Assignment:
What are your thoughts on how the instructional strategies described in the resources you explored this week correlate with the principles of behaviorist learning theory.
Post:
In our reading this week our text talked about two different types of Instructional strategies; reinforcing effort, and homework and practice. As I look back at the rest of our resources, the behaviorist learning theory is best described by Lever-Duffy & McDonald as, “the learner acquires behaviors, skills, and knowledge in response to the rewards, punishments, or withheld responses associated with them” (2008). Correlating reinforcing effort with the behaviorist learning theory is quite simple. In the text, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that works, teachers create a type of Effort rubric so that each student can keep track of their own effort in different categories. At the end of the week, the students have a test, and then they compare their “effort” grade to their “test” grade. What they have found is that the more effort they put into their note taking, paying attention, participation, homework and so forth, the better they did on their test. So in a round about way, students are rewarding themselves for putting more effort into the work that is assigned. Sounds like behaviorism to me.
Homework and Practice relate back to skill and drill techniques which fall under behaviorist thinking. Homework is used for review and application of what the students have learned from the day. If done incorrectly, homework can seem like punishment, meaning, our students are doing homework for hours and hours every night. Is this good practice? No, this can work as a punishment, which is part of the behaviorist theory. Homework should be given not only as “busy” work, but as work that counts. Students need to see what they get right and wrong. You can not correct a behavior if you do not take the time to check it. If the student does that behavior long enough because it has not been checked, then when they get it wrong on a test, how are they to know they did it wrong. As stated in our online text, “Because it is easy for errors to slip in when students are practicing, teachers should give feedback as quickly as possible-ideally, early in the practice sessions, before students internalize erroneous processes and knowledge” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007, p.188).
Behaviorist learning is evident in both of the strategies; Reinforcing effort and homework and practice. When done correctly they can reward the necessary behavior and when done incorrectly, the result is negative. “The entire rational of behavior modification is that most behavior is learned. If behaviors can be learned, then they can also be unlearned or relearned” (Orey, 2001).
Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education,
Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.Chapter 1: Theoretical Foundations
Orey, M. (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology.
Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Chapter 8: Reinforcing Effort
Chapter 10: Homework and Practice
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with
classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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Erika,
ReplyDeleteI really liked the idea of the effort rubric. It's an easy way for the teacher to use technology to create the rubric and the student is using technology as well. The fact that the students can see the correlation between effort and grades is a wonderful idea. I'm not sure if homework in and of itself would be considered part of the behaviorist theory. I think the technology sites that we looked at, like the grammar site, would be a better source of immediate feedback for the right or wrong answers. Sometimes with homework, the only thing being reinforced is "doing" the work, but not always doing it well.
I had a long discussion with my husband who teaches 7th grade math, and I asked him why he only gives completion grades for homework as opposed to checking to see if the work was completed correctly. So he basically said the same thing you did at the end of your comment. It is about doing the work, and not always getting it right. In his classroom he offers two types of homework, he has the standard practice,and the higher level thinking called Depth Charges. He tells his students that if they understand what is going on in class, then they need to complete the Depth Charge, but, if a student does not quite grasp the concept, then they need to do the other homework. But what about right answers? I teach woodworking, I do not give homework, because everything is completed or needs to be completed in class. So I do not understand the philosophy behind a completion grade, but what he has his seventh grade students doing by the end of the school year is amazing, so I guess the boat should not be rocked.
ReplyDeleteErick,
ReplyDeleteI cannot give homework because I teach computer lab and not all of my students have access to computers outside of school. I am often questioning some of the homework my son and daughter bring home from their schools. I know some of it simply busy work, or even things they didn't have time for in class, which I find absurd. How do they expect to "practice" something they are unfamiliar with? I do believe practicing concepts they have covered in class is appropriate for homework, but I wonder sometimes at the amount. A dozen math problems should be enough to judge whether or not the child is understanding the concept and it is not so overwhelming the it can't be checked. On the other hand 30 or more problems seems a bit too much for both the student and the teacher.
Ericka,
ReplyDeleteOne of the key phrases from our resource book in the chapter about reinforcement was that effort was the most important factor in a student's academic sucess. In 22 years of teaching I have found this to be definately true. I've had students who had learning difficulties who worked very hard do very well in my class, and I've have gifted students with IQs higher than mine do very poorly due to a lack of effort. I agree with yo that there is behaviorism at work in schools, but just because it is not popular learning theory doesn't mean it is not still effective. I would think in your class there is trial and error where a student attempts to learn a skill, fails, and tries again with better effort and results.
I can see where giving homework for your class would be a problem. The idea that every student has a computer with Internet access at home is a myth atleast where I teach. It creates a problem for content area classes too, because the assumption is every student has Internet access which isn't true. So you just have to use the book for homework. I have found homework necessary for my students to be high achievers and learners. I can tell who does their homework and who doesn't besides just their homework grades.
Charles Schmidt
Erika,
ReplyDeleteWhen I taught math, I did a very similar thing. I checked to see if they did their assignment. If it was done, they received a 100. They were given 2 oops! assignments if they forgot, didn't have time, etc...to finish the assignment. As long as they did their homework every night, their homework average (10% of their grade) was a 100. After the 2 oops!, their homework average dropped 5 points for each assignment they missed. We always checked homework, but how many they missed, didn't count against them. The students that didn't do their homework, their lack of effort showed up on their quizzes. Hopefully, the idea of missing homework sunk in, they finished their homework, did well on quizzes and ultimately their tests.
John,
ReplyDeleteI too can not really assign credible homework for woodworking. In the past some of my students have taken work home and when brought back the next day, the project was completed. The work done is immaculate and definitely above their level. I am not out to give their parents a grade, so that is why I keep everything in the shop.
Schmidcm,
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that our students that have the higher IQ's put forth the least amount of effort? I have noticed that in my classes, my gifted students are extremely lazy. Albeit my classes have a large amount of physical labor, but seriously, why are they so lazy?
Denise,
ReplyDeleteSo I guess you can see where my husband is at with his homework assignments. I feel that I really do not have a say because of the fact that I do not assign homework.
Erika,
ReplyDeleteI believe school comes easily for the kids with the higher IQ's. They don't have to work as hard as the student who struggles in school. For our 2nd son, school comes easily. He's auditory, so if he hears it, he learns it. He's also pretty smart. It wasn't until he took AP and honors classes that he had to figure out for himself what it took to keep up and actually study. These classes are in science and he loves science, so he is motivated to do well. I also think maturity has something to do with the desire to do well.
I think that its important not to completely vilify the behavorist theory because it can be effective in teaching some basic behaviorial conduct. In the area of academics it is not really a teaching tool because it limits the ability to make additional connections to the concept.
ReplyDeleteChris,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I tend to use the behaviorist theory more for classroom management than anything else.
Erika,
ReplyDeleteI would agree with the use of the completion grade for homework. With 7th grade science students, as well as math, the practice and effort to do the work is often as effective as the practice in class. We do much of the work in class and then students finish what they don't at home, but they have opportunities to ask questions about the concepts that they don't quite grasp. It also may help that I have a high interest content in science, so they do enjoy the classes and activities. We also do maintain data walls in our classrooms, so the students can compare themselves with the grades for the class average as well as other classes. They don't have to tell others, but they know how they did and are encouraged to reflect on their work in class.
You also brought up a very good point about the effort that students put into the classes they are interested in. Often a gifted student will not make the scores of a high achievement student who puts in more effort and time into studying.