Behaviorism in Practice
Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski (2007) state
that people attribute success to a variety of sources. They believe that effort has the greatest
impact on success, because it is the only one that can be controlled by the
individual. I think that behaviorism
influences effort. Michael Orey (2010)
said that behaviorism is the idea that a student learns a task by repeated
exposure to the task and receiving feedback on that task via positive
reinforcement, negative reinforcement, or punishment. If a student is giving a lot of effort, and
is positively praised, they will continue to give that type of effort; especially
if that effort reaps rewards. Pitler et.
al (2007) clarified that students may not see the correlation between how well
they understand something, and how much time was put into learning it.
The author of the book ‘Outliers’, Malcolm Gladwell, stated that the key to success in any
field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total
of around 10,000 hours. Pitler et. al (2007)
say students need about
24 practice sessions with a skill in order to achieve 80-percent competency. I know homework may provide the operant
conditioning needed to become competent to learn a skill, but in the case of a
competitive school, like mine, as teachers we are sometimes unsure if the
students even do their own homework. If
they are going home, and getting a lot of help with their work, does that count
towards the 10,000 hours Gladwell, or 24 practice sessions Pitler et. al (2007)
believe?
As I stated in this weeks discussion, I do
believe in Behaviorism activities like stimulus-response tutorial programs for
students. I have found these to be
extremely powerful tools for the comprehension, decoding, critical thinking and
inferring skills needed to become a good reader.
I believe that Behaviorism has, and will
continue to have, a deep hold on educational practices in education throughout the
world. It will provide the reinforcement
and repetitive work needed to promote success, correct behavior and solidify
concepts in the minds and actions of students across the globe.
Resources
Gladwell, Malcolm. (2008). Outliers. New York :
Little, Brown and Co.
Laureate Education, Inc. (2010). Behaviorist
learning theory. Baltimore, MD: Dr. Michael Orey.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M.,
& Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that
works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Hey Josh,
ReplyDeleteI still have Lisa and Stacy, but did you get switched out to another section for this new course?
Tracy
I think I may have. I only recognize a few peoples names! Unless, we are all just in different groups?
ReplyDeleteHi Josh and Tracy
ReplyDeleteI think Josh is in a different group now.
Regarding your homework author concern: even if they are getting help to do it, is that not practice? I know, for example, when my boys were very little, I helped a lot with their homework. As they got older, I helped less and less, and now my twelve-year old is pretty much completely independent with homework except for asking me to proof-read. He even (mostly) manages his time to get his assignments done in a reasonable fashion. I know your students are older, but I was thinking that practice involving collaboration would perhaps be even better than just practice? Of course, that all changes if they are not doing any of the work...
I love your cartoon mouse!
Lisa
PS for some reason your spam detector message thing is incredibly hard to read. I always have to try at least twice even though I am definitely not a computer!
Josh,
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be nice in this day and age where instruction time is shrinking by the day and with each new educational initiative, to be able to have students achieve the level of practice that they need. It would seem that with these new technologies that the instructor is provided with a present a wider range of choices with which to build necessary strategies that will deliver effective tools for skill building and retention
Jim
Behaviorism activities have their place in many situations such as for tools for reinforcement behavior in the classroom or as a means to motivate students. Positive reinforcement is a tool I find most important in preparing students to demonstrate good behavior.
ReplyDeleteVerna
Josh,
ReplyDeleteI like you believe that Behaviorism will continue to be used in education. Students need the reinforcement to feel like they are succeeding on tasks and punishment does not always work when students are misbehaving or forget to do homework or a project at home. If students know that there is going to be a reward at the end even knowing that they gain knowledge and that they can later use that it is beneficial to the student. Excellent post and I love the visuals!
Amanda
Josh, I agree with your conclusion I feel that Behaviorism will always be a part of education. I believe it is inevitable and unavoidable aspect of encouraging and promoting achievement. I don't see how it could be avoided.
ReplyDelete