FAKULTI PENDIDIKAN TEKNIK DAN VOKASIONAL (FPTV)
INDIVIDUAL TASK
REFLECTION
COURSE CODE MBE 10203
COURSE NAME PSYCHOLOGY IN TVET
STUDENT’S NAME FATIMAH BINTI ABDUL SALAM
MATRIC NO GB200026
SECTION 1
COURSE COORDINATOR DR. NORKHAIROLIZAH BINTI HAMZAH
SUBMISSION DATE DECEMBER 7, 2020
WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
1.0 Learning Events
In the first class, we learned different definition of education, psychology, learning, schooling,
training and talent during the exercise given by lecturer. The definition is as stated below:
Education: Transfer of values from one generation to another through formal, informal, or non-formal
methods.
Psychology: The science and human mind and behaviour
Learning: Permanent change in behaviour
Schooling: Teaching and learning in formal situation
Training: The act of increasing knowledge and skills
Talent: Natural ability or skills to be good at something, especially without being thought.
Therefore, it can be concluded that education is not the same as teaching and learning. Schooling,
training and talent also is something else. Other than that, lecturer also highlight the purpose of
educational psychology, the characteristics of good educators, as well as the meaning of ‘education for
all’. The purpose of educational psychology is to help teachers in dealing with various kind of human
behaviour in the educational process including human development, learning, memory, motivation and
evaluation of learning. Meanwhile, a good educators must be able to understand the student in term of
build a good relationship with them, patient and creative. ‘ Education for all’ is about aiming everyone
to get education regardless their disabilities and age. There are no selective person to get education
since each and every nation have a right to it.
Students are the main prospect of the teachers. Teachers should get to know the students and
analyze their mind and behaviour at first place. For sure, it is a process and takes not a short time to be
able to recognize student’s behaviour yet it is impossible to deeply know each and everyone of the
students directly. The most important for teachers to take fast reaction was to recognize problem
students first in order to make sure the education environment goes smoothly. Problem students are
students who didn’t perform academically neither behaviour and some might cause disrupt to the
learning environments.
2.0 My Reaction to the Learning Events
After class, I got to know what is psychology is all about and its relationship to education. As an
educators, the knowledge on psychology play a vital role when handling students and classroom in
order to make teaching and learning process successful. In my opinion, educational psychology
contributes to the efficiency of learning process by understanding individual differences as well as
selection of learning strategies and method. Understanding individual characteristics is very important
to understand students at various level of growth and development to create effective learning.
Teaching methods are based on the characteristics of students' progress. Educational psychology can
assist teachers in determining the strategy or method of learning the proper and appropriate, and able
to relate to the characteristics and uniqueness of the individual, the type of learning and learning styles
and levels of development being experienced by the learner.
3.0 Reflection on Impact of Learning Events
There are many psychological approach that teachers can apply to students depending on the
suitabilities of the class environment. A teachers should create a conducive learning environment by
applying the correct principle of teaching and learning as well as trying different kind of psychological
approach. Teachers have to do two important activities in the classroom which are teaching and
evaluating. The evaluation helps in measuring student learning outcomes. Educational psychology can
help teachers and prospective teachers in developing the evaluation of student learning that is more
just, both in the technical evaluation, compliance with the principles of evaluation and determine the
results of evaluations. The result of the evaluation then will help teachers in preparing and organizing
activities that suit with the psychology of the learners.
4.0 My Prediction of Future Behaviour
The main purpose of learning is to change student’s behaviour permanently that is experienced
after the implementation of learning process. To achieve the aim of learning process, teachers play
vital role not just as an educator, but must be act as mentor or facilitator for the students. If the
students are facing with problem in their lesson or social life, teachers are the one to give kind help for
the students and assist them with proper guidance. Other than that, in teaching and learning process,
teachers need to plan appropriate instructional media to be used in the classroom. There are so many
innovative educational technologies that can be applied in learning process. For example, the use of
audio-visual media, so as to give a real picture to students. Intellectual scholars once said, teachers
should educate the prospect student in their way, not as our old time experience. Traditional method of
teaching was proven to be effective to students, but in additional to relevant technology used, it may
become more successful to the students nowadays. Besides that, for the educational management team,
they need to put students in a group/classroom according to psychology of the learners so that teachers
can plan and organize teaching and learning activities in classroom. The timetable schedule should
also be drafted based on the psychological group because it will help student improve their motivation
in learning.
WEEK 2: GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
1.0 Learning Events
For this topics, we learned about individual growth and development in educational psychology
and its influences either by the environment or genetics. Growth and development seems to have same
meaning but if we go through psychological experts, it carries different definition. Growth means the
changes that can be made or measured in specific period or stages. In other words, growth changes in
terms of quantity such as weight, height, chest width etc. that can be seen clearly in an organism as
well as changing structure and function of the individual body in the process of heading maturity.
Meanwhile, development can be defined as individual structure, opinions and behaviors changes
that can be organized and orderly. It is a qualitative changes but can be seen by comparing the
previous properties with the properties formed. It results from biological functions, nutritional factors
and environmental influences. In addition, development can also be thought of as the process by which
the individual achieves maturity, strengthening and stability. Therefore, both changes in growth and
development will help the individual in the process of reaching maturity.
There are five aspect in measuring growth and development which are physical, emotional,
spiritual, intellectual and social. To be simplified, the differences example of growth and development
aspect can be shown in Table 1 below:
ASPECT GROWTH DEVELOPMENT
Physical Size of head circumference Ability to grasp among babies
Emotional Reduced crying time Varieties of feelings
Spiritual Number of incidents of awareness Depth of God-fearing ability, awareness,
ethical considerations across situations
Intellectual Ability to remember some names Complex problem solving capabilities
and concepts per day
Social Can make two new friends Can show many new social skills
Table 1: Differences in growth and development
The changes in growth and development influenced by many factors internally and externally.
However, lecturer highlighted the factors of genetics and environment, which is more influential the
human growth and development. We discussed and listed down how these factors affect the individual
growth and development changes especially in genetics factors and what is DNA is all about. From the
discussion, it can be concluded that DNA holds the instruction guide for life and its processes. The
DNA of all mammals are quite the same as well as DNA of all humans include information on how
the heart beats are the same. So we differ from English people probably just below 0.05% or lesser.
DNA informs not only external features, it tells the body on how to operate. So every species have
different codes of instructions that make them who they are. Therefore, DNA in which had been
carried down from ancestors can be inherited in all aspects including physical, emotional, spiritual,
intellectual and social. For the environment factors, it can be change by individual initiative and
awareness to be more good than what has been inherited. To conclude, genetics plays a vital role
which influence the change in human growth and development compared to environment factors.
2.0 My Reaction to the Learning Events
Human development is greatly influenced by heredity and environmental factors. Genetics are
passed down through the genes of parents to their children. Features such as skin color, physical size,
eye color and others are inherited from our ancestors via DNA. This gene can dominate individual
physical and mental development and set the limits of our abilities such as mental abilities whether
smart or not smart. Differences in intelligence between individuals can be observed from the
performance of students in a class. Studies of psychologists often associate differences in the
intelligence of individuals with the intelligence of their parents. Usually, smart parents will give birth
to children who are also smart. One's emotions are also inherited from one's parents. For example,
parents who have less stable emotions and hot-tempered will give birth to aggressive children.
In the theory of human growth and development, each individual exhibits similar developmental
characteristics in certain stages of growth. However, the rate of development of each individual, even
in the same stage of growth, remains different through individual experience or environment in the
aspect of physically, emotionally, cognitively, spiritually and socially. Psychological expert have also
shown that no two individuals have the same rate of development. They argued that genetics and
environment are the factors that cause the rate of human development and the existence of individual
differences with each other. It was so surprised to know that genetics are the key determinant in the
inheritance of individual developmental characteristics by 70% rather than environment factors. Genes
will dominate human development and give each human unique characteristics.
3.0 Reflection on Impact of Learning Events
Growth and development are two interrelated processes. Knowledge of growth and development
is very important in the teaching and learning process because it allows teachers to understand the
development of concepts achieved by children of all ages. By knowing various stage of students’
development, teachers can plan curriculum activities and create teaching techniques to all students. In
addition, teachers need to know the types of interests that may be formed by children of various ages
to provide encouragement so that effective student participation can be successful in the classroom.
For example, teachers can pick selective reading material that suit the student’s stages or else teachers
can build educational games and activities for students who have development issues.
4.0 My Prediction of Future Behaviour
Knowledge of the theory of child growth and development will provide benefits especially to
parents and teachers to make decisions about learning that need to be emphasized. Teachers should be
sensitive to the individual differences that exist among students. In general, teachers will provide
objectives, content, materials and activities appropriate to the level of development and growth of
students for the purpose of attracting their interest in addition to a fun teaching and learning
environment. Teachers can plan group activities to help student development. Cooperative and
collaborative learning activities can help students with slow growth and development. In addition, the
provision of appropriate and various teaching aids can form the right concept and can attract the
interest of students. This can generate cognitive development among students. Teachers should
provide lessons ranging from easy to more difficult, general to specific and concrete to abstract as well
as give assignments appropriate to the level of student achievement.
In terms of emotional and spiritual development, teachers can cultivate healthy emotions in
accordance with the developmental stage and needs of students. Teachers can control or prevent
negative behaviors or unwanted emotions. Teachers should be more loving and help students control
their emotions in certain situations. Teachers who understand the emotional developmental stages of
students must guide them to face or solve problems in the right way.
WEEK 3: HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY
1.0 Learning Events
At first place, we had a revision on the first topic which are the definition of educational
psychology and in addition to the definition of Pseudopsychology. Pseudopsychology is the mind and
behaviour that used unscientific method. Besides, there are 3 types of education, namely formal,
informal and non-formal. Table 2 below shows the different definition of types of education:
FORMAL In formal education, students who are usually grouped by age or education
level are taught by professional teachers in a structured environment. The
curriculum is planned and deliberate and often follows a strict syllabus
created by the teacher or another education professional.
INFORMAL Informal education refers to any kind of education that doesn’t use a formal
learning and teaching method. It consists of individual experiences and
learning from being a part of a family and community as opposed to a
structured classroom setting.
NON-FORMAL Non- formal education does not rely on a syllabus or any other set structure.
For example, education include job training, adult education courses, fitness
courses, and any one-to-one tutoring session that can be customized with the
student in mind.
Table 2: Explaination on the types of education.
Later, we learned about the theory in humanistic psychology as well as the theorist involved
namely Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Basically, humanistic psychology support the belief in
human as individuals are unique beings and stresses the concepts of free will, self-efficiency, and self-
actualization. Humanism highlighted the importance of human values and dignity. It proposes that
people can resolve problems through the use of science and reason. Rather than looking to religious
traditions, humanism instead focuses on helping people live well, achieve personal growth, and make
the world a better place.
Abraham Maslow
The principle of Maslow theory stresses the hierarchy of human needs. It is a motivational theory in
psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a
pyramid. From the bottom of the hierarchy upwards, the needs are: physiological, safety, love, esteem,
and self-actualization. The lower needs in the hierarchy must be satisfied before individuals can attend
to needs higher up. Diagram 1 below shows the Maslow Hierarchy of Human Needs.
Diagram 1: Maslow Hierarchy of Human Needs
Carl Rogers
The theory of Carl Rogers emphasized the concept of client- centered therapy. Client-centered
therapy operates according to three basic principles that reflect the attitude of the therapist to
the client: The therapist is congruent with the client, the therapist provides the client with
unconditional positive regard, and also the therapist shows an empathetic understanding to
the client. Diagram 2 below shows the basic principle of Carl Rogers Personality Theory:
Diagram 2: Carl Rogers Personality Theory
2.0 My Reaction to the Learning Events
Both theorist of humanistic psychology shared almost same strengths and weaknesses. The
biggest strength of humanistic theory relates to its intuitive nature. Intuitive nature is the awareness of
emotions. Practitioners of the theory, those who put it into practice when working within their
organizations, understand this flexible, individualized theory as a dynamic solution to motivating
members of an organization. Another strength is the fact that it focuses on the individual's own
constructs and experiences instead of focusing on the mentally ill. Weaknesses, on the other hand, it
cannot be verified empirically, because there is no proper method to measure accurately how satisfied
one level of need must be before the next higher need become operative. Secondly, there are exception
used for this type of therapy to a certain types of people such as people who sacrifice their own basic
needs for the welfare of others. In addition, it is also possible to achieve self-actualization without
having all of your lower needs met, thereby falsifying the theory.
3.0 Reflection on Impact of Learning Events
There are some implications of the theory of humanistic psychology in educational aspects.
According to this approach student plays a central role in whole teaching-learning process. This
approach believes in child-centered-education because every individual has his own
individuality. Therefore, the teacher tends to be more supportive than critical, more understanding than
judgmental, more genuine than playing a role. Students should freedom to develop and make progress
according to their own pace, needs and interests. Teacher’s role is to foster an engaging environment
for the students and ask inquiry-based questions that promote meaningful learning. Besides,
humanistic educators believe that grades are irrelevant and that only self-evaluation is meaningful.
Grading encourages students to work for a grade and not for learning satisfaction. Humanistic
educators disagree with routine of examination because they teach students rote memorization as
opposed to meaningful learning. They also believe examination doesn't provide sufficient educational
feedback valuation to the teacher.
4.0 My Prediction of Future Behaviour
Humanistic teachers should first understand the needs, interests, abilities, age level, attitude of the
students before trying to organize teaching learning process. All teaching material and its process must
be related to individual characteristics of students. Teacher should emphasize on active learning which
could consider the learner. The environment in a school which focuses their practice on humanistic
education tends to have a very different setting than a traditional school. It consists of both indoor and
outdoor environments with a majority of time being spent outdoors. The indoor setting may contain a
few tables and chairs, bean bags for quiet reading and relaxation, book shelves, lots of color and art
posted on the walls. The outdoor environment is very engaging for students with tree houses, outdoor
kitchens, sand boxes, play sets, natural materials, sporting activities etc. The wide range of activities
are offered for students allowing for free choices of interest. Students are often in competition with
each other or have to work individually towards achieving their personal goals. It will not only
combines cognitive and affective aspects of learning, as well as emphasizing participation and active
engagement, but also stresses academic achievement and clearly defined curricular goals.
WEEK 4: BEHAVIORISM PSYCHOLOGY
1.0 Learning Events
In week 4, we learned about behaviorism approach in psychology. Behaviorism psychology is a
theory of learning based on the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. Conditioning
occurs through interaction with the environment. Behaviorists believe that our responses to
environmental stimuli shape our actions. Behavior can be studied in a systematic and observable
manner regardless of internal mental states. Any person can potentially be trained to perform any task,
regardless of genetic background, personality traits, and internal thoughts (within the limits of their
physical capabilities). It only requires the right conditioning.
Behaviour theorist such as Skinner and Pavlov are likely to use animal-based experiment to study
animal behaviour and relate it to a human behaviour. Behaviorist used this kind of experiment because
they justified that animal have its nature, same like human. We watched a video on animal behaviour
in which to study the relation between stimuli and response conditioning. It can be concluded that
conditioning process works by developing an association between an environmental stimulus and a
naturally occurring stimulus. Basically, there are two types of conditioning namely: Classical
Conditioning and Operant Conditioning in which will be discussed in the theorist involved in
behaviorism.
Edward Thorndike
Edward Thorndike came up with the concept of Classical conditioning (instrumental). He proposed
that humans and animals acquire behaviors through the association of stimuli and responses. He
conducted an experiments of placing hungry cats in an enclosed container (puzzle box), from which
they had to escape in order to get a food. At first, the cat can escape only after several failed attempts
and a single lucky successful guess. However, the time it took to escape decreased each time a cat was
returned to the box. This meant that the cats remembered which behavior was necessary to escape and
get the reward of food. The cat were clearly able to recognize their current situation (being placed in
the puzzle box) was identical to the last time they were placed inside of the puzzle box, and therefore
that the same successful behavior used before would achieve the same end result the next time around.
Therefore, Thorndike comes out with basic assumption based on three laws of learning to explain why
behaviors occur the way they do, which are: Law of Effect, Law of Exercise and Law of Readiness.
The Law of Effect specifies that any time a behavior is followed by a pleasant outcome, that behavior
is likely to recur. The Law of Exercise states that the more a stimulus is connected with a response, the
stronger the link between the two. Meanwhile, the law of readiness means if a person is ready and
have a desire to learn, they can learn it quickly.
B.F Skinner
B.F. Skinner developed the behaviorist theory of operant conditioning. In operant conditioning,
behaviors are manipulated when they are followed by either positive or negative reinforcement.
Positive reinforcement increases desired behaviors by following them with rewards. Negative
reinforcement increases desired behaviors by allowing subjects to escape punishment through their
performance. Skinner also showed that behaviors could be altered through punishment or extinction.
Punishing behaviors after they occur, discourages them from being later repeated. Extinction is when
behaviors that were previously reinforced are later unenforced, rendering the behaviors
inconsequential and causing them to decrease in frequency over time. Extinction is the discontinuation
of behaviors that had been encouraged by either negative or positive reinforcement.
2.0 My Reaction to the Learning Events
Behaviorism psychology is another approach than we can used in dealing with human growth and
development, instead of humanism approach. The differences between this two approach is that
humanism believes that human are started out with positive already and has full potential to develop
their self. Behaviorism on the other hand, believes that human are in blank states and the environment
will influence them. These two approach have its strength and weaknesses, however we as a teacher
can practise both based on the situation.
3.0 Reflection on Impact of Learning Events
From my point of view, behaviorism psychology can be used for shaping behaviour of children by
appropriate use of reinforcement or rewards. Behaviour can be shaped through successive
approximation in terms of small steps. Successive approximation is a process which means that
complicated behaviour patterns are learned gradually through successive steps which are rewarding for
the learner. The principle underlying positive reinforcement is that the tendency to repeat a response to
a given stimulus will be strengthened as the response is positively rewarded. Therefore, for positive
reinforcement, every successful step of the child must be rewarded by the teacher.
On the other hand, to eliminate negative behaviour, teachers can use extinction method of
behaviorism. Extinction basically means to determine the function or cause of a behavior and then to
terminate access to that function in order to extinguish the behavior. However, extinction procedure
must be applied with proper techniques or else it will fail because children are difficult to tolerate.
In addition, punishment method in behaviorism psychology can also be used to shape children
behavior. I would like to highlighted on the effectiveness of punishment in order to have successful
result of behavior. Firstly, the punishment should be done right after inappropriate behavior, not a time
later. Secondly, the punishment must be consistent at any time when the children are doing bad
behavior. If there is the time children with certain behavior are not being fine, the punishment will be
less effective. Lastly, the punishment must be clarified to that particular children as a reason why they
get the punishment so that children can think that it is inappropriate behavior for example.
4.0 My Prediction of Future Behaviour
As an educator, the most important things is that we need to observe student’s behavior performance
in classroom. Indeed, there are so much behavior in the classroom which teachers must take care of it.
What teachers can do at the first place is to eliminate bad behavior that comes from problem students
because they will distract the environment of the classroom. For example, teachers can do punishment
to problem students by giving them demerit points. It is important to keep the class environment with
good habits so that the other learners did not distracted with it and the learning process goes smoothly
and peacefully. It will become a lesson for other students to behave well while teaching and learning
process occur.
In term of study strategies, teachers need to show direct consequence of using good study
strategies. One way to do this is to give them practice using their own strategies and then require them
to study some small bit of material using the new strategy that has been introduced. The immediate
and direct feedback that shows a higher grade is a positive reinforcement. Teachers can use positive
reinforcement in class by giving them extra credit or praise them.
