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Friday, May 15, 2009

Behaviorist Learning Instructional Strategies

Behaviorist learning works by reinforcing desired or productive behaviors and discouraging unwanted or unproductive actions. In Chapter 8 of Pitler's (2007), Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works, several ways are shown to allow students to track their own efforts and to correlate those efforts to their grade or success in class. As students self-assess and record their levels of effort in areas such as homework, class participation and notes, they are able to see the correlation between their degree of effort and the results. After weeks of tracking the data, students can observe that increasing effort increases their grade. Therefore, their increased effort is rewarded making it more likely that they will continue to try. I like the idea of the students assigning their rubric scores. It shifts the focus of responsibility and the power to change to them. I had a student today who was surprised that he was in danger of failing this semester and asked how that had happened. Perhaps if he had been regularly charting his effort he would have seen this coming!
In Chapter 10 of Pitler's book, homework and practice are discussed in terms of relevance and feedback. I was particularly interested in the discussion of the PowerPoint battleship game because I play battleship with my math students using graph paper. I call on each student one at a time and if they work their math problem correctly they get to "take a shot" at where ships are hidden on my master graph. If they miss the problem, it goes to the next student in line. They will work for extra credit points, candy or a homework pass. This game also helps reinforce good behavior. If a student blurts out an answer when it's not his turn, then he loses his turn. Based on Orey (2008), I'm using positive and negative reinforcement and negative punishment. I will
be checking out the online version for next year's use. Cathy

  • Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
    • Chapter 8: Reinforcing Effort, pp. 155–164
    • Chapter 10: Homework and Practice, pp. 187–201
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6 comments:

  1. UnknownMay 16, 2009 at 7:14 PM

    Cathy,
    I use a similar game when reviewing comprehension of a particular story or novel read in my English class. I will place a clue on the board and use the idea of hangman to show the answer. Students have to answer review questions from the story. For each correct answer, they get to guess a letter used in the answer for the board clue. The goal is to be the first team to solve the puzzle. Then I use that clue and answer as one of the questions on the next test. Students love trying to be the first to figure it out.
    Ginger

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  2. J. EllefsenMay 17, 2009 at 8:21 AM

    Cathy,

    I really like the idea of having students track their own effort - this way they will not be shocked by the fact that they are in danger of failing. It also is something that parents could refer to and even initial. By having the parents initial the spreadsheet, they too will not be in for such a surprise when they receive their child's report card. Do you feel that you are going to adopt this practice in your class?

    Also, I am all for the students creating a PowerPoint game and I believe that it will be a fun way to learn concepts within any subject. I have created one for a Teaching American History grant that I am a part of and my students were amazed at what you can do with PowerPoint software. I have yet had them create one on their own because I am not sure as to how I would go about the entire project, however, it is something that I look forward to doing in the near future.

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  3. CathhgyMay 17, 2009 at 10:18 AM

    Yes, I do plan to use some type of chart or spreadsheet for students to track their effort, grades,etc. I don't think I'll be able to have them do this on the computer because we don't have a classroom set, but share a mobile lab with 5 other teachers. Cathy

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  4. Jessie SteedleyMay 17, 2009 at 11:23 AM

    Isn't it funny that students do not realize that they are failing a class until the end of the semester? It's almost as if they believe that not doing their work will result in a passing grade. You are absolutely right. If this particular student had been documenting his progress he could have made changes to his effort long before the end of the semester when it is too late.
    I give out a weekly progress report with the student's updated average for them to take home for a parent signature. However, charting each and every assignment is much more detailed and would be more beneficial than just seeing an average. My students don't have this much access to a computer but maybe at the beginnging of the school year each student can create their own tracking chart to keep up with in their notebooks.

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  5. susanMay 17, 2009 at 3:57 PM

    Cathy - I too liked the idea of the students assigning their own rubric scores. My past work with rubrics and students showed me that there seemed to be some correlation between those who were surprised by their grades at the end of the quarter and those who could not be honest with themselves on a rubric. Do you believe that using computer generated data from a student rubric would help show these students that they are not being honest in assessing themselves?

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  6. Mr. PMay 17, 2009 at 7:01 PM

    Cathy,

    I like when you talked about your student who was wondering how they were failing and how useful it woudl be if they were loggin their progress all along. I do think however we would probably still have students who woudl not even log their points on a spreadsheet to see how they were doing but it is worth a try.

    I too offer myh students extra credit but never thought about developing a game around it, great idea!

    Eric

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