EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY ASSIGNMENT

ASSIGNMENT - Students will create a thematic portfolio to present three case studies. The students will dedicate a separate entry for each case study. Each case study should describe and analyse a different learning issue. The context of the first case study is the student (themselves); the second is a peer; and the third is another learner external to the unit who may be an older child or adolescent. The participant is expected to profile the context of learning of each case study and provide concrete examples as evidence of learning and frame their profiles within the premises of an adopted learning theory and be informed by a review of related literature.

Advice for Assessment Task 1: Learning Portfolio

Purpose of assessment:

In order to develop your understanding of the nature of learning, it is beneficial to examine and critically reflect on yourself and others as learners based on seminal and contemporary theories. This assessment will give you the opportunity to show that you have thought deeply about different learning experiences and reflected on those learning experiences in the light of learning theories that we have studied this semester.

Approach:

You will reflect on how you and others learn based on the set and optional readings; lecture materials and activities; your own extended readings; and reflections this semester. Therefore, the topics that we have covered each week, for example, behavioural theory of learning or constructivist theories of learning are the theories that you will draw on when you are reflecting on how you and others learn.

Your portfolio will contain THREE case studies: yourself, a peer within the unit, and another person. Note: the description for this task says it may be an older child or adolescent but for ethical approval it is much better to choose someone over 18.

What to include about each case study/learner:
In your portfolio you will dedicate a separate entry for each case study. You have approximately 500 words for each entry so you must be concise. Consider using headings and dot points where possible. Headings will not be counted in your word count.

Each entry will include the following:

1. Profile the context of learning – (this is not included in word count). Provide details about the learning (e.g., who the learner is; where learning took place, the purpose of learning, when it took place etc). Include any details here which you think might be important for later analysis of learning. This might be written in present tense or past tense depending on whether the learning situation is finished or ongoing. Note: Make sure to use pseudonyms and deidentify any documents you might put in the portfolio.
2. Provide concrete example/s of evidence of learning (this is not included in word count). This could take many forms. It might be an image of before and after test results, it might be a reflection from the learner of their learning experience, it might be a short video of a skill learned. Note: You can choose to put the evidence of learning in the appendix if it is overly lengthy but make sure to tell your marker to refer to appendix.
3. Critically analyse the learning issue within the premises of a framework of the nature of learning and learning theory informed by literature ( 500 words). It is in this section that you show your depth of understanding of learning theories covered this semester. Make sure to include the assumptions, concepts and principles of the learning theories that you write about. Note: It is likely to be beneficial to choose quite varied learning experiences for your three case studies so you can show your understanding of different aspects of a theory or theories.

How many theories? What your marker will be looking for is depth and critical reflection on the experience and the relevant learning theories. There is no strict rule here but trying to cover many learning theories would likely mean your reflection is shallow. At most, you may decide to focus on one major theory for each learning experience. Or you might choose only one theory of learning and cover different elements of this theory when writing about the three learning experiences. Again, it is depth in critical reflection and understanding of the theory that your markers will be looking for.