Activity Title: How Do You Think Psychology Is Applied to Teaching?

Instructional Strategy: Critical Thinking (KWHL)

Purpose:

This activity is designed to activate students' prior knowledge. It also helps students to take responsibility for their own thinking. It is also designed so that it can be used as a formative measure of student learning throughout the term.

Objectives:

• Activate prior knowledge about educational psychology.
• Discover what students want to learn in the course.
• Determine students' preferred mode of learning.
• Monitor student progress.

Student Activity:

This activity can be done on several levels: (1) the entire class, (2) groups of two to four students, or (3) with individual students. Complete KWHL form with the following question, "How do you think psychology is applied to teaching?" Complete the form as follows:

• In the "K" column write down everything you already know about the field of educational psychology.
• In the "W" column write down what you would like to find out about educational psychology or what you want to learn in this class.
• In the "H" column write down how you will find out the information. What are the resources available to you? What role will you play in your learning? What are the ideal conditions in which you learn information?
• For now, leave the "L" column blank. This column is used for what you have learned in this course and can be completed at the end of the term or at various points throughout the term.

Print and Do:

Know | What | How Learned

Variations:

1. Stand up and share an item from one of the KWHL columns with other students; you are allowed to sit only after sharing one to two items from your list.
2. Form groups of four. Use the KWHL sheet in a round robin fashion and share one item for any of the columns and write it down. After five to ten minutes, share items with the class or with other groups.