Syllabus for
Master of Science (Educational Psychology)
Academic Year  (2023)

The Master of Science in Educational Psychology provides students with an opportunity to engage with information, knowledge, skills, policies, and practices for the benefit of children, families, schools, and society. This unique programme combines modern psychological theories with educational approaches.
The programme offers practical and Internships and training in counselling skills throughout the year and paid study abroad programmes for interested students.The programme is built with the intellectual collaboration of University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Washington State University and contexyualises local and regional needs. MSc Educational Psychology is jointly offered by the Department of Psychology and The School of Education at the Bangalore Central Campus.

Programme Outcome/Programme Learning Goals/Programme Learning Outcome:

PO2: Demonstrate the ability to collect, analyze and interpret multiple sources of information using their knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research, assessment, and evaluation methods to inform practice related to academic, cognitive, social, emotional, moral and behavioral development of learners.

PO3: Demonstrate knowledge and skills of comprehensive preventive and promotive mental health programs including psychological assessments and interventions in schools and other learning communities.

PO4: Demonstrate appropriate knowledge of legal, ethical, and professional policies, and practices in education and counseling.

PO5: Demonstrate social and environmental sensitivity, especially in order to work with individuals and groups of diverse economic and cultural backgrounds and developmental abilities and to create inclusive learning communities

PO6: Demonstrate leadership skills by taking initiative, especially to provide training, consultancy services and other forms of assistance to identify and solve problems in educational settings and other learning communities.

PO7: Communicate and collaborate effectively, especially with learners and diverse stakeholders such as educational leaders, teachers, community leaders, and parents in educational settings and other learning communities.

Formative and Summative assessments are conducted by the department to ascertain the readiness for learning and the attainment of learning outcomes. Assessments are examinations are based on competency frame work and principles of outcome-based education. Attainment of learning outcomes/ expected competencies is evaluated using either holistic or analytic rubrics, grading schemes or attainment criteria specified to the students at the beginning of the semester. Learning outcomes (Course outcomes) of each course are mapped to programme outcomes. Assessments and examinations follow the principle of constructive alignment and outcomes are mapped to higher order thinking skills. Most common frameworks used in this programme include Revised Blooms Taxonomy, and Structure of Observed Learning outcomes (SOLO) and ICAP framework.

Assessment is based on the performance of the student throughout the semester.

Credit Structure
Normally 15 hours of classroom teaching in a semester is considered as one credit for theory courses.

• Courses with 30 hours per semester will earn the candidate 2 credits.
• Courses with 45-50 hours per semester will earn the candidate 3 credits.
• Courses with 51 hours and above per semester including practical will earn the candidate 4 credits.
• Dissertations/Practical equivalent to one course will earn the candidates 4-6 credits.

Course Description: This Course will introduce students to the domain of academic writing and its intricacies. Every student, regardless of his or her area of interest, will be called upon to use an academic style of writing at different levels and at various points in time. This course will therefore seek to impart such knowledge about the styles of writing used in the current academic scenario. It will provide students with opportunities in the classroom setting to practice such styles, both individually and in collaboration with others. In doing so, it will allow students to delve deeper into scientific literature, while also preparing them for efforts in research. The insights gained from such a course can be used by students as a foundation in their specialized line of work.

Course objectives:

• This course will help the learner to gain a familiarity with different academic writing styles used in contemporary scientific journals.

• Students will gain better understanding about in-text and reference citations, APA formatting.

• Students will also be introduced to the concept of plagiarism and its different types to avoid such academic forgery.

This course will introduce the students to the foundations of education as a field, and help situate the field of educational psychology in relation to other disciplines, and in diverse conversations on education in India and across the world

This core course emphasizes the importance of practicing equity in education, individually and as a community. Social justice education frameworks, approaches, and models will be discussed to examine the self, policies, and practices around multicultural knowledge, attitudes, and skills. The focus of this course is also on issues around multilingualism in India and English as a Second Language (ESL) in educational settings

Child and adolescent development is a study of the physical, emotional, social and cognitive factors of growth and development of children from birth through adolescence. Topics covered include principles, stages and theories of growth and development with a focus on normal and atypical development, developmental transitions, the socio-economic context of development at each stage of development. Students are introduced to global, national and regional government initiatives that impact child development including the work on Early intervention, Anganwadis and Heath care system. We will consider developmental challenges and the applications of child development theory and research to educational settings. The purpose of the Child and Adolescent Development course offered in the first semester is to provide students preparing to enter the profession of educational psychology with an in-depth understanding of the developmental needs of children and adolescents which serves as the foundation upon which practical work with children is based.

Course Objectives: This course will help the learner to understand

• Atypical growth and healthy development, and practical understanding of how to help children and adolescents 
• Processes of child development and apply this knowledge to understand the developmental needs of learners
• Explore and understand the various theories of development and how they impact learning 
• The systemic and environmental factors that affect child development, behaviour and learning 
• Biopsychosocial and eco-systems model of development

This course is offered to students in the first semester to introduce them to the tradition of quantitative research in psychology. It begins by discussing the philosophical foundations of quantitative research followed by the scientific basis of research. Students are expected to see the links between scientific process of research and development of clinical psychology. Students will be introduced to research designs and process of research in quantitative methods. The course also provides opportunities to practice skills of research in laboratory setting.

Course description: This practical course has been conceptualized in order to train students in counselling skills. The developmental model of training is followed. Through this course the students are trained in basic counseling skills, such as attending skills, basic listening sequence, observation skills, along with ethics in a multicultural context through dyad and triad work.

Course objectives : After the completion of this course, a student will be able to:

• Demonstrate Basic Counselling Skills.
• Reflect more on themselves as developing counsellors.
• Demonstrate a few counselling techniques.

Course description: In this course students will spend four hours a week or a total of 30 hours during the semester involved in supervised community service. Students are encouraged to work alongside NGOs or other professional bodies. Students will engage in activities such as children, adolescents and youth teaching/tutoring, community organization, psychological assessment and mental health awareness. Reflections on their interactions are integral part of this course. Student engagement will be assessed by a supervisor.

Course objectives: This course will help the learner: 

• To build awareness about the requirements of the society.

• To identify the needs of underprivileged communities.

• To create mental health awareness among children, adolescents and youth.

This course looks at significant theoretical perspectives in the field of psychology with specific emphasis on the relevance of these perspectives to the field of Educational Psychology. It is a bridge course for students who are new to psychology. For students who have a background in psychology, it focuses on the applications of psychological concepts to the field of education. 

Course Description: 

Building on the learner’s understanding of normal development, this course introduces them to the deviations from normal development/behavior and its effect on education. Theoretical conceptualizations, etiological mechanisms in major developmental disorders and select psychiatric conditions are covered. The learner will also be enabled to critically appraise the empirical literature in the field and to develop an integrated view of the foundations, theories, methods with an emphasis on educational psychology.

Course Objectives: This course will help the learner to

•Appreciate the deviations from normalcy in physical, emotional, cognitive and social development.

•Sensitize oneself to the risk factors, premorbid indicators, symptoms and course of major behavioral, emotional and psychological disturbances.

•Understand the major etiological pathways and theoretical conceptualization of Developmental disorders, Depression, Anxiety, Addiction, Psychosis and few other disorders commonly seen in childhood and adolescence

•Grasp the ramifications of the above conditions on education and achievement. 

•Get an overview of the current status, future directions in theory and research, and its relevance to prevention, intervention, training and policy development in the domain of educational psychology

Course description: This course provides a theoretical foundation on qualitative research methods. Different methods of collecting qualitative data are discussed. Methods of Qualitative data analysis are also touched upon. Along with courses on research in the first and second semester, this course intends to provide students with the theoretical background to develop their research proposal.

Course objectives: This course will help the learner to:

• Understand the philosophical foundations on which qualitative research methods are based
• gain familiarity with the conceptual foundations of qualitative research methods in counselling Psychology
• understand various traditions of qualitative research methodologies in counselling psychology.
• learn different methods of data collection
• understand different methods of data analysis in qualitative research methods

This is a practical course aimed at familiarizing students with different assessment methods including psychological tests. A range of Personality, Intelligence, Aptitude and Achievement tests are covered.

Course objectives: The course is intended to help students 

• Demonstrate competence in administering, scoring and interpreting a range of psychological tests.

• Identify relevant tests to be used for specific counselling needs.

Couse Description: This course is a continuation of Multicultural Counselling Skills–I (Adults). Here the student is trained in specific counselling skills and techniques used with children and adolescents, especially in educational settings. The student is also taught to integrate the skills learnt and apply to common issues seen among children and adolescents. 

Course Objectives : After the completion of this course, a student will be able to:

• Recognize ethical and multicultural issues in counselling children and adolescents.
• Demonstrate counselling skills in working with adolescents.
• Demonstrate counselling skills in working with children.
• Use counselling techniques in educational settings.

This course prepares students to know, understand, and apply evidence-based practices of assessment as educational psychologists. With the lens of educational equity, students will be able to design differentiated assessments, including authentic assessments, guided by backward design, and learning outcomes. They will learn how to provide feedback, analyze, and report assessment data, with a view to improving teaching and the curriculum. Practice is integral to the course.

Course Description:

This course is intended to help students develop skills of writing a research proposal and defending it. Students are supported as they progress through the different stages of their research work which include data collection, data analysis and writing up a manuscript for publication in the following year.

Course objectives:

This course will help the learner to conceptualize a research problem and choose an appropriate research design to carry out the research. 

This course gives an opportunity to the students to explore the reasons behind poor achievement among school going children and the principles to implement school-based prevention and intervention programmes for them. This course will focus on mental health and developmental blocks that contribute to achievement problems. Student must be given opportunities to explore the benefit of EVB and also asses the barriers to implementing them from multiple systems: Policy barriers, Administrative barriers, Barriers arising from community and family systems, and resource and personnel limitations. Students are already exposed to child and adolescent psychopathology, life span development and therefore aware of the clinical descriptions of the challenges addressed in this paper. As a pedagogic tool, students taking this course must be introduced to case study analysis and meta-analytic reviews.

Course description:This course equips students with various theoretical approaches to career planning and development, and enable them with knowledge, skills, and diverse tools to examine individual and group differences in career interests, needs, and values. They will apply these knowledge and skills to develop their own career plan as well as examine the scope of how organisations can assist individuals and groups in achieving career goals. They will also gain a broad understanding of emerging trends in the field of career guidance, counseling and development. 

Course objectives:

1. Orient students to theoretical knowledge in career guidance and counseling

2. Equip students with skills to assess individual and group differences in career interests, needs and values

3. Equip students with skills to develop personal career plan for themselves and for individuals/groups to achieve their career goals

4. Equip students with skills to analyze organizational approaches in assisting individuals/groups in achieving their career goals

5. Equip with skills to evaluate emerging trends and issues in career development

This course introduces the student to working with children with special needs. It is offered in the third semester after the completion of coursework in ‘Child and Adolescent Development’ and ‘Developmental Psychopathology’. The course introduces the learner to a range of special needs from developmental disabilities to gifted learners. The course is designed to help the student modify their teaching and assessment strategies according to the needs of the child and address diversity effectively in the classroom. The course also informs the student of current legal perspectives and policies with regard to Special Needs Education. 

Course Description: Working with parents and families is an essential part of a psychologist’s role in educational settings. Parenting skills training is an evidence-based intervention for improving the educational, emotional, and social outcomes of children. This course presents an introduction to parenting skills training interventions. It provides the learner an overview of existing parenting skills training programmes, gain the skills to evaluate them, as well as develop appropriate parenting skills interventions appropriate for educational settings.  

Course Objectives:

This course will help the learner to:

1. Gain an understanding of parenting skills training interventions
2. Develop skills in designing and implementing parenting skills training interventions in educational settings

This course aims at imparting knowledge on Grief counselling for children and adolescents. The students will be able to understand various concepts related to grief, theories and models of grief, and the process of grief. The developmental influences in grief will be discussed from a cultural context. The rituals and techniques for overcoming grief among children and adolescents and the skills required in grief counselling will be understood by the student.

The Educational Psychology Practicum is offered in the third semester of the Master’s in Educational Psychology Programme. The practicum students would have to complete coursework in the following required courses:

• Principles and Practices of Educational Psychology
• Foundations of Multilingual and Multicultural Education
• Child and Adolescent Development
• Psychological foundations 1
• Developmental Psychopathology 
• Practicum in Educational Assessment 
• Practicum in Psychological Assessment 
• Summer Internship

During the current semester the student would be enrolled in courses on 

• Prevention  and Intervention for academic achievement
•  Children with special needs
• Psychological foundations 2

This course is designed to provide the student with an opportunity to develop Professional Competencies and apply the knowledge developed over the programme to an educational setting.

Course Description:

This course is intended to help students develop skills of writing up a research study and defending it. Students are supported as they progress through the different stages of their research work which include data collection, data analysis, and writing up a manuscript

Course objectives:

This course will help the learner to conceptualize a research problem, choose an appropriate research design and method , and carry out the research. It will also provide supervision to students as they progress through the different stages of the research process.

This course integrates the Systemic perspective with Educational Psychology and is offered in the fourth and final semester of the Master’s in Educational Psychology programme. The course challenges the student to understand the bigger picture of working with children in a school setting. The course also enables the learner to understand how interactions within the Social, Family, and Education settings affect learning outcomes. The course objectives concur with the Programme objectives of developing Academic Knowledge and Practitioner Competencies particularly in terms of the development of Consultation skills. 

Course description: This course aims to prepare students of educational psychology to develop knowledge and skills in policy analysis and programme evaluation, and to employ these skills to evaluate and lead educational change and reform using evidence-based practices. 

Course objectives: 

1. Develop students' knowledge and skills in policy analysis, programme evaluation and educational leadership

2. Enable students to apply knowlege and skills in policy analysis, programme evaluation, and educational leadership to evaluate educational change and reform processes

The course on ‘Pedagogical planning: Technology design and implementation’ enables the student to design an effective curriculum that meets the demands of carefully identified learning outcomes. The course acquaints the learner with advances in technology that is used to support the learning process and challenges the student to determine mechanisms by which technology can be seamlessly integrated with the educational setting. The course offered in the fourth semester enables the Master’s in Educational Psychology student to develop the Programme objectives of Academic Knowledge and Practitioner Competencies in the area of Pedagogical Design. 

Course description: This course has been conceptualized in order to give students an insight of tackling self-defeating thoughts and replace it with a problem-solving outlook/ solution-focussed approach. It would also equip students to help deal with their clients by developing the skills necessary for addressing these issues. The students would also be exposed to certain tools like CBT and NLP that can be used within the framework of life coaching.

Course objectives: This course will help the learner to

• Tackle self-defeating thinking patterns with a problem-solving outlook

• Apply their knowledge in building modules to engage in training to address these needs

• The student will be able to build training modules to engage within their field of specialization.

The last few decades has been witness to educational approaches slowing going through a transformation. Veering away from an emphasis on results-oriented methods, psychology and education community is realising the immense potential that lies in the promotion of holistic student progress. Disciplines like psychology and education have contributed towards understanding how to revolutionize learning and education systems. In this course, we will explore the underpinnings of positive educational psychology, debate alternative classroom and assessment methods, and develop a comprehensive understanding on how to initiate and promote positive behavioural change in educational settings. The positive education course is designed for final semester masters in psychology students who are curious about the application of positive psychology and behavioural economics in school and higher education institutions, are passionate about incrementally revolutionizing education systems, plan to work in educational settings and NGOs as teachers, administrators, or higher level decision/policy makers, and/or plan conduct research or interventions in areas of student outcomes and wellbeing. 

Course Objectives: Students will be able to 

• Learn how to increase positive student outcomes in the classroom
• Develop a comprehensive understanding of positive education and utilizing alternative disciplining and assessment methods 
• Build a foundation in the basics of eliciting behavioural change in educational settings through the application of behavioural insights 

Course Description: This course will prepare students towards therapeutically engage children. This course will also provide insight into the theoretical framework of Therapeutic play and creative techniques of engagement and processes with focus on guidelines for therapeutic practice with children.

Course objectives:

- To understand the person of play therapist and the role of play therapist in therapeutic experience.

- To familiarise the guidelines in structuring play therapy room and medias used for therapy.

- To understand parent’s role in play therapy process.

- To understand basic dimensions of the therapeutic relationship. 

The Pre-professional Internship is offered in the fourth semester of the Master’s in Educational Psychology Programme. The practicum students would have to complete coursework in the following required courses:

• Principles and Practices of Educational Psychology
• Psychological foundations 1 & 2
• Foundations of Multilingual and Multicultural Education
• Child and Adolescent Development and Developmental Psychopathology
• Children with special needs
• Practicum in Educational Assessment  & Psychological Assessment 
• Summer Internship & Educational Psychology Practicum
• Prevention  and Intervention for academic achievement

During the current semester the student would be enrolled in courses on 

• Social, Family and School Systems in Education 
• Pedagogical Planning: Technology and implementation

This course is designed to provide the student with an opportunity to develop Practitioner Competencies and apply the knowledge developed over the programme to an educational setting.

Course Description: This course has been conceptualized in order to equip the students with the necessary skills of publishing their manuscript in an academic journal and presenting their research work in a conference. The process will be supervised by the respective research supervisors.

Course Objective: 

• To help the learner gain familiarity with the process of publication
• To help the learner gain exposure to seminars and conferences