1|Page Dhagat, Sandeep (Fall 2017)

Final Reflection
Since I decided to take Educational Psychology the same semester as Education Field
Experience, one of the primary measures I used to reflect on whether my placement enhanced or
detracted from my perceived ability to be a teacher is how well I could connect the two courses.
In other words, if in the position of a teacher, would I be able to use what I learned in educational
psychology in a classroom? This is a difficult question with obvious limitations because I have not
been fully trained to perform those tasks yet, nor am I expected to do so at this stage. However,
while my educational psychology textbook is rich in theory and concepts, it does present a
multitude of application examples. However, these applications may seem abstract because they
are disconnected from my current perspective as a student and they are built with certain
assumptions regarding class demographics and classroom environment. Part of the question then
is determining during and after my placement whether I could see myself implementing the theory
into actual practice. This means I must be able to (1) identify the problematic area or concern and
then (2) find the right solution from theory or educational research to apply. Thus, my reflection
will consider each factor separately and how my placement effected my perceived ability to
perform that function. I chose not to consider content proficiency in this reflection because the
grade and content area I observed were not my intended grade and content area. While I was in a
6th grade mathematics and science (mainly earth science) class, I am aiming to teacher high school
life science.
In terms of identifying problematic areas or concerns, my placement did solidify my pursuit
of teaching. Not only was I able to identify these problems in student behavior or classroom
management, but I was able to connect them to concepts or theories learned in educational
psychology. For example, during my fourth observation, when students were learning how to
compare numbers in different forms (mixed, improper, whole, decimal), I noticed several students
who were consistently getting questions wrong. They rarely asked for help, even when probed if
they understood what the problems were asking and how to solve them. Initially, I was unable to
understand why a student would be reluctant to ask for clarification or assistance from the teacher
or peers, especially when the instructor reviewed each type of problem. Was it cultural? Was it a
developmental issue? Was it the classroom environment? I finally understood the issue when I
asked one student to look at their work and try to determine why they got the wrong answer. I
noticed that during review this student had not fixed an incorrect answer. The student almost
casually applied because I suck at math. It then clicked from my chapter on motivation that the
student was making an ability attribution. Because they perceive ability as stable and because they
see themselves as having poor ability in math, they almost resign themselves to getting incorrect
answers (Snowman & McCown 2015). This is likely related to previous poor performances
creating an impression in the student that the poor results reflect an innate lack of ability rather
than (for lack of a better word) lack of effort. Another issue I noticed was the poor transition
between lunch/recess and afternoon classes that often derailed the start of lessons. The teacher
would spend up to 10 minutes trying to redirect students from their post-lunch energetic state,
which would detract from the flow of his lesson. There was no effective medium by which students
could go from a non-academic to academic environment. These are just two examples from my
observation journal, but because problem identification is the first step in improving student
2|Page Dhagat, Sandeep (Fall 2017)

learning outcomes and overall classroom management, it does have additional weight in my own
mind as a positive outcome of my placement.
The second half of the problem finding a solution from theory or research has more of
a mixed response. While I do believe my ability to understand and sort through educational
research has improved, mainly due to my educational courses, I am still unsure whether I have the
capability to put them into action effectively. For example, after I identified that several students
were falsely attributing their mistakes on math problems to a lack of ability and low performance
confidence, I tried to use problem solving heuristics to help students solve the problems on their
own. Based on theory, I would assume that learning these strategies would help students increase
their performance confidence, and eventually their ability overall. Two strategies I tried to help
students use with the problems they were working on in math were (1) working on a simpler
version of the problem and (2) breaking the problem into manageable parts (Snowman & McCown
2015). The advantages of these two heuristics are that they are transferable to multiple content
areas and reduces the amount of information students must keep in short-term memory to a
manageable level (Snowman & McCown 2015). While students would be able to use these two
strategies for a couple of problems or even a full math period, by the time I would come back for
the next observation they had not continued using them consistently or at all. However, this is
probably because the teacher is not checking the process students use for solving math problems
continuously.
I would also note as an important aside that this is the first classroom I have been in since
pre-K that is majority minority. During and after my placement, I did feel that I have a sizeable
cultural knowledge gap, particularly about minority students. Unfortunately for me, my public
schools have tended to be Caucasian or Asian dominated. It was great to see my cooperating
teacher take an active mindset in learning more about cultures he was unfamiliar with. During
morning homeroom, he would have students free write about a selected topic and then ask every
student to share their response. Often the questions were designed to ask students to share
information about their culture, family, religion, or traditions. Through this activity he could learn
more about his students, while simultaneously showing a committed respect for having a diverse
student body. My realization that I have a knowledge gap about different cultures does not
necessarily dissuade me from teaching, but it does add to my apprehension about my preparedness.
When I talked with students one-on-one I did feel I was able to relate to them and appreciate their
perspective, even though there was a difference in culture. However, I would say that my
understanding of their life experiences, family, and values is more superficial than deep. I stress
this point because so much of the educational research articles I see are constrained by specific
cultural factors, so teachers must be well-versed culturally to appreciate which solutions would
work best for their students and classroom structure.

Reference:
Snowman, J., & McCown, R. R. (2015). Psychology Applied to Teaching (14th ed.). Belmont,

CA: Wadsworth.