What Good is Educational Psychology? The Case of Cognition and Instruction

Abstract Research on cognition and instruction has made considerable progress in recent years, in terms of contributions both to cognitive theory and to educational practice. Two important contributions are psychologies of subject matter, which specify how people learn school subjects such as reading and mathematics, and teaching of cognitive strategies, which fosters improvements in how students learn and think. In short, the thesis of this essay is that psychology and education are good for one another. When it comes to the role of psychology in education, there is nothing as beneficial to practice as a good theory. When it comes to the role of education in psychology, there is nothing as beneficial to theory as a good practical problem. Although much has been accomplished, the promise of educational psychology in the 21st century rests in the development of an educationally relevant science of how people learn.