History – psychological foundations/QME

Prior to 1964 the Department of Educational Psychology did not exist on this campus. Courses in statistics, measurement, and the psychology of learning, were being offered by the College of Education, but the professors who taught these courses were drawn from a loose organizational structure very different from what we have today. For example, the psychology of learning course for teacher licensure students was taught by Robert Dykstra in the elementary education division. 

In 1964 the dean of the College agreed to establish a separate department of educational psychology and Roger Wilk was chosen as its first chair. One year later the fledgling department had nine professors who taught courses in learning, measurement, and statistics. Of those original professors, three became deans of colleges of education at major universities (Roger Wilk, Frank Murray, and Dan Neal), one holds an endowed chair at this university (Paul E. Johnson), and the others became leaders in their respective disciplines (e.g., Cyril Hoyt is world famous for his Hoyt Reliability Formula and Jay Samuels has been elected to The Reading Hall of Fame.)

By 1969 the College went through one of its first reorganizations and the department lost its distinctive educational psychology label and become part of a new department known as Foundations of Education, which included educational psychology and history, sociology, and philosophy of education. Chairs for this department were Wells Hively, Clyde Parker, and Jim Terwilliger. The other psychological programs, such as special education, school psychology, and counseling and student personnel, were grouped together as a department in their own right, Psycho-educational Studies.

After four years the College reorganized again, and the psychological foundations faculty was reunited with faculty from psycho-educational studies. The department became Educational Psychology and had four programs we have today: psychological foundations, counseling and student personnel psychology, school psychology, and special education. The chair of that department was Jack Merwin. In sequence, the chairs following Merwin were: Bob Bruininks, Jack Merwin (again), Mark Davison, Sue Hupp, Mary McEvoy, Frances Lawrenz, John Romano, and Susan Hupp, the current chair.

In addition to producing scholars at the masters and doctoral level, one of the major responsibilities of the psychological foundations program is to provide courses which serve the entire college in areas such as learning, cognition, statistics, measurement, and evaluation. Over the nearly four decades since the department's origin, scholars in the psychological foundations of education program have earned a reputation as national leaders in literacy, cooperative learning, social learning, critical thinking, instructional systems, statistics, measurement, and evaluation.

Starting in the fall of 2005, quantitative methods in education (QME) and psychological foundations of education (PsyF) became independent content areas in educational psychology. Both QME and PsyF will be identified as separate tracks of study within the Graduate School. Students will apply, and if accepted, study, and receive a degree in educational psychology with a designation QME or PsyF on their transcript.

September 2006