Behaviorism in Practice

When reading about technology that will improve my classroom instruction, I developed many ideas to incorporate new technology and reinforce skills by applying the behaviorist learning theory. “Technology makes it easier for students and teachers to track the effects of effort and facilitates more immediate feedback” (Pitler, Hubbel, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). The best way to incorporate these tools is to reinforce practice and provide effective homework and practice. By tracking the effort of students using spreadsheet software, instruction can be modified to provide appropriate instruction. Surveying students and graphing their efforts will show them the achievements they have made and the expectations they need to meet. There are also many forms of technology that can be used by students at home and school to practice new skills and concepts.


I can create a rubric using Rubistar or Rubric Machine to clearly show students what I expect. Spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel will show students the correlation between their effort and their grades. Since I teach at the elementary level, I can enforce positive reinforcement in the behaviorist theory by creating a chart where students can put up a sticker when they make acceptable grades. Data collection tools, such as graphs, will show my students the importance of their efforts. I would also like to teach my students how to graph their data, so that they can record their own grades and keep track of their progress. On my teacher webpage, I can display this data and have students write success stories that will be posted to the website to encourage other students to increase their efforts.

To encourage practice and completion of homework, technology can be used through spreadsheet software, multimedia, and web resources. When completing homework, I can have my students track their answers in a spreadsheet. If students do not have access to a computer at home, I can print a hard copy for them to take home. This will teach the students how to track their progress and help me to quickly grade their work and provide immediate feedback. “Practicing with multimedia allows students to shape their experience to their individual learning style and increase their level of understanding to mastery” (Pitler, Hubbel, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). I currently use educational technology programs such as Study Island and Compass Learning Odyssey to help students choose their learning objectives, stay engaged, and receive immediate feedback from the program. I can also have my students create multimedia games to display what they have learned and provide practice of skills. I have created Who Wants to be a Millionaire and Jeopardy games based on the concepts that I teach in class. Web resources such as online educational games are appealing to students and give feedback for teachers to monitor a student’s progress towards mastery. These tools meet the criteria of the behaviorist learning theory because the students are able to instantaneously see what step they are struggling with, to target specific skills to work on. When students have successfully completed a game or mastered a skill, I will set up the games to print out certificates to give students immediate positive reinforcement. Promoting positive behaviors such as these in the classroom will give students a sense of accomplishment and drive them to set higher goals for their effort and achievement.

References

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.