The behaviorist theory definitely has its place in our society. It basically revolves around operate conditioning using two mechanisms:
a) Reinforcement
The instructional strategy of reinforcing effort enhances students’ understanding of the relationship between effort and achievement by addressing their attitudes and beliefs about learning (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007).
Students eventually realize the importance of believing that effort leads to better achievement.
The students are able to achieve better if they review and apply what they have learned and this is one of the main purposes of homework, which should be commented uon by the teacher to reinforce the positive behavior.
To enrich the homework program there are word processing applications, multimédia, spreadsheet applications, web resources, and comunication software.
b) Punishment.
Inadequate behavior has consequences. Some teachers have strategies that involve behavior contracts.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program four. Behaviorist Learning Theory [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Application 4 (New and Emerging Technologies)
13 years ago
Very true Maria without the behaviorist theory our student would not get the homework or classwork practice that is needed to master the skills being taught. If the student is not given some feedback from the teacher or the software being used, the student would never be sure if they are on the right track.
ReplyDeleteLike you I believe that there is room for the behaviorist theory in our classrooms and the use of multimedia to encourage drill and practice only makes learning more appealing and provides immediate feedback for the student. This is preferable to the teacher collecting the work and grading it, as the student would have completed 20 problems and may not have been doing them correctly.
References:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Everyone's blog that I have read so far is in agreement that behaviorism is still in use, and is necessary. I'm not sure why Orey said that it was out of vogue - I feel like I have been out of touch with current educational theory for too long! However that may be, if there is, in fact, a teacher out there who doesn't use behaviorism to teach some of the basics of any course, or even many of the basic life skills, I have yet to meet this person.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, I enjoyed looking at the programmed instruction software online from the resources of Week 2. I think the sampling showed pretty much the wide range of attempts at technology-based behavioral conditioning in the form of drills and lessons. The most basic modules (the Math Skills and the Grammar Skills) showed how useful online computer-based drilling and practice can be. Both were boring, but both produced instantaneous reinforcement. Because of this reinforcement, the boredom was reduced. The most complex module, the one on Geography Skills, seemed, in my opinion, to have attempted to do too much. Instead of sticking to the basics, which it covered very well in its map-reading section, it attempted to teach higher-level skills such as analysis of old photographs, and recognizing bias in the written passages by famous historical figures. If you try the submodule on bias, you can get bogged down trying to find the response that the program wants. If it wasn't for the graphics and the sound, this would have been my least favorite of the online samples.
In conclusion, I think that the Web 2.0 has a lot to offer teachers in the line of supportive software for drill and practice (programmed instruction) as long as it is kept simple and limited to the basics. Attempts to make programmed instruction do more than the basics can lead to difficulty.
Lorna and Tim,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments. It seems as though most of us have do agree that the behaviorist theory still has a role to play.
Maria