Author: Jeanne Ellis Ormrod, PhD
Publisher: Pearson – www.pearsonhighered.com – 540 pages, plus appendices
Book Review by: Sonu Chandiram

This is essentially and emphatically a student-focused textbook. I may sound contrite as I say this, but the author, who has been teaching educational psychology since 1974 and has “loved every minute of it,” shows here genuine concern for students to benefit from this book by stating frankly that teaching is a challenging profession as much as it has been a rewarding one for her.

In relating her experiences, she admits: “Students don’t always come to us ready or eager to learn.”  But she asks: “How can we help them develop the knowledge and skills they need to become productive adults?”

And, as a researcher in educational psychology, she ponders in constructive ways, writing “what strategies can we use to motivate them?” and “what tasks and instructional materials are appropriate for children at different developmental levels?”

Here is the coverage of this book in outline form below, and you will find answers to the questions above, and more, within its pages.

  1. Teaching and Educational Psychology
  2. Development and Diversity
  3. Cognitive and Linguistic Development
  4. Personal and Social Development
  5. Group Differences
  6. Individual Differences and Special Educational Needs
  7. Learning and Motivation
  8. Learning, Cognition and Memory
  9. Complex Cognitive Processes
  10. Learning and Cognition in Context
  11. Behaviorist Views of Learning
  12. Social Cognitive Views of Learning
  13. Motivation and Affect
  14. Classroom Strategies
  15. Instructional Strategies
  16. Creating a Productive Learning Environment
  17. Classroom Assignment Strategies
  18. Summarizing Students’ Achievement and Abilities

In order for you to learn educational psychology, the author gives you these four valuable tips:

  • Focus on core concepts and principles of the discipline
  • See these principles in action in your own learning and behavior
  • Use the principles to understand the learning and behavior of children and adolescents
  • Consistently apply the principles to classroom practice

In addition to utilizing the above tips to learn and apply educational psychology in your own life, there is a valuable online resource tool by Pearson entitled MyEducationLab which includes media and other materials that helps instructors being educational to life and to help students come to a deep and applied understanding of this content that can be found on www.myeducationlab.com On that site are available:

  • Videos that illustrate key concepts and principles
  • Simulations that provide opportunities to explore strategies related to typical classroom management issues
  • Supplementary readings that provide more information on certain topics

For each topic covered in the course, you’ll find most or all these features and resources:

  • Advanced Data and Performance Reporting Aligned to National Standards
  • Assignments and Activities
  • Building Teaching Skills and Dispositions
  • IRIS Center Resources
  • Simulations in Classroom Management
  • Additional Course Resources
  • Book-Specific Resources

With all these online resources and content tailored by the author to make your learning experience a success, this is an excellent book for you to have if you want to learn educational psychology easily and effectively.

Jeanne Ellis Ormrod, PhD received her AB in psychology from Brown University and her MS and PhD in educational psychology from The Pennsylvania State University. She earned licensure in school psychology through postdoctoral work at Temple University and the University of Colorado at Boulder and has worked as a middle school geography teacher and school psychologist.

She was Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Northern Colorado until 1998, when she moved east to return to her native New England. She has published numerous research articles on cognition and memory, cognitive development, and giftedness, but is probably best known for this book and four others.

Human Learning (currently in its sixth edition); Essentials of Educational Psychology (currently in its third edition); Child Development and Education (coauthored with Teresa McDevitt, currently in its fifth edition); and Practical Research (coauthored with Paul Leedy, currently in its tenth edition).

She has also recently published a non-textbook for a broad audience: Our Minds, Our Memories: Enhancing Thinking and Learning at All Ages. With her three children now grown and out on their own, she lives in New Hampshire with her husband Richard.