Behaviorism in Practice

The behaviorist learning theory is displayed in all classrooms, in many different forms.  The most powerful form of behaviorism is reinforcement because a positive behavior, such as learning, was exhibited that and preferred to be repeated (Laureate Education Inc., 2011).  Smith (1999) describes reinforcement as “the cardinal motivator” in which rewards and successes are favored to punishments or failures.  Two instructional strategies that I am going to focus on that exhibit behaviorism are providing recognition for effort and homework and practice.  Both strategies focus on infusing technology to obtain a desired outcome.

Providing recognition for effort and hard work are instructional strategies that go hand- in- hand.  As a mathematics teacher, I consistently face the challenge of answer the statement, “I’m not good at math.”  When answering this statement to a student, I have never thought that maybe this student has never been taught the importance of effort and what it means to disburse effort effectively. Pitler, Hubbell, & Kuhn (2012) recommend teaching students about the correlation between effort and achievement so that they can track their personal effort and achievement throughout the year.  This was eye-opening for me as a math teacher, because I believe this is the single most challenging aspect of teaching learners with low self-efficacy in their abilities.  

Technology plays a vital role in students tracking their effort.  Pitler, Hubbell, & Kuhn (2012) display an example of a rubric that could be used by the students to assess themselves individually on the amount of effort they have put in prior to taking a weekly assessment.  This data, combined with the students’ scores can be a powerful tool for students to see that hard work can increase scores.  As a mathematics teacher, I can see many learning moments in terms of allowing students to use Microsoft Excel to turn their rubrics into a graph.  Not only would this method work for students, but it would be a great visual for parents to see at home.  This combined effort with school and home could create a learning environment in which students begin to learn what effort and hard work will bring to them personally.

When students work hard, it should be recognized.  Pitler, Hubbell, & Kuhn (2012) provide technological examples of rubrics and badges that can be used to recognize students meeting or surpassing a set goal.  This reminded me of the importance of goal-setting in a classroom.  I think that it is so important that students visually picture where they want to go or what they want to achieve in a classroom before diving into something.  Goal setting, combined with effort and recognition, will create a learning environment full of positive and motivated learners. 

Homework and practice offers students the opportunity to revisit and apply what they have learned outside of the classroom.  Technology now allows practice to take place in unlimited settings.  Students practice through blog postings, Microsoft Office Applications, instructional media such as Khan Academy, Castle Learning Programs, and many other forms of advanced technologies that teachers can respond to instantaneously.  When I think about homework and practice, I think about a “flipped classroom.”  My sister-in-law, a high school Spanish teacher, is in the process of creating a flipped classroom for her advanced Spanish class.  The students, every Monday, will watch a lesson outside of school.  The rest of the week during class, the students will be doing activities related to the video.  As an educator, I see this instructional strategy as being highly effective.  Students will be active participants and the teacher will be able to provide guidance rather than lecture during class!  My current school district implements a “No Homework Policy” because our administration feels that the low socioeconomic status of most of our students causes a lack of parental involvement for students.  I am hopeful that we can find a balance and create home to school strategies that will allow teachers to expand the knowledge of students outside of class.

Useful Links

4 Pillars of a Flipped Classroom: http://thejournal.com/articles/2013/06/18/report-the-4-pillars-of-the-flipped-classroom.aspx

Teaching Effective Effort: https://sites.google.com/site/selfconfidenceinyourclassroom/teaching-effective-effort

 

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011b). Program four: Behaviorist learning theory [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., & Kuhn, M. (2012). Using technology with classroom instruction that works (2^nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Smith, K. (1999). The behaviorist orientation to learning. In The encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved from http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-behavourist.htm