Educational Psychology Research Articles

Passing the torch: Reflections and recommendations to advance Training and Education in Professional Psychology.

Passing the torch: Reflections and recommendations to advance Training and Education in Professional Psychology.

Exploring risk and resilience in school environments for students in kinship care

ABSTRACT Kinship care is provided by members of a child’s extended family or friend network when they can no longer live with their parents. This study explores risk and resilience in UK school environments for students in kinship care. Eight professionals experienced in working with students in kinship care and their schools took part in individual, semi-structured interviews. Interviews focussed on kinship students’ needs and how professionals perceive schools respond to those needs. Reflexive thematic analysis generated over-arching themes indicating that: children in kinship care have multiple needs and are looked after by kinship carers who find themselves “between a rock and a hard place”; in some schools kinship care is “under the radar”; other schools respond to kinship families with the attitude of “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”; and in some schools kinship care is “on the agenda”. A model is presented that integrates risk and protective factors within schools, generated from this study, with risk and protective factors for kinship students within families, identified by previous literature. Implications for educational psychology (EP) practice are presented, and further research needs discussed.

Fostering Inclusivity: A Critical Emancipatory Approach to Dyscalculia in Primary School Mathematics

This research endeavoured to revolutionise primary school mathematics education by implementing an active learning approach tailored to addressing dyscalculia. The study used a critical emancipatory framework as the theoretical foundation, and participatory action research as the chosen methodology. The researcher employed purposive sampling to select two mathematics teachers, one school-based teacher, a district education psychologist, two learners displaying dyscalculia symptoms, and two parents. The research collaboratively engaged participants to identify challenges, crafting interventions, and reflecting on outcomes through the lens of the critical emancipatory framework and participatory action research,. The researcher assessed the effectiveness of the active learning strategy to enhance students’ mathematical abilities, self-efficacy, and attitudes toward mathematics. Critical discourse analysis shed light on the potential of active learning strategies to improve mathematical learning outcomes and create a supportive learning atmosphere. The results indicated that the implemented active learning strategy offers effective pedagogical practices for learners with dyscalculia by influencing positive changes in their attitude towards mathematics and the learning environment. The participating teachers gained insights into understanding the behaviour of learners with dyscalculia and the role of active learning in intervention strategies. The study’s findings can guide educators, policymakers, and researcher in developing inclusive mathematics instruction for diverse learners in primary school classrooms.

Unpacking the Dynamics of Online Motivation: A Study of Short-Term Changes in Task Value and Cost Utilizing Multiple Change Analyses

Motivation is critical to student success in learning environments. However, changes in situation-specific motivation over time are rarely explored among online learners. Drawing from the Situated Expectancy Theory (SEVT), in the current study, I examined changes in situational task-specific task value and cost over the short term and tested the impact of these changes on achievement. I collected task value and cost over four time points from 68 students in an upper-division online Educational Psychology course. Grades on two discussion posts and one exam represented academic performance. I used multiple analytic techniques, scarcely used in the literature, to measure change across time, including task value-cost switching and group and individual-level task value-cost intensity. Group-level intensity analyses revealed task value and cost stability across most time point comparisons. However, individual-level analysis demonstrated variability in task value and cost across comparisons. There was no evidence of task value or cost switching. One significant increase in cost across tasks predicted academic performance in the subsequent assessment. The study highlights the importance of using various techniques to explore motivational changes among online learners and demonstrates the applicability of SEVT in online learning environments.

Experiences in a study abroad utilizing deliberate psychological education

Experiences in a study abroad utilizing deliberate psychological education

Relationships between self-efficacy and learning approaches as perceived by computer science students

Optimizing learning outcomes in university students necessitates an understanding of the processes that drive high-quality learning outcomes. This study investigates the motivational factors and learning methodologies perceived by computer science students during an introductory course. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 171 computer science students asked to complete a psychometric instrument (“Study Skills Inventory for Students”) during the first year of their university studies. Two major theoretical frameworks in educational psychology, namely students’ self-efficacy and learning approaches were tested relative to a factor structure obtained from learning situations. The findings supported self-efficacy and three learning approaches among computer science students. Models for deep, surface, and strategic learning approaches suggest that students with higher self-efficacy tend to adopt a deeper approach to learning. Conversely, students with lower self-efficacy were more inclined toward surface learning methods. Furthermore, a link was identified between strategic learning approaches and students’ experiences within their learning environments. The results substantiate earlier research and align with learning approach theories. The findings indicated that, in higher education settings, focus should be directed toward understanding the motivational factors influencing students and their learning approaches for educational outcomes.

Psychologists' Opportunities for Fostering Leadership Skills in Academic Medicine: The Rothenberger Leadership Academy.

Healthcare leaders must increasingly attend to the monumental challenges facing their organizations (Angood and Falcone, American Association for Physician Leadership, 2023). As such, leadership in healthcare settings demands new skills sets amongst healthcare professionals that transcend the technical skills of any given profession. Academic health center psychologists are well-positioned to contribute to the leadership of academic health centers due to knowledge, skills, and attitudes fostered in doctoral psychology education, practice, and research through the focus on Profession-Wide Competencies. This article calls for psychologists to pursue more leadership opportunities within academic health centers.The article starts by identifying parallels between psychology's Profession-Wide Competencies and needed leadership skills/concepts for healthcare leaders. An example of an academic health center psychologist's leadership in a cohort-based physician leadership program illustrates how Profession-Wide Competencies were used in three structural elements of the leadership program. The article identifies particular leadership opportunities for psychologists within academic health centers.

Transformative education applied to the philosophical principles of undergraduate education in psychology.

Transformative education applied to the philosophical principles of undergraduate education in psychology.

A Study of the Application of Educational Psychology to Educational Practice

The application of educational psychology in educational practices aims at enhancing the process of education through integrating psychological concepts with the teaching environment. Such a stance holds the practical relevance of improving the quality of instruction and learning as essential and timely. When these elements are understood, educational strategies can be designed to take into account these different learning profiles and hence enhance the chances of the learning achievement for overall students ability and for the presence of Inclusive Education. These research themes are important as they serve as a guideline in an effort to determine the nature of students learning, the conditions that prompt these changes in learning, and how technology can be incorporated into the learning process. Altogether, in pursuance of the present paper, a literature review and search have been performed, and the focus is on offering realistic recommendations for educators. The study provides a theoretical and empirical foundation for educational practice to help teachers to carry out conclusive teaching strategies. Therefore, sustaining and building this scholarship bridges theory and practice toward achieving progressive educational strategies that are supportive for all students and enhance the overall quality of education. Based on the findings, this study can provide useful recommendations for a range of issues, including the strategies for creating individual learning profiles for learners, the possible ways for dealing with the learning styles, and the guidelines for employing technologies to enhance learning. Furthermore, the paper also underlines the need to effectively update teachers professional experience and knowledge in the sphere of educational psychology.

Exploring worker subjectivity: shaping industrial and organizational psychology in post-apartheid South Africa

This article critically evaluates the role of industrial–organizational psychology in post-apartheid South Africa, advocating for a transformative framework that addresses the socio-political and historical inequalities in the workplace. The article highlights how industrial–organizational psychology has traditionally focused on organizational efficiency, often aligned with capitalist interests, while overlooking the socio-historical forces shaping worker experiences, particularly related to race, gender, and class. By introducing the concept of worker subjectivity, the article calls for a reimagined industrial–organizational psychology that integrates critical perspectives from psychology and management studies to better understand how workers navigate their identities and agency within broader socio-political structures. The author emphasizes the need to address the emotional and psychological dimensions of worker experiences, especially in the South African context marked by the legacies of colonialism and apartheid. By focusing on worker subjectivity, industrial–organizational psychology can move beyond traditional quantitative methods and engage with the complexities of workplace inequality. This approach aligns industrial–organizational psychology with the broader mission of the Psychological Society of South Africa to promote socially just and inclusive practices. The article also calls for interdisciplinary collaboration and the reformation of industrial–organizational psychology education to better equip practitioners with the tools needed to address the realities of post-apartheid workplaces.

You say you can, but can you? The impact of entrepreneurship education on unwarranted and gendered entrepreneurial self-efficacy - a calibration study

PurposeEntrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) has a dark side largely ignored in the field of entrepreneurship education. Research in educational psychology indicates that self-efficacy is prone to misjudgment, with novice learners often displaying overconfidence. Furthermore, this misjudgment is gendered; studies suggest that men are more likely to display overconfidence and less likely to correct erroneous self-assessments. However, realistic self-assessments are essential for effective learning strategies, pivotal for performance in the ambiguous entrepreneurial context. Therefore, this study explores whether entrepreneurship education helps mitigate overconfidence, and if this impact varies by gender.Design/methodology/approachCommon in educational psychology, but new in the field of entrepreneurship education, a calibration design captures discrepancies between perceived and actual performance. Data from before and after an introductory undergraduate entrepreneurship course (N = 103) inform descriptive analyses, statistical comparison tests and calibration plots.FindingsAs expected, nearly all novice students showed significant overconfidence. Curiously, gender difference was only significant at the end of the course, as overconfidence had decreased among female students and increased among male students.Originality/valueThe paper advocates a more nuanced stance toward ESE, and introduces ESE accuracy as a more fitting measure of entrepreneurial overconfidence. The findings flag the common use of self-perception as a proxy for actual competence, and evoke new research avenues on (gender differences in) learning motivations of aspiring entrepreneurs. Finally, the study shares guidance for entrepreneurship educators on fostering a “healthier” level of self-efficacy for better entrepreneurial learning.

Methodological support of the Masters’ research activities in the field «psychological and pedagogical education»

The article presents the experience of organizing Masters’ research activities in the field «psychological and pedagogical education» at the Samara National Research University. Gradually, students are involved in activities to obtain scientific knowledge from texts of various types in scientific work; comprehend the subject of scientific work, the subject of scientific activity and the levels of pedagogical research. Attention is drawn to the conditions for obtaining reliable scientific knowledge in the course of scientific research: methodological competence and methodological literacy of the Master. As a methodological support for the process of mastering the methodology of scientific activity in the field of pedagogical science, the content of educational disciplines is presented in the form of a set of tools, tasks on practical methodology.

Model of formation of tutoring competence of future educational psychologists

The article discusses the problem of individualization of training and substantiates the importance of developing a specialist’s tutoring competence. When designing a model for the formation of tutoring competence of future educational psychologists, the methodological foundations were identified: problem-oriented, systemic and competency-based approaches. The research used methods of systematization, generalization, synthesis and modeling. The blocks of the model are identified (conceptual-target, content, procedural and evaluative-resultative) and their characteristics are given.

Using Generative AI to Promote Psychological, Feedback, and Artificial Intelligence Literacies in Undergraduate Psychology

Background With the arrival of generative artificial intelligence (genAI) tools, psychology educators are rethinking their assessment practices. Objective This paper describes one approach to integrating genAI into an assessment designed to promote psychological literacy. Method Students used ChatGPT to generate a media release about a published article and then wrote a critique. We evaluated whether students were able to use the marking rubric to assess the ChatGPT output, and whether working with the rubric early in the assessment process had benefits for their grades on subsequent tasks. Results The results show that students accurately assessed the ChatGPT output against the marking rubric, judging the output to be stylistically good but lacking in accurate coverage of the aims, methods, and results of the research. Working with genAI and the marking rubric early in the assessment process had benefits for performance, relative to cohorts that had engaged in peer review. Conclusion By allowing students to use genAI and scaffolding the process of critiquing and revising, students gained competencies in psychological, feedback, and AI literacies. Teaching implications Integrating genAI presents opportunities for learning, if educators can think beyond the artifact and design assessment that allows our students to showcase their learning process.

Nursing care for women with perinatal depression

The perinatal period can be a challenging and difficult time for many women, during which they experience a shift in their social roles and a gradual transition to motherhood. Perinatal depression (PND) is one of the most common perinatal mental health conditions that jeopardizes mental health. health. Electronic database searches were conducted to find suitable papers; these publications included risk factors for perinatal depression, interventions, limitations and perspectives of interventions, and finally the information was extracted for narrative synthesis. Personal psychiatric history and addictive behaviors, mother-infant and husband conflicts in the family, economic and employment in the society and teenage pregnancy were associated with the risk of developing the disease. Medication and psychotherapy, providing professional help and family-centered care, improving the health care system and psychological screening and education, and providing social support were effective solutions. Perinatal depression is an important global public health problem that deserves some attention from individuals, families, and societies.

Design of an Educational Psychology Research Material Sharing Platform Based on Fuzzy Clustering Algorithm

In the interdisciplinary field of educational psychology, efficiently managing and accessing research materials remains a formidable challenge due to the vast and varied nature of available data. This paper introduces an innovative platform engineered to streamline the organization and dissemination of educational psychology research materials by harnessing the power of fuzzy clustering algorithms for automated content categorization. Motivated by the imperative to enhance the accessibility and discoverability of scholarly resources, our methodology employs the Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) algorithm, adept at accommodating the intrinsic ambiguity and overlap prevalent in educational psychology topics. The process initiates with a comprehensive preprocessing of diverse research materials, including scholarly articles, reports, and datasets, succeeded by meticulous feature extraction to distill pivotal themes and concepts. Subsequent application of the FCM algorithm facilitates the intuitive grouping of materials into clusters, each with varying degrees of relevance, thereby mirroring the multidimensional essence of the domain. Rigorous experimental validation of our approach underscores its efficacy in augmenting search precision and markedly diminishing the time scholars expend in locating pertinent materials. The platform’s user-centric interface further simplifies the exploration of educational psychology research, offering scholars a streamlined mechanism to access and engage with an extensive repository of resources. Through this study, we demonstrate a significant stride towards overcoming the hurdles in research material categorization and retrieval, heralding a new era of efficiency and accessibility for the educational psychology academic community on a global scale.

Factors underpinning the adoption of a school-based growth mindset intervention: a qualitative study

ABSTRACT This qualitative study explores the motivations, barriers, and facilitators underpinning the adoption of the Mindset Teams programme in primary schools across Scotland. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 teachers across six Mindset Teams schools and 14 wider stakeholders working across local, regional, and national levels. Findings suggested underpinning factors across the socio-ecological model, with differential themes identified, including six supporting school motivations and ten spanning barriers and facilitators, across teacher and stakeholder data. Limitations, implications for school and educational psychology (EP) practice, and suggestions for future school-based mindset interventions are considered.

Psycho-Social Predictors of Parental Involvement in Academic Activities of Junior Secondary School Students in Port Harcourt Metropolis

This study investigated psycho-social predictors of parental involvement in the academic activities of junior secondary school students in Port Harcourt Metropolis. The study was guided by four research questions and their corresponding null hypotheses. The design for the study was correlational research design. The population of the study consisted of 16,835 parents of 24,343 JSS3 students (Source: School Board, 2024) from 278 public secondary school students in Port Harcourt Metropolis (Post Primary Education Board, 2024). A sample of 689 parents who are alive and can read and write, as reported by their children (The JSS3 students) was used for the study. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used in drawing the sample. Four instruments were used for the study. They are, Self-efficacy Scale (SES), Locus of Control Scale (LCS) Family Conflict Scale (FCS) and Parental Involvement Scale (PIS). The validity of the instruments were done by two experts in Educational Psychology. To ensure the reliability of the instruments Cronbach alpha () technique was used. The alpha coefficients of 0.75, 0.82, 0.67 and 0.76 were obtained for family conflict, self-efficacy, locus of control and parental involvement scale respectively. Multiple regression, simple regression and ANOVA were used for data analysis. Research questions 1 and 3 were answered using simple regression, research question 2 and 4 were answered using multiple regression. Hypotheses I and 3 were tested using ANOVA associated with simple regression while hypotheses 2 and 4 were tested using ANOVA associated with multiple regression. All analyses were done at 0.05 alpha level. Results revealed among others that self-efficacy did not significantly predict parental involvement in the academic activities of junior secondary school students in Port Harcourt Metropolis while locus of control and family conflict significantly predicted parental involvement in the academic activities of junior secondary school students in Port Harcourt Metropolis. It was recommended amongst others that parents should always make effort to exhibit internal locus of control as this will help them get better involved in the academic activities of their children.

Clinical characteristics and toxicological spectrum analysis of 493 cases of acute poisoning in children

ObjectiveThis retrospective study aimed to analyze the clinical characteristics and toxicological spectrum of acute poisoning in children treated at our pediatric intensive care unit. The findings provide a basis for the treatment and prevention of acute poisoning in children.MethodsClinical data of hospitalized children aged 0 to14 years with acute poisoning, treated between January 2015 and December 2023, were collected and analyzed. The analysis included the types of poisoning, sex and age distribution of children, routes and causes of poisoning, time from poisoning to medical consultation, length of hospital stays, and treatment outcomes.ResultsAmong the 493 cases of acute poisoning in children, pesticide poisoning (n = 252, 51.1%) was the most common type, followed by medication poisoning (n = 182, 36.9%). Chemical poisoning accounted for 7.7% (n = 38), while food poisoning and inhalation of harmful gases accounted for 3.0% (n = 15) and 1.2% (n = 6), respectively. The main route of poisoning was oral ingestion (n = 477, 96.8%), while accidental ingestion accounted for a large proportion (n = 379, 79.4%), and adolescents aged 11 to 14 years accounted for 20.6% (n = 98).Apart from the predominance of girls attempting suicide by self-administering antipsychotic medications (n = 88, 75.9%) due to depression, there was no significant difference in sex distribution among other types of poisoning children. The highest incidence of poisoning except children who self-administer antipsychotic drugs occurred in children aged 1–3 years (n = 267, 54.2%) and 8–14 years (n = 135, 27.4%), with the highest proportion in the preschool age group. The average time from poisoning to medical consultation was 33.4 ± 54.9 h, and majority of children received treatment within 48 h after poisoning (n = 423, 85.8%). The overall effective treatment rate was 96.8%.ConclusionAcute poisoning in children has complex and diverse causes, with accidental ingestion being the main route. Prevention should be emphasized, including strengthening child safety education and improving parental supervision. Moreover, psychological health education is crucial for adolescents during their puberty. In the event of acute poisoning, prompt medical consultation and appropriate treatment are necessary to mitigate adverse outcomes.

Limes (the Roman Frontier): Developing a Video Game for History Learning

The use of gaming technologies in education holds great promise to provide engaging learning experiences. Whereas video games have been successfully used to foster learning in several school subjects, the current understanding of the potential of video games for history learning is still limited. This paper details the development of Limes, a 2D top-down educational game created in Unity and rendered in pixel art. The game targets 5th/6th grade secondary school students and is set in the third century AD in southern Germany, a period characterized by political and social instabilities. Limes digs into the complex relations between the Roman Empire and the Alemanni tribe, one of the most powerful Germanic tribes of this period. The player can experience this pixelated world through the eyes of an Alemanni child, who forms a friendship with a Roman centurion. The unfolding narrative places the young protagonist in the precarious balance of peace and conflict, and the player needs to navigate the diplomatic tensions of the era. The gameplay consists of five levels, including primary missions and optional secondary missions which unlock special features (e.g., puzzles, quizzes). Limes incorporates a variety of game mechanics, ranging from running and interacting with characters to stealth missions, throwing rocks, and horse racing. These dynamics are integrated into the historical narrative of the game, enriching the player's experience. The game development process combined insights and methods from multiple disciplines, including game-based learning, educational, social, and cultural psychology, education sciences and pedagogy, and history education. Moreover, the game capitalizes on Unity’s wide array of development tools, which provide extensive customization possibilities, and employs pixel art, facilitating an engaging environment while maintaining a cost-conscious development process. Initial tests and expert feedback highlight the promise of Limes as a game that leverages historical accuracy and innovative educational tools to foster a deeper understanding of Roman history. Next steps include empirical studies with students to test the game's effectiveness (e.g., in improving interest in and knowledge of Roman history).