Welcome back to my blog! This week I was asked to study a few instructional strategies and comment on how they correlate with the behaviorist learning strategy. After reading and reflecting on the two selected chapters, “Reinforcing Effort” and “Homework and Practice”, I found many interesting connections between the instructions strategies that I want to share with you.
The first strategy was focused on improving students’ level of effort within the class setting. As a teacher I feel that it is crucial that my students know and understand the importance of effort in all aspects of their lives. Through many strategies found in the text an instructor can help the students make correlations between improved grades and the level of effort they put into the assignments. This connection is commented on in the text when it states, “Students can learn to operate from a belief that effort pays off even if they do not initially have this belief” (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K. 2007). I found the initial strategy offered by the text to be the most useful. Within this strategy the students are asked to use Microsoft Excel in order to create a spreadsheet that can track their level of effort on multiple assignments. The students are given a rubric that gives them a concise picture of what effort looks like, and then they are asked to track their effort on assignments using Excel(Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K. 2007). This idea of giving clear instruction and then asking the students to perform a task is a standard of the behaviorist learning theory. Another correlation between this instructional strategy and the behaviorist learning theory is the idea of a reward system. Basically the students are being rewarded with exemplary grades when they put in the effort on a given assignment. The connections are obvious not only in this strategy, but also in homework practice.
The next strategy that I reviewed was based on the importance of consistent homework assignments. Homework, when done correctly, becomes an extension of the classroom and offers the students the opportunity to improve their understanding of a given subject (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K. 2007). Homework looks different from classroom to classroom and students must learn to become malleable. In order for the students to become adept at homework they must practice the skills necessary to be successful at the assigned task. Furthermore, by having students practice what the text calls proper homework skills students can, “enhance their ability to reach the expected level of proficiency” (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K. 2007). Practice in order to change one’s proficiency is one of the foundations of the behaviorist learning theory. In short it takes practice to change behavior.
In both of these instructional strategies technology is used heavily to reinforce positive behaviors. The idea of positive reinforcement is a staple in the behaviorist theory. Students are asked to work with programs like Excell and Word and rewarded with modern instruction techniques that will prepare them for the future.
References
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom
instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
You make a very good point that homework looks different from classroom to classroom as well as subject to subject. Being able to handle a variety of situations is extremely important in our community environment, and the variations on homework that students get from different teachers and subjects is a huge help. I hadn't really thought before about the fact that different sorts of homework not only do look different but should look different.
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