Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner are two guys that stand out in my mind when I think back to my Psychology courses and education theories course I had taken back in “The Day”. The dog and salivation experiment has never been forgotten; nor has the rat pushing the lever to get his food reward.
Even though, my preference of learning theory leans to the Constructivist Theory, I can see some positive outcomes with the Behaviorism Theory. I do feel that the Behaviorist theory has its place in education and in our classrooms. In fact, as I reflect back on my days in school, I vision the Behaviorism theory being the primary way we (as students) were taught to learn. I do not feel this is a bad theory at all. There were fewer disciplinary issues and a great deal of students that did learn from positive and negative punishment, as well as, positive and negative reinforcement as defined by this week’s reading on Behaviorism (Orey, 2001). It is a no brainer that a positive and/or negative reinforce are going to increase the likelihood of the student continuing to do his homework, staying seated in the class, not talking while others are speaking, taking notes and being on task in the future because the student is being rewarded for that particular behavior (Orey, 2001). As James Hartley suggests, the student’s reinforcement for a certain behavior is the big motivator (Smith, 1999).
Through this week’s readings along with other literature I have read in years past, it is so obvious that Behaviorism does positively impact classroom management, as well as, some ways for the student to actually learn standards and elements in classes. Going beyond using the Behaviorism theory as a good classroom management tool, Behaviorism is also displayed in some technology applications. For instance, our school allows students to take online courses (only after they have failed this course once before) that provide tutorial sessions for each lesson. At the end of the tutorial, the student is given a quiz over what the student has learned. If the student answers a question correctly, he is instantly given a reward of some form of animated graphic “way to go”, “congratulations”, “and great job”or“on target.” The drawback to these programs are the student uses this program every day for the entire school year and at the high school level, those graphic animations really are not much of a positive reinforcer. In the media segment, Dr. Orey suggest that the educator should use this type of application in moderation ( Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). I do feel drill and practice is essential especially in math. Just like a basketball player wishing to improve his jump shot. It takes hours of drill and practice to improve his skill. Therefore, using some of the math technology programs only going to strengthen the student’s skill in math. Lastly, technology can keep the learner engaged and active in his/her learning process. James Hartley mentions that activity is important in the learning process (Smith, 1999).
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program four: Behaviorist learning theory [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Retrieved from
Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page
Smith, M. K. (1999) 'The behaviourist orientation to learning’, the encyclopedia of informal education, www.infed.org/biblio/learning-behavourist.htm, Last update: May 06, 2012.
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