Chapter
3
“METHODS
OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY”
“The
Chapter at a Glance”
A brief description of the methods of
introspection,
observation, experiment, testing and the
individual
case study method.
Other miscellaneous methods.
Desirability of a non-sectarian attitude.
“Methods
of Educational Psychology”
A science employs certain methods of means for
the collection of its data or facts. Like other sciences Educational Psychology
too employs a number of such methods. A detailed discussion of these methods is
not possible in such a small volume as this. However, in the following pages
the most salient features of the following prominent methods will be outlined:-
(1) Introspection.
(2) Observation.
(3)
Experiment.
(4)
Testing.
(5)
The
individual case study method.
The teacher will himself judge which one of the
methods or a combination of them is best suited to a particular types of study
in a given field of education.
1. “Introspection”
This is the oldest and an almost obsolete method.
Introspection literally means “looking within” when one turns to one’s own self
and observes what goes on in the realm of one’s own mind, one is said to be
introspecting. Introspection thus is a kind of self observation or self
examination. It is a distinct form of observation__ a method of getting
knowledge about the individual __a knowledge which is exclusive and peculiar to
the individual.
“Direct
and First Hand Information”
The distinctive feature of introspection is
that it yields direct and first hand information about all that happens in the
mind of an individual. There is perhaps no better way of knowing what goes on
in the minds of other people than by turning to one’s own mind and observing
what goes on there. By looking within, by examining minutely what takes place
in our own mind we can not only sharpen our knowledge of our own self but get
an insight into the minds of other people too.
Though the information collected through this
method is apparently unreliable, dubious and risky, it might, nevertheless,
serve the purpose of a teacher in a given case. A teacher, for instance, might
say “because I found this happening in my mind in such and such a situation
therefore the same might be taking place in the minds of my pupils in similar
situations”
“Objections
against Introspection”
Several objections have, however, been raised
against the introspective method. It has, for instance, been said that in introspection
implies the division of the mind into the observer and the observed which is
not possible. How can one mind be both the subject and the object at the same
time?
Another objection has been that introspection
is impossible because the moment we begin to attend to our own mental processes
they tend to disappear. Our inner experiences are extremely evasive and short
lived. As soon as we turn to think about our joy, sorrow and anger we find that
the experience itself either disappears or changes into an entirely different
one.
Furthermore, it has been held that the
application of this method in educational psychology tantamount to reducing it
into a purely subjective branch of knowledge and to excluding if from the realm
of the objective sciences.
Another difficulty about this method is that it
cannot be employed with children and abnormal people. Children and abnormal
persons are usually not capable of turning to themselves and reporting their
inner mental process. An Educational Psychologist might do without knowledge of
abnormal people to certain extent. But a scientific study and proper
understanding of child life can never be ignored by him for obvious reasons.
Owing to these and a number of other defects in
the introspective method, modern Educational psychology pays relatively little
attention to it.
2. “Observation”
This is a very simple method. It consists in
observing the physical signs, appearances, movements and activities of other
people and inferring their mental processes from these outward appearances. By
observing a radiant smile on a youthful face I can infer that the person is happy.
In general everyday life, smiles, tears, scowling and a general limpness of the
muscles are usually interpreted as indications respectively of joy, sorrow,
anger and fatigue.
“Application
in the Classroom”
A skillful teacher makes practical use of this
method in the classroom in several ways. He can recognize by minutest outward
indications the exact frame of mind of a student in the calls. He can, thereby,
see whether or not the student under observation is really attentive to and
grasping the lesson in progress. He can also understand the motive of a child
who stands up and speaks to him in the classroom. From his observations he can
infer his real attitude and meaning i.e. whether he is trying to curry favor or
really wants what he asks about; whether he is simply bluffing to avoid
punishment or is really sorry and repentant, etc.
Similarly, an experienced teacher can catch the
tone of a class from the way the boys sit, listen and behave. By a mere glance
at their faces and a careful observation of the minutest sounds, gestures and
movements of various individuals and groups in his class the observant teacher
can infer a lot. In the like manner a skilled inspector of school or an
experienced headmaster, after making a brief tour through a school can tell
more of its general tone, standard of discipline and quality of teaching than
many of the unskilled and unobservant class teachers.
“Merits
and Demerits of Observation”
The method of external observation as described
above is full of pitfalls. As we know, the language of the body is full of
misleading synonyms. Limpness, for instance, may mean fatigue or disappointment
or boredom. Tears may signify joy or sorrow. They may as well result from an
irritation of the nose or eyes. Nevertheless, on the basis of his daily
observations and experience of handling children a matured teacher must be able
to differentiate a gesture of boredom from a gesture of fatigue. The “school
teacher’s eye” should be as proverbial as the “miller’s thumb” __an eye which
infers a lot from tiny observations of behavior during the course of a class
lesson or a general conversation with the students.
The reader will remember that while discussing
the method of introspection we found that, being too personal and subjective, it
was not a dependable method for Educational Psychology. The method of
observation is free from these defects at least. It is predominantly objective and
can be safely employed to study the behavior of children in and outside the
class-room. Its application by the educational psychologist gives his science
the appearance of an objective science. Through the help of this method we can
observe as many children as we like. We can then generalize on the basis of
these observations. These generalizations can help us to predict and control,
fairly accurately, the behavior of children.
3. “Experiment”
An experiment means observation made under
scientific, standardized and controlled conditions. A man watching the flash of
lightning produced by the clashing of clouds in the sky is said to be observing
the phenomenon of electricity. A physicist observing the various ways of
producing electricity by joining two currents in the laboratory is also
observing more or less the same phenomenon. The latter observation is an
experiment—a controlled observation, while the former is a simple observation.
The difference between the two observations is that whereas the conditions in
the former are beyond the control of the observer, those in the latter are
entirely in the hands of the observer who can control or vary them at will.
“An
Experiment in Educational Psychology”
In order to be objective and accurate a science
must make frequent use of experiments. Educational psychology also employs this
method in its investigation for this very purpose. An experiment is designed to
test a hypothesis a detailed investigation about which promises to contribute
towards a better understanding in a given filed of knowledge. In an experiment
there must be an experimenter who is the psychologist himself and a subject or
a group of subjects on whom the experiment is conducted. An experiment in
Educational psychology may be conducted in psychological laboratory, a class
room, a play field or just anywhere provided the situation and the conditions
of work are under the control of the experimenter. It may also be conducted
with or without the use of an apparatus.
A common type of standard experiment in the field
of Educational psychology is usually conducted by selecting two carefully
matched groups of children, one called “experimental” and the other the “control”
group. The experimental group is subjected to some definite procedure the
educational worth or otherwise of which is to be tested. This procedure is
withheld from the control group. The influence of the specific procedure under
investigation is inferred from the resulting difference between the two groups
of learners who are alike in all other respects excepting the specific
procedure under experimental examination.
“Advantages
of the Experimental Method”
From the strictly scientific point of view the
experimental method is the most significant method of obtaining knowledge in
the domain of education. Several important educational problems pertaining to
the field of learning, teaching, discipline and administration have been and
are being better understood through the experimental method.
For example, in order to study the efficiency
or otherwise of a method of teaching science to a particular class through
audio-visual aids, a teacher may select two groups of students from the same
class, making one the control and the other the experimental group. He may then
proceed with teaching science to the experimental group with the help of audio-visual
aids. At the same time he continues teaching the same subject to the control
group in the usual way, i.e., without employing any audio-visual aids material.
At the end of a prescribed period of teaching he might give a test in the
subject to both of the groups. If the experimental group does well in the test
as compared with the control group he has experimentally proved the efficiency
of the teaching method under investigation.
“Contributions
of the Method”
The experimental method is now becoming very
popular in Educational Psychology. As a result of a countless series of
extremely enlightening experiments on educational problems a number of
objective and precise techniques of understanding and teaching the children are
now available for use in schools. Vision and hearing of children, for example,
can now be measured under controlled conditions. Consequent upon experimental
investigations in the psychological laboratories a great deal has been
discovered about the span of attention, the causes of fatigue and boredom, the teaching
and learning of languages and other special subjects, the rate of remembering
and forgetting in varying conditions, transfer of learning of desirable and
undesirable habits and attitudes by the students, etc.
A successful education of the child and an
efficient administration of a school in the modern age needs more and more thorough and frequent application of the experimental
method in actual school conditions and life situations.
“Difficulties
in the Experimental Method”
However, there are certain difficulties
involved in the use of this method. Every educational problem cannot be
subjected to an experimental investigation. Furthermore, great tact and
psychological insight is needed to conduct a psychological experiment in a
given field of education. Application of the findings of an experiment to an
actual class room situation is still more difficult.
These difficulties can, however, be overcome or
at least minimized if the experienced school teacher and the learned
educational psychologist cooperate with each other. It would be ideal if they
undertook to conduct an experimental investigation in close collaboration with
each other. Such an experimental cooperation will be of great mutual help to
both of them. The educational psychologist will then be able to conduct the
experiment in conditions very much like the real teaching and learning
situations. Correspondingly, the teacher will experience little difficulty in
understanding the nature and purpose of the experiment and in applying the
fruitful findings of a specialist in a particular field of education.
4. “Testing”
A science begins by being predominantly
qualitative. It ends by being more and more quantitative and precise. In the
development of a science a stage comes when it is felt that no generalization,
howsoever illuminating and convincing it may seem, can be presented as a valid
and reliable statement and be recognized as a general law unless it can be
proved by a rigorous testing of the facts it is designed to unify and explain.
Advancement in any science depends, to a large degree, on the improvement of
its mathematics__ its testing and measuring techniques.
“Work of
Thorndike and his Followers”
The method of testing and measuring is employed
by the educational psychologist in making quantitative observation of
children’s responses to certain educational tasks which are presented under
standard conditions. The application of testing in the field of education
commonly dates from the work of Thorndike and his followers. In 1904 Thorndike
published his first book dealing with measurement. Since then innumerable test
and scales have been constructed and utilized in various fields of education.
The earliest developments in the field of
testing pertained mostly to physical measurement. In later years testing and
measuring work was also conducted on simple psychological functions, e.g.,
reaction time, sensory discrimination, rate of learning and forgetting, etc. More
complex functions, for instance, intelligence, honesty and sociability have
been subjected to testing and measurement only recently following the pioneer
work of Binet, Thornkdike, Terman and others.
Mental tests are now rapidly becoming popular
in the field of education all over the world. For further details of some of
the intelligence, aptitude, personality and scholastic achievement tests and
their implications in education, the reader is referred to Chapter XXXIV of
this volume especially devoted to their discussion.
“Some Significant
Advantages”
The application of testing to the sphere of
educational problems has been extremely enlightening. The most significant
advantages of testing as applied to the field of education are:-
(1)
It gives a precise, objective and valid score
of an individual student as compared with the class or the group to which he
belongs.
(2)
Helps towards an understanding of individual
difference.
(3)
Helps to make intensive study of the individual
as well as the group on reasonable and comparable basis.
(4)
A test score and its interpretation enable a
teacher to understand the exact educational standing of a student and to adopt
precise measures to make further improvements.
The last mentioned factor is very important.
Though various tests devised by the educational psychologists, it has now
become possible, for instance, to predict the limitations of a child’s capacity
for being educated and to lay down the appropriate lines along which he should
be taught.
5. “The Individual
Case Study Method”
A detailed study of an individual can be used
as a helpful source for making generalizations in the field of education.
Usually a summary of observations and interpretation on some important aspects
of an individual is included in a case study, e.g., his physical conditions,
mental and scholastic level, emotional health, habits and attitudes, family
circumstance, etc. Thus, comparatively very little light can be thrown on
education problems of the school through minute studies of a few individual
alone. Nevertheless, it is an unassailable fact that the mysteries of human
personality and the dynamics of the behavior of children at school can be quite
thoroughly understood in the light of elaborate case studies of certain
illustrative individual cases.
“The
prominent Varieties”
Several types of individual case studies are in
vogue. Some of the more significant of these are as follows:-
(1)
Case History Method.
(2)
Cumulative Record Method.
(3)
Clinical Case Study Method.
(4)
Personality Studies of Unusual Children.
(5)
Psycho-analytical Personality Studies.
“Case
History Method”
A case history is collection of facts about a
child brought to the notice of the authority, a child guidance clinic or an
outside agency for one or another reason. The purpose of history taking is to
obtain the following information:-
(1) An overall picture of the child’s
environment;
(2) A record of the child’s health and
physical, mental, emotional and social development from conception up to date;
(3)
An
appreciation of the child’s personality; and
(4)
An
understanding of the specific factor (or complaint, if any) for which the child
is being studied.
The above-mentioned information is collected
from official records, the accounts of the friends, parents and relatives,
reports of the teachers, results of any examinations or interviews, and even
own story of the child. All these data regarding the child are carefully
recorded and interpreted in order to enable the parents, the teacher or the
psychological worker to understand the child and to help him in a given
situation.
“Cumulative
Record Method”
Some of the more advanced educational
institutions keep cumulative records of their children. Measurements and
observations recorded at various stages of the development of the child are
kept as he grows.
This method is superior to the case history
method for two reasons:-
(1)
It records more details than the case history.
(2)
Being the contemporaneous record of the child’s
development at the actual time of growth, it is more reliable than the case
history which is reconstructed at a given time by retrospection.
“Clinical
Case Study Method”
A clinical study is usually undertaken by an
expert only when a child is in some serious difficulty about making a
successful intellectual, emotional or social adjustment at the school or home.
The main characteristic of this method is that it deals with the life history
of the whole individual in his total environment. Tests, planned interviews and
other clinical methods are employed to get the necessary information about the
child. Relevant data are also collected through the family tree, home life,
attitude towards his friends and associates, school career, aspirations,
purposes, hobbies, leisure time pursuits, aptitude, intelligence, physical
conditions, etc. of the child. The purpose is to have a better understanding of
the individual child and to diagnose and treat him for his troubles.
This is very thorough and rewarding method as
its proper application is almost certain to save child from developing into a
failure in life. The use of this method, however, requires extreme patience,
tact, prolonged training and experience in Clinical Psychology.
“Personality
Studies of Unusual Children”
Often a teacher comes across a child with an
usual capacity or an extra ordinary trait, good or bad, of personality.
Exceptionally brilliant or backward, problem, anti-social and delinquent
children are some examples of such unusual children. Descriptive studies of
such children, highlighting the causes and manifestations of their behavior can
go a long way towards understanding and helping them. The author’s studies of
some groups of children conducted in tow secondary schools in Lahore are
instances or the pioneer studies of this kind conducted in Pakistan.
“Psycho-
analytical Personality Studies”
Emotionally disturbed persons of a serious type
often need psycho-analytic help. The psychoanalyst establishes a rapport or a
closes personal relation with his subject. Under the influence of the rapport
he is able to unearth the roots of the deeply buried complexes and conflicts of
the subject. He then endeavors to re-educate the subject and enable him to
understand his own troubles. This self understanding help the subject in
achieving a balance and harmony between the conflicting pulls of his
instinctual drives and the demands of the outer world. Anna Freud and Melanie
Klein have rendered extremely valuable service in this field by helping
innumerable seriously disturbed children through psycho- analysis.
The primary purpose of the psychoanalyst is
therapeutic or treating an emotionally sick or abnormal person. During the
course of the psychoanalytic treatment, however, the analyst gathers
exceedingly useful information regarding the life experiences of the individual
with special emphasis on those dating back to early childhood. This information
can also prove immensely helpful to a school teacher in understating the behavior
of a child who is not understandable otherwise.
The method, again, is very laborious and
requires thorough training in psychoanalysis. It cannot be employed by an un-trained
person.
6. “Other
Miscellaneous Methods”
Some other methods frequently employed by
educational psychologists are:-
(1)
The Questionnaire.
(2)
The Check List.
(3)
The Interview.
“The
Questionnaire”
It is a popular device for gathering facts and
opinions. It consists of series of questions framed in such a manner that the
answers bring out the desired information. If properly used it is an extremely
easy and valuable method of collecting information regarding an educational
problem.
“The
Check List”
It resembles the questionnaire method. It
generally consists of a long list of questions regarding a given problem. A
number of probable answers are also mentioned against each question. The
subject is simply to check or put a mark against the particular answer which he
considers to be the most appropriate one. This is the main point which
differentiates a check list from a questionnaire. In a questionnaire the
answers are not given, the subject has to write these down for himself.
“The
interview”
Interview is ‘controlled conversation.’ It can
also be used to gather useful information during the course of an educational
investigation. Interviewing is a fine art and needs great skill and tact on the
part of the interviewer. As it is designed to serve some scientific purpose the
questions put in an interview should be constructed and analyzed sufficiently
well before the actual interview starts. The interviewer watches the general behavior,
the tone, and the form and content of the answers supplied by the individual.
These observations are then carefully analyzed, interpreted and utilized in the
understanding of the problem under investigation.
“DESIRABILITY
OF A NON SECTARIAN ATTITUDE”
These are some of the methods that have been
and are being employed by the educational psychologists. It may, however, be
remembered that in most of the contemporary educational investigations a
combination of many methods is usually employed. Seldom does one come across an
educational inquiry wherein just one, single method has been employed. A sound
and practically very helpful policy for the prospective educational worker
would, therefore, be to adopt a liberal, comprehensive and non-sectarian
attitude so far as the choice and use of the method is concerned. This means
utilization of any and every method wherever it suits the purpose of a particular
investigation in hand.
