Social Science Learning and Instructional Design

Author: Yang Xinde, Cai Weijing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: In May of this year, alumni of the 1964 class from the Department of Education and the Major of Education and Psychology at East China Normal University gathered for a reunion. During the event, Professor Pi Liansheng introduced to me the research progress of the "Learning Classification and Objective-Oriented Teaching Theory" project conducted by him and several long-term collaborators in psychology, and presented me with two new books he edited: "The Psychology of Learning and Teaching" (3rd Edition) and "The Psychological Basis of Implementation." Additionally, he gave me a draft of "Chinese Language Learning and Teaching Design (Elementary School Volume)" written by Dr. Wang Xiaoming. This is one volume in a series of books on learning and teaching design for Chinese language, mathematics, foreign language, natural sciences, and social sciences in primary and secondary schools, which is about to be published. Over the past two months, I have browsed through these three books several times and carefully read the preface written by Professor Pi Liansheng on behalf of the research team for this series, and I was deeply moved.
First, what moved me was that this research team has undergone over two decades of exploration. From the 1980s, when they began studying the "Application of Principles of the Psychology of Learning and Teaching in Subject Teaching in Primary and Secondary Schools," to the proposal of the "Learning Classification and Objective-Oriented Teaching Theory," and then to its promotion, validation, and summarization in classroom teaching practices in primary and secondary schools, and finally to the exploration of establishing a new system of subject teaching theory for primary and secondary schools. Over these twenty-plus years, they remained unassuming, avoided, did not seek immediate results, and focused on solid scholarship. This scientific attitude and working spirit, I believe, can be felt in the words of their works.
Second, the key members of the research team are not only experts in psychology but also experts in different subjects. The team has achieved a combination of psychology experts, subject teaching method experts, and primary and secondary school teaching leaders. This organizational structure and working method are commendable and worth promoting. Their research has gradually expanded its influence in psychology teaching in normal universities and in the continuous education of primary and secondary school teachers. This series of books is a practical application of the principles of the psychology of learning and teaching in subject teaching in primary and secondary schools. I believe that the publication of this series will continue to be well-received by normal universities and primary and secondary schools, providing new teaching materials in the field of educational psychology for the training of future teachers, as well as important reference books for in-service training and subject teaching research activities in primary and secondary schools.
Educational reform and the curriculum reform in primary and secondary schools call for the creation of a new subject teaching theory. Reforming the subject teaching theory in our country with modern principles of the psychology of learning and teaching and establishing a new system of subject teaching theory is a challenging and long-term task, with a heavy burden and a long road ahead. I sincerely hope that the research team will persist in this work.