Upon initial reading of the two chapters in the course text book, I was a bit puzzled as to why those two chapters were assigned reading for the week of behaviorism. However, the light bulb went off in my head shortly thereafter when I realized that these two methods directly relate to behaviorism.
Effort is one of the most important concepts that a teacher can encourage in their students. However, it does not often cross my mind to have students analyze their effort. The entire purpose of homework is for students to practice or reinforce the concepts that they have learned in class. This concept allows students to realize if they understand what was taught in class. Both of these concepts directly relate to behaviorism, because the student is getting positive or negative reinforcement immediately following the practice. Students, at least those that are honest with themselves, will at once, understand how much effort they are giving. Same goes for the homework, if they seem to be understanding and able to complete the homework with ease, they will at once feel gratification or a lack of gratification.
Just the other day, I had a discussion with one of my athletes about how, in my opinion, it is much more important to have incredible work ethic, than to naturally be a genius. I told her, “trust me, it will pay off in life to know how to work hard for your goals rather than just be naturally be smart.” In order to encourage this work ethic, or effort, it would be a great idea to have students analyze their effort, several days before handing in a project, paper or lab. An entire rubric can be based on effort, and the students can grade themselves on effort. It may even be a good idea to have students pair up, while working on the lab, project, or paper, and have students grade each other, or grade themselves in pairs. This way the student is being held accountable by someone other than the teacher. Students can feel that they have control over their achievement. Having the effort rubric posted online (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, p. 157-159, 2007), can be positive reinforcement for the use of technology, and a paper saving mechanism. “When a student makes a connection between academic successes with factors outside of his or her control- things like heredity, gender, or race- it’s easy to develop a defeatist attitude. After all, why bother if you know that you just aren’t capable because of your genes” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, p. 157-159, 2007)?
My vice principal is always encouraging that practice and homework should be practice of what is learned in class. This is why it constantly boggles my mind to understand why some teachers know in September what their homework will be on December second!! The classroom is a continually changing environment; best practice allows a teacher to be flexible and self reflective. Especially when it comes to what the student’s are grasping and what they need more practice on. Computer games, as discussed by Ang, Avni, & Zaphiris directly relate to behaviorism “Behaviourism stresses a new behavioural pattern being repeated until it becomes automatic. …….. Learners are regarded as a biological machine, which could be shaped to respond to conditioning by controlling reinforcements and punishments” (Ang, Avni, & Zaphiris, p. 5, 2008).
One particular source that I liked from this week’s learning resources was from the Jefferson County Schools link. This website provided many different links to other websites; the one that I found useful was from iknowthat.com. This site provided many interactive tutorials, videos etc. There were even some quizzes that can provide reporting back to the teacher. Behaviorism is in play with these types of websites because of the immediate feedback with positive and negative reinforcement and behaviors.
Behaviorism is still alive and well in today’s classrooms (Laureate Education Inc., 2008). Although some educators may not be aware that they are using behaviorism, they truly are. Any actions or behaviors that elicit positive or negative reinforcement for that behavior, is displaying the behaviorist learning theory at its finest.
References
Ang, C., Avni, E., & Zaphiris, P. (2008). Linking Pedagogical Theory of Computer Games to their Usability. International Journal on E-Learning, 7(3), 533-558. Retrieved from ERIC database.
iknowthat.com (2009). iknowthat.com Retrieved November 13th, 2009, from http://www.iknowthat.com/com/L2?GradeLevel=-1:6&Subject=Science
Jefferson County Schools (2009). Educational Resources for K-8 Students, Retrieved November 13th, 2009, from http://classroom.jc-schools.net/basic/science.html
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). “Behaviorist learning theory”. Baltimore: Author.
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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Christine,
ReplyDeleteI think you have a great point about the homework; I am constantly amazed at teachers who are able to say what they will be doing in even 2 weeks if not a month. I have learned that if I really want to get behind then I should probably try and plan ahead - to be at a certain point by a certain day. Inevitably that will result in 10 things coming up and will cause even more stress as I try to catch up. Especially in these days of following instructional calendars, it is important that students are able to be flexible to meet the needs that they demonstrate in class. There is no point in assigning homework over a topic mastered in class. I completely agree, I try and have the assignment have meaning, not merely assign homework because it is a day Monday thru Thursday. Great comments and support in your post.
Ms. Griswold,
ReplyDeleteIt is a great thing to teach athletes, isn't it? While they might not always value school as a place primarily aimed at educating (I'll bet you've taught a class with football players on game day...ugh!), their affiliation with school sports teams is an extreme example of behaviorism at its best (and sometimes worst!). It is amazing how athletes gravitate toward the understanding of hard work on the practice field, court, rink, pitch, weight room, and any other conceivable grounds for game-time preparation, and how you used that to help push the idea of hard work in the classroom is genius! Another great use of behaviorism and athletics at school is the greatly feared "Coach will find out". Student-athletes would rather eat their own practice socks than have a coach mad at them for tomfoolery in the classroom.
Even though you teach secondary students, and I teach primary, the influence of effort is still the same. It is nice to hear that students are hearing the same message about effort from early on till when they graduate. If students do not understand how much effort effects their work, they may never be able to do as well as they could when they begin their working careers.
ReplyDeleteI too am surprised when teachers plan so far in advance with homework or their differentiated parts of their lessons. I think it is fine for teachers to have a plan for what they may assign, but we need to be flexible with our assignments so we are helping our students the best we can.
Christine,
ReplyDeleteI thought you brought up a great point with the example you used between yourself and your athlete. How many times is it about the amount of work we produce than what we “could” produce? It is very important for our students to understand the behaviors that will allow them to produce the work that will allow them to be successful in the real world.