Knowledge Recycling: Crisscrossing the Landscape of Educational Psychology in a Problem-Based Learning Course for Preservice Teachers

Authors

  • Cindy E. Hmelo-Silver Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Author

Abstract

Many current educational reform movements recommend an increased emphasis on flexible thinking and learning that integrate content knowledge with rich problem-solving contexts. Teacher education is no exception. Educational psychology courses emphasize the psychological theories, principles, and concepts that prospective teachers need to know. The goal of these courses is for teachers to be able to apply psychological knowledge to classroom situations. This provides support for situating learning in educational problems. The author describes a problem-based learning (PBL) approach to teaching educational psychology. Analysis of the classroom implementation shows that students revisit concepts across multiple problems that are grounded in instructional contexts crisscrossing the landscape of educational psychology. Results suggest that a problem-based approach helps students construct usable knowledge that they are able to apply to a variety of problem situations.

Published

2024-03-22