Educational Psychology and Educational Transformation

Abstract

As we move into a new era of collaborative research and improving the relevancy of our research contributions in educational psychology for solving a variety of pressing real-world educational issues, it is clear that we are no longer just reforming education with our research findings. I argue in this chapter that we are now in an era of educational transformation that has been enriched with recent findings from educational psychology researchers studying a variety of relevant topics from a big picture, multiple-methods research models. Research from those studying learning, teaching, cognition, motivation, development, and individual differences now suggests a dramatic paradigm change with research-validated findings informing stakeholders of the important changes that must be made to address pressing national and international issues regarding student learning performance and achievement outcomes. Prior research is updated and what has changed in our understanding of important factors to consider in educational transformation are emphasized and what has been further corroborated by more recent research is highlighted in each section of this chapter. What has been learned and new directions in the decade following the first edition of this handbook are summarized, with particular attention given to what an integration of these findings mean for the future of our field and the future of our 21st-century educational system. Keywords: educational transformation; 21st-century learning and teaching paradigms; motivational and cognitive interventions that work; research-validated pedagogical principles; systemic approaches to educational transformation