For the course I’m currently taking with Walden, I was asked to evaluate several resources we were given this week, and how they fit with the behaviorist learning theory. The sources included instructional strategies and website resources.
The first set of resources I’ll discuss came from the chapter, “Reinforcing Effort,” from the book Using technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. The methods they discussed involved having the students complete various forms of surveys and rating systems created with programs like Excel and Survey Monkey in order to evaluate themselves and rate the amount of effort they were putting forth. They would then be able to see how they rated and chart their progress from earlier weeks. The teacher would also be able to see the results, which would give him/her insight on the effort the class was making. It is assumed that the results from these graphs and charts would motivate students to try harder if they found their score going down, or feel some level of gratification when they see their scores go up. I don’t think this instructional strategy quite fits with a behaviorist model, but rather, it fits better with a humanist model. It makes the desire to do well an intrinsic motivation because they are scoring themselves, then see their overall score get processed based on their own input. If they didn’t do well, they’ll go back to see which scores brought them down, and know where they need to improve. They’ll then feel the desire to work on that weakness to bring their score up for the following week.
I then explored the many computer resources supplied in our resources and in chapter 10 of the same book as above. I found the majority of these to be of behaviorist instructional strategies. Using a behaviorist model of teaching, we would create a system of rewards and, to some degree, punishments, to shape the behavior of a child. If it’s a desired behavior, we reward it so that behavior is repeated. If it’s not desirable, we’ll hold back from rewarding it, or punish it so the likelihood of it occurring again is less likely (Laureate Education, Inc, 2011). Most of these websites do just that. When playing some of these online games, particularly from the wealth of links on Internet4Classrooms, you get rewarded for correct responses. The reward was that you got to continue the game. If you are wrong, you are often punished by losing life, causing your game to come a little closer to ending. These resources pointed us to tutorials, which I’m not sure how they relate to behaviorism, but in exploring these sites, I did find many resources that strongly use the behaviorist philosophy of learning. Another way these sites supported behaviorism is that they had you practicing skills over and over again. This idea assumes that, if you keep doing a skill through rote, you will eventually begin to memorize and perfect that skill.
I’ve seen success in using both strategies to teaching and feel that a good classroom will use both systems. Both will teach accountability and will give opportunity for self improvement. On a side note, I will be adding some of these links to my school’s website to enable further opportunity for my students to practice skills in their classroom and at home while having a little fun doing it.
Resources
Pitler, Howard. "Reinforcing Effort." Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development ;, 2007. 155-165. Print.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). 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
