any university sponsored activities.
These dispositions include:
- collaboration
- honesty/integrity
- respect
- reverence for learning
- emotional maturity
- reflection
- flexibility
- responsibility
- appropriate interpersonal conduct
- ethical and professional behavior
- respect for privacy
Students who display poor judgment or performance in one or more of these areas may not be recommended for a credential/degree, and/or may receive a grade that reflects the consequences of their actions, including a failing grade. Occasionally a student will meet the academic requirements of the course, but manifest personal limitations that might impede future teaching performance. In such cases, it is the responsibility of the faculty to guide the student to take remedial action (either to repeat the class for credit, to become involved in personal therapy, to take a year's leave of absence from the program, to take remedial courses), to be re-evaluated, and/or to consider withdrawing from the program.
Americans with Disabilities Act Statement
Touro University complies with the regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and offers accommodations to students with disabilities.
It is the policy of Touro University to make reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. All students with special requests or need for accommodations should make this request in person as soon as possible.
This is the student's responsibility. Information about services, academic modifications and documentation requirements can be obtained from the Dean of Students. (707) 638-5883.
Course Guidelines
Attendance and Participation
It is expected that students will attend and actively participate in all instructional sessions, required activities, and field assignments. The Graduate School of Education attendance policy supports the belief that attendance at all sessions is crucial to benefit from the learning experience.
- 770 is a highly interactive class. Attendance and participation are major requirements representing 6 points per class (3 for each category). Points are deducted for late arrivals/ early leaving/ and absences.
- Candidates who present documentation of required attendance at open house or back to school night will not be penalized for their absence but will not earn participation points.
- The instructors retain the discretion to make individual exceptions to this policy based upon extenuating circumstances.
- Absences from any instructional session for any reason do not relieve students from responsibility for covered material. Chronic absences will result in course failure and may be viewed as violations of the Code of Responsibilities and Rights of the Students.
Class Participation
- All students must use Touro email, Blackboard, and TaskStream for all course communication and submissions. It is expected that students and staff check these accounts 2-3 times each week.
- Complete assigned work and readings prior to class and come prepared to contribute to class discussions and activities.
- Turn off cell phones or place on vibrate during class and keep out of sight. Students should not use cell phones, I-pads, or similar devices in the classroom unless directed by instructor.
- Instructors may permit the use of laptops for note-taking and activities directly relevant to that class. Students should not be answering e-mails, text-messaging, or surfing the internet during class time. This will result in lowered participation points.
- Professional conduct in class is expected.
- “Screens down” during a guest speaker presentation.
Writing Requirements
- Writing is expected to be at the graduate level.
- Papers must have cover page (title, course name, author name, date)
- Assignments should have pages stapled. Do not submit assignments in folders or plastic covers.
- Papers must be in APA format, including proper citations and references.
- Assignments submitted electronically must be saved either as a .doc or .pdf
- Papers must use pseudonyms for schools, districts, and people
- Papers must not use personal pronouns, except for journal assignments.
- Do not use racist, sexist, or homophobic language.
- Proofread assignments with care. Do not rely on spell check programs.
- Some students may wish to obtain editorial assistance with grammar, syntax, and style, which is acceptable. Editorial assistance for content is unacceptable.
- Writing assistance is available free of charge for Touro University students by contacting Student Services.
Course Assignments