Behaviorist Learning Theory

A behaviorist perspective requires rewards or reinforcing responses for learning to take place (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2008).  Homework must be returned promptly to the students or it will be considered a wasted teaching opportunity.  This puts a bit of pressure on teachers that assign a lot of homework as it needs to be graded and returned as soon as possible.  Displaying grades online via moodle or blackboard has really helped the teachers in this area. Using BrainPop can create practice opportunities that a student can use anywhere that have internet access. Reflecting upon the assignments in class is also a great way to further the learning of the material.

Behaviorist Theory is based on repetition and feedback. The example presented by Dr. Orey (Laureate Education Inc. 2010) of tutorials fit the Behaviorist model through the use of feedback supporting a behavior.  Keep in mind, the behavior can be positive or negative.  A user is asked to respond after a small set of instructions is given.  If the user responds correctly, they are allowed to move on to the next set of instructions.  If an incorrect answer is give, the same set of instructions are repeated and a response is requested again.  This demonstrates the method to mold the user’s behavior.  The Examples from Pitler, Hubbell, and Kuhn (Pitler 2007) are similar.  Behaviorism is used through charting.  This type of visual evidence is crucial as it allows the students to see the correlation between effort an performance.  Typically, the better the effort is, the better the feedback will be.  Conversely, the negative feedback shows a lack of effort.

I feel the behaviorism theories definitely have a place in the classroom if used properly by the teacher.  Used in conjunction with other teaching strategies, behaviorism can be extremely helpful.

Resources

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Program Number 4: Behaviorist Learning Theory [Webcast]. Baltimore: Author.

Lever-Duffy, J., & McDonald, J. (2008). Teaching and learning with technology (3rd ed. pp. 2–35). Boston: Pearson Education.

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