Case Study as a Constructivist Pedagogy for Teaching Educational Psychology

Abstract

Recent interest and inquiry into constructivism, pedagogical content knowledge, and case study methodology are influencing the content and goals of educational psychology in teacher preparation. The reasons seem clear: The content of educational psychology lends itself to authentic, active, and pragmatic applications of theory to school practices, as well as to investigations of a variety of educational issues, perspectives, and contexts which can be viewed through case study, a constructivist problem-based approach to learning. Widely-used educational psychology texts are including constructivism as a cognitive alternative to behaviorist and information processing views of teaching and learning. Concurrently, case studies are being integrated in educational psychology texts, and a myriad of case texts have appeared with application to educational psychology courses. This article considers the decisions, benefits, and difficulties in teaching educational psychology through a constructivist case study approach.