Educational Psychology (B.S.)

Educational Psychology is a field planted firmly at the crossroads of psychological knowledge and educational theory. The interaction of these two professional fields serves to define, explain, and improve formal and informal learning in a variety of contexts such as schools, universities, museums, corporations, and industry. The field is focused on domains of human action and thought, exploring how they contribute to learning, behavior, and overall cognitive development of groups and individuals within their lived environments. 

By connecting science with practice, DelVal’s Educational Psychology program prepares students for actionable and meaningful impact in our world. The interdisciplinary nature of the program is highlighted in the signature Experiential Learning opportunities. These embedded experiences allow students to connect their own interests and professional endeavors to the goals and competencies of their coursework in order to demonstrate the practical application of their learning and to develop their career paths.

Join the growing field and prepare for a career in K-12 schools or the corporate environment. Gain a practical and theoretical understanding of human development, cognitive processes, assessment, and management of individual differences in complex environments. Engage in the preparation, planning, implementation, and assessment of learning in order to make an impact in your world. Learn how research and analysis can help you develop strategies for group and individual success.

Career Paths

Education

• Assessment specialist / District data analyst

  • Corporate Training & Development with focus on skills analysis and post-training assessments to measure needs, impacts, and areas for program improvement. Utilizing specific assessments that measure psychological preferences and self-perceptions can facilitate individual and group effectiveness. Such assessments have proven effective in executive coaching to provide insight for leaders and to develop specific plans for strengthening self-awareness, improving working relationships. Mentoring programs, formal collaborations that are developed to share knowledge among employees, are a time-honored approach for bridging the knowledge gap between new and more senior employees. Work in the central offices of school districts supporting learning through the development of institutional goals, strategies, assessments, and data analysis.
• Curriculum Development
  • Use your knowledge to design instructional materials for schools, corporations, or community organizations. Across diverse and ever-changing organizations, the need for continuously reviewing and updating curricula is a constant. Performance improvement is a key outcome of any training program, so a thorough understanding of the identified skill gap is essential to program development. Essential to long-term performance improvement is understanding and evaluating the program’s immediate and long-term results.  

Corporate Training and Development

• Many corporations and organizations are creating their own ‘corporate university’ that develops and delivers courses to employees that are designed for the specific skills, analysis and leadership within their market. There is a growing trend to develop, implement and assess through customized training programs. Organizations understand that their most valuable asset is a well-educated, committed workforce where employees can grow within the organization and utilize current tools and technologies in their position. Corporate Training & Development focuses on skills analysis and post-training assessments to measure needs, impacts, and areas for program improvement

Organization Development

• At the organizational level, this highly specialized function focuses on organizational culture, large-scale change strategies, and methods to improve organizational performance. At the group and individual levels, OD provides tools and resources to support employees through change by developing coping mechanisms and training programs regarding the psychological process of transition and the stages that individuals experience. This information can help employees make sense of change and lower resistance. At the leadership level, OD consults with those leading change to create a plan that inspires others and removes obstacles. Ultimately, the OD function can help leaders to promote a culture of change within the organization. Additionally, the OD function utilizes specific assessments that measure psychological preferences and self-perceptions can facilitate individual and group effectiveness. Such assessments have proven effective in project-level and executive coaching to provide insight for leaders and to develop specific plans for strengthening self-awareness and improving working relationships.

Matriculate to a Graduate Program in Counseling Psychology

• Graduate School

  • This program prepares students to apply for advanced degrees in Educational Psychology, Research, Evaluation and other fields.

• Counseling Psychology (M.S.) at DelVal

  • This degree program prepares you to apply to a graduate program in psychology, such as DelVal’s Master of Science in Counseling Psychology, where you prepare to become a licensed counselor.