Findings: Cognitive psychology
Programs were not rated on this standard, but our analysis still illuminated some broad issues related to the adequacy of cognitive science coverage.
Roughly 63 percent of programs included in our Illinois review devote less than half of one course to cognitive psychology topics. This would not appear to be adequate to cover critical topics such as reinforcement, motivation, transfer theories and instructional strategies that would promote student learning.
Commendably, several schools, such as Governors State University and Monmouth College, dedicate entire courses to solid cognitive science.
We noted that North Park University and Trinity International University were the only institutions in which psychology courses that teach and do not repudiate the pseudo-science of learning styles were noted.1
Monmouth College's "theories of learning" course for its undergraduate elementary teacher is devoted to cognitive science and utilizes an excellent textbook: Why Don't Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom by Daniel Willingham. The book provides a distilled and pragmatic guide to classroom applications of educational psychology.
