Master's Degree in Educational Psychology

The University Master's Degree in Educational Psychology consists of 90 ECTS. It includes the following two training profiles:

• Professional profile, with the ability to plan and carry out psychoeducational actions, with a high degree of specialization, in individual, group and institutional situations, as well as the ability to intervene in people throughout the life cycle.
• Research and academic profile, with adequate preparation to generate quality scientific knowledge, to carry out and critically analyze highly specialized research, and to create, analyze and disseminate information and qualified training in educational psychology.

The objective of the Master is to equip students with the competences, skills and tools for professional and investigative practice, linked to the field of Educational Psychology. These objectives are specified in achieving the following competencies:

• Know how to design, develop and evaluate complex research processes that will be applied to the different psycho-educational contexts through innovative methodological approaches.
• Apply the theoretical and methodological foundations acquired to build, validate and use advanced techniques and instruments in psycho-educational research, as well as the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the information collected with these instruments.
• Employ the most innovative models, principles, competencies and approaches of Educational Psychology in formal and non-formal psychoeducational contexts.
• Apply the most advanced knowledge for the care of children, youth and adults with disabilities, belonging to bio-psycho-social risk groups, members of socio-cultural diversity groups, etc., in multiple psychoeducational contexts.
• Design and apply the latest psycho-educational diagnostic techniques and instruments to respond to specific psycho-educational actions, such as: diagnosing needs, abilities, exclusion factors, learning difficulties, etc.
• Coordinate the design, application and evaluation of psycho-educational and training interventions through the highest-level ICT, in addition to other media and communication and information networks (radio, television, press, Internet, etc.), selecting the most suitable for the virtualized teaching-learning process.
• Ability to carry out reflections and analysis in educational psychology using specialized knowledge, with conceptual precision and intellectual rigor.
• Personal and interpersonal skills for working in specialized and competitive groups of multidisciplinary composition.

Master's file

Justification

From the beginning of the implementation of Psychology as a scientific discipline, education, understood in its broadest sense of training and development, is emerging as one of the most relevant fields of scientific and professional specialization. Currently, Educational Psychology has a corpus of theoretical, technological and applied knowledge that is clearly systematized and differentiated from other domains and, at both academic and professional levels, psychoeducational research and intervention are strongly rooted in most European states.

On the other hand, the socioeconomic, cultural and technological changes of the last decades and the speed with which they occur, favor the appearance of new scenarios and contexts of education and development, posing new challenges to psychological research on the one hand, and expanding the social demand for psychologists specialized in this field, on the other hand. What forces professionals to a constant effort of updating and training.

Educational Psychology addresses human behavior in formal and non-formal educational situations. He is interested in the psychological processes that affect development and learning, both individual and group, and intervenes on them to enhance the person's capacities throughout the life cycle, and improve group and institutional processes. Thus, the activity of the educational psychologist will take place in socio-educational contexts of any modality and level (regulated, non-regulated, formal and informal systems), in coordination, when appropriate, with other professionals (pedagogues, teachers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, etc.). ).

Competencies

Basic skills

The basic competencies of this study plan allow and guarantee that students:

• Possess and understand knowledge that provides a basis or opportunity to be original in the development and / or application of ideas, often in a research context.
• That students know how to apply the knowledge acquired and their ability to solve problems in new or unfamiliar environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to their area of ​​study.
• That students are able to integrate knowledge and face the complexity of making judgments based on information that, being incomplete or limited, includes reflections on social and ethical responsibilities linked to the application of their knowledge and judgments.
• That students know how to communicate their conclusions and the knowledge and ultimate reasons that support them to specialized and non-specialized audiences in a clear and unambiguous way.
• That students have the learning skills that allow them to continue studying in a way that will be largely self-directed or autonomous.

General Competences

• Design, develop and evaluate complex research processes that will be applied to different psycho-educational contexts using innovative methodological approaches.
• GM2. Apply the theoretical and methodological foundations acquired to build, validate and use advanced techniques and instruments in psycho-educational research, as well as the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the information collected with these instruments.
• GM3. Use the acquired content on evaluation to carry out real evaluations of programs, contexts, processes, products, professionals, institutions, educational systems, etc.
• GM4. Employ the most innovative models, principles, competencies and approaches of Educational Psychology in formal and non-formal psychoeducational contexts.
• GM5. Apply the most advanced knowledge for the care of children, youth and adults with disabilities, belonging to bio-psychosocial risk groups, members of socio-cultural diversity groups, etc., in multiple psychoeducational contexts.
• GM6. Select and effectively manage the different sources of information and documentation depending on the problem to be addressed.
• Design and apply the latest psycho-educational diagnostic techniques and instruments to respond to specific psycho-educational actions, such as: diagnosing needs, abilities, exclusion factors, learning difficulties, etc.
• Coordinate the design, application and evaluation of psychoeducational and training interventions through the highest-level ICT, in addition to other communication and information media and networks (radio, television, press, Internet, etc.), selecting the most suitable for the virtualized teaching-learning process.
• Capabilities to manage knowledge and advanced information on research and psychoeducational intervention in diverse educational contexts and settings.
• Ability to carry out reflections and analysis in educational psychology using specialized knowledge, with conceptual precision and intellectual rigor.
• Personal and interpersonal skills for working in specialized and competitive groups of multidisciplinary composition.
• Capabilities for the advanced use of ICTs in the professional field.

Specific Competences

• Abilities to evaluate typical and atypical psychological processes of human development and learning.
• Abilities to detect, prevent and intervene to promote development and learning in people with disabilities and at risk of social exclusion.
• Abilities to detect, prevent and intervene to promote development and learning in people with high abilities, critical and creative.
• Abilities to detect prevent and intervene in emotional behavior disorders in the school and family environment
• Capacities to evaluate and intervene in psychoeducational processes and practices, to promote and improve comprehensive psychological development, the psychoeducational procedures used and the functioning of educational groups and institutions.
• Abilities to collect and transcribe, analyze, evaluate data and generate new knowledge related to the interaction and discourse used in school and family situations to promote learning processes.
• Ability to detect early and evaluate specific difficulties in acquiring basic instrumental skills in written language and logical-mathematical knowledge.
• Abilities to collect data, analyze, intervene and do research / intervention on psychological processes related to learning mathematics.
• Abilities to design and apply psychoeducational intervention programs in the face of learning difficulties in written language and mathematics.
• Abilities to lead and coordinate groups in formal and non-formal teaching-learning processes
• Abilities to manage and promote coordination with other professionals, departments and institutions.
• Capacities to respond to the demands of users, institutions and administrations related to the preparation of reports, opinions, reports, programs, etc.
• Abilities to behave in both professional and investigative activity, according to the deontological code of the educational psychology professional
• Ability to work collaboratively and to interact with other people from the same or different professional fields in virtual communication spaces.
• Develop problem solving and decision-making skills using ICT, which entails being able to identify, analyze and define the significant elements that constitute a problem, their causes and importance from various points of view; to look for alternative solutions and solve it judiciously and effectively.
• Knowing, designing, developing, coordinating and evaluating educational and training strategies and programs in virtual communication situations.
• Abilities to manage information and knowledge in its disciplinary field using the latest information and communication technologies.
• Ability to prevent, detect early and evaluate specific sensorimotor difficulties that affect the development and acquisition of instrumental skills.
• Capabilities to design and select suitable instruments that allow the collection of qualitative information to achieve research objectives and hypotheses
• Abilities to pose research problems according to importance and notable for the psycho-educational context.
• Master and apply the theoretical and practical aspects of the research process from the different methodological perspectives most used in the psycho-educational field.

Graduation profile

The graduate student is a graduate with training and development that is outlined in their theoretical, technological and applied knowledge, clearly systematized and differentiated. His professional profile enables him to plan and carry out psychoeducational actions, with a high degree of specialization, in individual, group and institutional situations, as well as with the ability to intervene in people throughout the life cycle. His research and academic profile, with adequate preparation, enables him to generate quality scientific knowledge, to carry out and critically analyze highly specialized research, and to create, analyze and disseminate information and qualified training in Educational Psychology.