Behaviorism in Practice

Before reading this week’s resources and watching this week’s media, I had been lead to believe that the behaviorist learning theory would only due harm to students' learning in the classroom. It was not until after reading about the different theories of learning that I realized that in order to help each student learn, one must incorporate many different aspects from more than one learning theory rather than only using a single theory. Many of the resources from this week and last week mention that students need to learn in multiple ways to make strong connections to the material being taught and that all learning theories have one thing in common: the the learner should be actively engaged.

As I read through the chapter, “Reinforcing Effort”, I read about a strategy that included creating rubrics for students, from a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel. If teachers use rubrics, Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski believe that “The research tells us that not all students realize the importance of effort. Many attribute their success or failure to external factors” (2007, p. 156), and that “One easy way to help students make the connection between effort and achievement is by using a spreadsheet like Microsoft Excel” (2007, p. 158). The way that this strategy correlates to the behaviorist theory is that students are able to see their performance according to the rubric and what was expected of them. They will get immediate feedback as to where they are at on the rubric scale. This results in a reward if the student receives the grade he/she desired, or a punishment if they did not get a good grade. Students can then assess how to improve next time from the given feedback. Students will track their success over time, to gain an understanding of the correlation between effort and success, too.

In the chapter “Homework and Practice”, there are many strategies explained that also directly correlate with the principles of the behaviorist learning theory, because most of the strategies presented deal with remediation of course material in classes. An example of this is using online websites for remedial and skill practice. Online resources “have an inherent appeal and generate immediate feedback that allows a student, parent, and teacher to monitor progress toward mastery” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p. 195). Some programs even have students print out certificates showing their progress and performance. This type of strategy provides students with immediate feedback on how they are doing, either rewarding them or punishing them for their behavior (whether they do well or poorly on an activity).

In my classroom, I still use the behaviorist learning theory as needed. I use online practice websites for my Spanish classes, and I have my students check their work and print out their results so I can even see how they are doing. I feel that today in the classroom, the behaviorist theory is still important, as long as it is not the only theory being used. There are many other opportunities teachers can take to increase the learning for each student. Below are two links to websites I have used which are based on behaviorism. I use many others, but these are just two quick examples. Each quiz allows students to check their work. I make them prove they did the work by printing it out with 100% correct. They can go back to change their answers as many times as they need to.

Examples:

http://conjuguemos.com/home/docs/nologin/spanish_fillin_grammar_7.html

http://www.studyspanish.com/cgi-bin/verbs/verb_drill.cgi

References:

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.