Introduction to Educational Psychology CLEP - Free Study Guide!

Name of Exam: Introduction to Educational Psychology CLEP

Number of Questions: 90

Time Limit: 90 Minutes

ACE Recommended Passing Score: 50

Practice Test Available?: Yes - Click here

Cost: $72 (Starting July 1st 2009) + Sitting Fee (Usually no more than $20) at your testing site. Military can take CLEPs for free with Tuition Assistance. Check with your Educational Officer!

Difficulty 1-5 : 2
(One being the easiest, and five being the hardest)

Exam Description:

Introduction to Educational Psychology CLEP covers the principles of learning and cognition, as well as teaching methods and classroom management. Child growth and development, and learning evaluation and assessment is also covered.

Personal Thoughts:

The Introduction to Educational Psychology CLEP tends to worry a lot of people needlessly. While you may have never had any formal education in this particular subject, I can guarantee you that most of you have sat in a classroom at one time or the other. You've seen most of the material covered on this exam, but from the eyes of a student rather than a teacher.

Common sense goes a long way on this exam, and the material covered on the exam is reasonably intuitive. You will need to memorize some names to go along with educational theories, practices, etc, but it's completely doable. Don't let it stress you out!

Exam breakdown:

According to the College Board website, the Introduction to Educational Psychology CLEP exam is broken down as follows:

• 17% Individual Differences
• 15% Cognitive Perspective
• 15% Development
• 12% Testing
• 11% Behavioristic Perspective
• 10% Motivation
• 10% Pedagogy
• 05% Educational Aims or Philosophies
• 05% Research Design and Analysis

Areas of Study
A few of the topics that you will need to know are:

• Lifelong learning
• Moral/character development
• Preparation for careers
• Cooperative learning
• Intrinsic motivation
• Adolescence
• Cognitive
• Gender identity/sex roles
• Language acquisition
• Discovery and reception learning
• Gender identity/sex roles
• Language acquisition
• Social
• Applications of behaviorism
• Law of Effect
• Operant conditioning
• Schedules of reinforcement
• Instructional design and technique
• Psychology of content areas
• Descriptive statistics
• Norm– and criterion–referenced tests
• Test validity
• Cultural influences
• Exceptionalities in learning
• Intelligence
• Nature vs. nurture
• Reading ability
• Learned helplessness
• Intrinsic motivation
• Adolescence
• Cognitive
• Gender identity/sex roles
• Language acquisition
• Social
• Applications of behaviorism
• Law of Effect
• Operant conditioning
• Schedules of reinforcement
• Token economies

This is not a comprehensive list, otherwise you'd be scrolling down all day. This is yet another of the exams that I suggest seeing the Introduction to Educational Psychology CLEP Exam-Specific thread at InstantCert for a complete listing of all exam topics.

The forum members have done a great job of breaking down the specific topics you'll want to concentrate on (3 pages worth for this exam). You'll find out more about InstantCert below if you haven't already heard of it.

Free study resources
Click on the titles to go to the study resource.

Educational Psychology Interactive - There are going to be some people that will take one look at this, and want to faint. There is A LOT of information here, but it is by far one of the best breakdowns for each topic covered by the test. There are quite a few dead links, so it's going to be hit or miss, but use this to find study resources for the individual topics listed above or on InstanCert. For example, they have a really great breakdown for the different kinds of learning disabilities. You just need to scroll down a while before you can see it. ;)

Sparknotes Psychology Study Guide - I include this one on almost every Psychology exam because it covers a little bit of everything. Don't rely only on this for the Educational Psychology or you'll be in trouble, but definitely use it.

Wikipedia - Educational Psychology - Wikipedia, the bane of paper-grading college professors everywhere. While I wouldn't recommend trying to quote Wikipedia as a source on a term paper, it's still one of the best free research sites on the Internet. Read the main page and then start digging into the specific links.

Recommended bargain-priced study resources

Always check your library first! You may be able to find some of these for free. You don't have to buy the officially recommended resources all the time. If you're the type of person that prefers to study from a textbook source however, then please see below.

CLEP Introduction to Educational Psychology (REA) - The Best Test Prep (Best Test Preparation & Review Course) - I'd suggest using the InstantCert flashcards in conjunction with this book. I've looked over the REA book, and while you could probably pass with it alone, I'm glad I didn't try. Use it as a supplemental and you'll be fine.

Educational Psychology: Windows on Classrooms (7th Edition) - Love those used textbooks! Original textbook price - $96 Used Textbook Price - $14 Make sure the seller has good feedback if you go the used route.

InstantCert Academy - Introduction to Educational Psychology Specific Exam Feedback - 4 pages of study notes, specific topics of study, and after action reports. Be sure to check out the Flashcards as well.

If you don't know what InstantCert is, then click here for the scoop as well as a discount code: **InstantCert Academy**

You'll find an InstantCert link for every exam here if that gives you an idea of the amount of information they have available. It's an outstanding resource.

Keep in mind what I said earlier when taking this exam. Though it will require some study, most of the material will be familiar if you've ever taken high school psychology, and sat through a dozen years of classes.

For those needing Psychology credits, or wanting to fill out their electives, the Introduction to Educational Psychology CLEP is an exam you should seriously consider taking.

Best of luck!