Unit rationale, description and aim
Effective teachers need to understand learners and their development across multiple domains and how learning and development influence and interact with pedagogies and pedagogical decision-making.
Through this unit, pre-service teachers develop a sound understanding of human development from infancy to early adulthood across multiple domains (physical, social, emotional, cognitive). This understanding serves as a basis for an exploration of how psychology, including neuroscience, informs effective teacher practices to facilitate learning. Pre-service teachers will examine the nature of learning from a variety of perspectives (neurological, behavioural, constructivist, cognitive, humanist), factors that influence or underpin learning (motivation, self-efficacy, experience and culture) and the application of this knowledge in educational contexts to help them understand their own learning and the learning of others. They will be scaffolded to access and use contemporary research and literature to reflect on their own learning journey and think critically about their conceptions of learning and teaching.
This unit aims to develop pre-service teachers’ foundational knowledge of neurological, developmental and psychological factors that impact learners and their learning, and to apply this to selecting teaching strategies that effectively support diverse learners.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Understand normative human development in multiple...
Learning Outcome 01
Explain a range of theories and perspectives of le...
Learning Outcome 02
Analyse a range of factors that influence learning...
Learning Outcome 03
Reflect critically about themselves, peers, and ot...
Learning Outcome 04
Content
Topics will include:
• Introduction to educational psychology and human development
• Environmental influences on development
• Intelligence, learner diversity, and inclusive education
• Cognitive development
• Social and emotional development
• Physical and brain development and learning
• Cognitive models of learning, including neuroscience
• Behavioural views of learning
• Social cognitive views of learning
• Constructivist views of learning
Assessment strategy and rationale
The assessment tasks and their weightings are designed to enable pre-service teachers to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of educational psychology, including human development and neuroscience, and apply this to diverse learners. The knowledge and skills support pre-service teachers to demonstrate learning about the brain and learning (1.1, 1.2 and 1.4), learner development and the impacts on learning that will be applied across their course.
Assessment Task 1 is a low-weighted assessment that provides an early review of unit content and engagement through a quiz. Assessment Task 2 is a reflective task that examines and explores pre-service teachers’ learning and development, using self-inquiry to evidence-based theories and research. Pre-service teachers will be scaffolded to engage appropriately with generative AI to support their writing. This is then followed up by the Examination (Task 3) of pre-service teachers’ knowledge and understanding of unit content.
The assessment tasks and their weighting are designed to demonstrate achievement of learning outcomes. To pass this unit, pre-service teachers are required to submit all assessment tasks and achieve a passing grade of 50% for Task 2 and the unit overall.
Overview of assessments
Assessment Task 1: Quiz Complete a 20-question q...
Assessment Task 1: Quiz
Complete a 20-question quiz to assess your early understanding of unit content. You must score 80% or better to complete this task. You will be allowed unlimited attempts.
Complete/Incomplete
Assessment Task 2: Reflective Essay Write a crit...
Assessment Task 2: Reflective Essay
Write a critically reflective account of your development and personal learning journey. Respond to the question, ‘Who am I as a learner?’, using relevant research and literature related to learning, development, neuroscience and motivational theories.
50%
Assessment Task 3: Examination Complete an exami...
Assessment Task 3: Examination
Complete an examination covering unit content as scheduled for the end of semester.
50%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
The learning in this unit is inquiry-based, learner-focused and student-centred. Emphasis is placed on pre-service teachers as adult learners with responsibility for their own learning and who are capable of problem-solving. Pre-service teachers will be scaffolded in self-inquiry to reflect on learning as and for diverse learners.
The learning and teaching strategy for this unit is based on a constructivist approach that recognises that learning builds on pre-existing understandings and is shaped by learners’ personal development and sociocultural context. The learning and teaching strategy encourages active learning and engagement. Teaching strategies will consolidate the learning of content, apply knowledge to problem-solving tasks and develop analytical and evaluating skills. The learning and teaching strategy is achieved through a range of learning activities such as reading, reflection, discussion, and engagement with webinars, podcasts and video resources.
ACECQA Curriculum Specifications
In connection to the learning outcomes, on successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should have developed the following industry specific knowledge based on the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) standards:
Relating to
Learning, development and care
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO1, LO2, LO3
Relating to
Social and emotional development
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO1, LO2, LO3
Relating to
Culture, diversity and inclusion
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO1, LO3
Australian Professional Standards for Teachers - Graduate Level
In connection to the learning outcomes, on successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should have developed the following industry specific knowledge based on the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers - Graduate Level standards:
Relating toDemonstrate knowledge and understanding of physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students and how these may affect learning.
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO1, LO3, LO4
Relating toDemonstrate knowledge and understanding of research into how students learn and the implications for teaching.
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO2
Relating toDemonstrate knowledge of teaching strategies that are responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO3
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) Core Content
On successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should have developed the following industry specific knowledge based on the AITSL Core Content:
Relating toThe difference in the process of knowledge acquisition in the brain of a novice vs the brain of an expert. This should be taught with reference to the development of mental models and schemas.
Relevant learningLO1, LO2
Relating toThe features of biologically primary vs biologically secondary knowledge acquisition and the importance of teacher-led instruction for biologically secondary knowledge acquisition.
Relevant learningLO1, LO2
Relating toThe foundations of how a student’s brain develops from early childhood through to young adult, including the development of executive functions and the implications for teaching.
Relevant learningLO1, LO2
Relating toThe research evidence that shows why the use of self-directed approaches as a starting point for novices is ineffective and should be avoided.
Relevant learningLO1, LO2
Relating toThe cognitive process of learning, including how the brain moves information through working memory into long-term memory, how to optimise this process and the potential barriers to this process.
Relevant learningLO2
Relating toThe limits of working memory including how cognitive overload occurs, and the common causes of cognitive overload.
Relevant learningLO2
Relating toThe most effective teaching practices to reduce cognitive overload, including explicit instruction, scaffolding, and clearly structured content that connects new information to prior learning.
Relevant learningLO2, LO3
Relating toHow the brain applies attained knowledge to solve problems by accessing memory or combining and re-combining memory to generate possible solutions.
Relevant learningLO1, LO2
Relating toHow to identify common neuromyths that are related to education (e.g. multiple intelligences, left vs right brain, learning styles, 10% of the use of our brain) and describe the evidence that disproves them.
Relevant learningLO2, LO3
Relating toThe negative impacts of making instructional choices based on neuromyths, including how neuromyths conflict with current understandings of how the brain learns.
Relevant learningLO3
Relating toThe research base that shows explicit teaching, modelling and scaffolding practices are highly effective and attend best to how a student’s brain learns.
Relevant learningLO2, LO3
Relating toWhy independent problem-solving is only effective once a student approaches proficiency (i.e. after ample opportunities to practise progressively challenging tasks) and why independent problem-solving should not represent a large proportion of teaching and learning time.
Relevant learningLO2, LO3
Relating toThe evidence-based approaches to cater for specific needs and disabilities that a teacher may encounter during their career, with a focus on needs with high prevalence in Australian classrooms. Content should be developed in collaboration with appropriate subject matter expertise from a range of disciplines – for example, linguistics, psychology, health, and education.
Relevant learningLO1, LO2, LO3
Representative texts and references
Required texts
Margetts, K., Woolfolk, A. E. & Usher, E. L. (2023). Educational psychology (6th ed.). Pearson Australia.
Recommended texts
Duschesne, S. & McMaugh, A. (2022). Educational psychology for learning and teaching (7th ed.). Cengage Learning Australia.
Recommended references
Agarwal, P. K., Nunes, L. D., & Blunt, J. R. (2021). Retrieval practice consistently benefits
student learning: A systematic review of applied research in schools and classrooms. Educational Psychology Review, 33(4), 1409-1453.
Dehaene, S. (2020). How we learn: The new science of education and the brain. Penguin UK.
Lovell, O., & Sherrington, T. (2020). Sweller's cognitive load theory in action. John Catt Educational, Limited.
Martin, A. J., Sperling, R. A., & Newton. K. J. (2020). Handbook of educational psychology and students with special needs. Routledge.
McInerney, D., & Putwain, D. (2017) Developmental and educational psychology for teachers: An applied approach. Routledge.
O’Donnell, A. M. (2018) The Oxford handbook of educational psychology (Eds.). Oxford University Press.
Pritchard, A. (2018). Ways of learning: learning theories and learning styles in the classroom (4th ed.). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Rousseau, L. (2021) Interventions to dispel neuromyths in educational settings- A review. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.719692
Seifert, K., & Sutton, R. (2019). Educational psychology (3rd ed.). New Prairie Press.
Weinstein, Y., Madan, C. R., & Sumeracki, M. A. (2018). Teaching the science of learning. Cognitive research: principles and implications, 3, 1-17.
Wiseheart, M., Kupper-Tetzel, C. E., Weston, T., Kim, A. S., Kapler, I. V., & Foot-Seymour, V. (2019). Enhancing the quality of student learning using distributed practice. http://www.yorku.ca/ncepeda/publications/WKWKKF2019.pdf