Behavorism Has a Place in Our Classrooms

         Imagine a classroom full of bright-eyed students sitting quietly, facing forward, listening to every word you have to say.  Everyone in the classroom is focused on you, digesting each tidbit of information that you present.  When you give the class their homework, they take out their notebooks and write down the assignment and take notes on the directions.  Then silently they take out their books and begin working.  Only in our dreams!  We have a few students like this, but we also have many who are not.  This is where behaviorism comes into play. Behaviorism is based on stimulus and response, which results in rewards and punishment.

Two well-known behaviorists were John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner.  They believed that behavior, or learning, was the result of stimulus causing reactions Standridge, M. (2010).  Further, they believed that by using rewards and punishment, one could shape behavior and learning.  According to Pitler, Hubbell, and Kuhn (2012), effort is a very important factor in achievement.  In order for students to understand that effort impacts learning, we must use the strategy of reinforcing effort.  I find that lack of effort by my students is the single biggest issue I face in my classroom. I have very intelligent students that perform below their ability.  Yet, I have other students that are high achievers even though they are lower functioning students.  I believe it is all about effort. Pitler, et al. (2012) believe that students can be learn how effort impacts learning.  A good example of teaching effort is in athletics.  I coach shot put and discus.  Often I see my athletes going through the motions.  I use technology to teach the impact of effort on the outcome of their throws.  The technology I use is a camera and a video app.  I video tape students with my iPad or iPhone and replay the video, pointing out the effort of my athletes when they throw.  After showing the replay, I ask my athletes to now go into the ring and throw with more effort.  We then compare the distances of both throws.  Nine out of ten times the second throw is quite a bit longer.  In the classroom, I use responders.  I find that students put forth more effort because they are motivated by the technology and instant feedback. Often I will incorporate a PowerPoint Jeopardy game with the responders and offer extra credit for the winning team.  This is extremely motivating and effort increases.  This is consistent with the behavorist’s belief that learning must be active and positive rewards motivate students (Smith, K. 1999).a

I believe in the power of rewards and consequences.  In basketball I keep track of loose ball recoveries.  I started doing this because I found that my players were not very aggressive and lacked effort.  So I started tallying loose ball recoveries and charting them by player in Excel.  After each game I would show my team the chart.  Soon the players were showing up at my door in the morning asking to see the chart.  I noticed that within three games the totals for loose ball recoveries doubled.  After six games they doubled again.  Each game we set goals. By the end of the season loose ball recoveries correlated with wins.  The team improved their win total by four games over the previous season.  The team attributed it to the loose ball chart.

In my classroom, I have an activity called Tour de Read.  I love cycling so I wanted to incorporate my love for reading and cycling into an activity.  I created a montage of outdoor scenery photos from the Internet and hanged them around my room.  I placed mile markers every ten feet.  Every student went to the Internet and printed a picture of a bike they wanted to ride.  Some chose mountain bike, others chose road bike, and some even chose unicycles.  Each night students read and log their reading times.  On Friday we tally the minutes and move our bikes.  I give a yellow paper jersey for overall leader, green jersey for most minutes read for the week, and a pink polka dotted jersey for most minutes read in a day.  Then those students get their pictures take on a podium in one of my biking jerseys while I played Queen’s Bicycle song.  The picture then are put on the wall in the hall and on my webpage.  The winners also receive a small prize and certificate.  This is highly motivating to most of the children.  It rewards reading outside of the classroom. 

One of the behaviorist’s theories is that for rewards and punishments to be successful, they must be delivered in a timely fashion  (Smith, K. 1999).  Online interactive games and simulations accomplish this feat by providing instant feedback.  Coolmath-Games has a plethora of interactive math games that reinforce skills.  There is repetition and instant feedback. Another good site for interactive games is Interactive Sites for Education.  It covers all areas of the curriculum. Both Coolmath and Interactive Sites for Education can be done at home or on an interactive whiteboard at school. 

Homework for a purpose is a solid practice and is supported by behaviorist.  According to Smith (1999),  behaviorists believe that in order to learn, one must have frequent practice.  Classroom time is limited and there is often very little time to practice the skills that were learned in class.  Therefore, homework is a valuable tool.  One initiative in my school is the flipped classroom.  Teachers record lectures, instruction, or demonstrations and post them to the Internet.  Students go home and watch the video for homework.  They come back to the classroom the next day with time to practice what they learned and ask questions if needed.  The Flipped Learning Network (2014) defines it as “school work at home and homework at school.”  Another use of technology that supports learning through homework, which is highly motivating is BrainPop.  It uses short video segments, which Dr. Orey states is an important aspect of behaviorism.  After each clip, there is a short quiz, which provides instant feedback.  The topics are varied and motivating

Unfortunately, children in our classes and activities are not always motivated, or give us their best effort, or even behave appropriately.  Behaviorism gives us tools to manage behavior and learning. The environment we provide for our students impacts their learning.  Sometimes we must use rewards and punishment to ensure that our students are putting forth their best efforts and are behaving in an appropriate manner.  Today I had a track meet.  The bus was late.  When it finally arrived, the boys were pushing and shoving to get on the bus.  I shouted up to the boys and asked them to stop. There was no change in behavior.  Then I told them that if anyone pushed or shoved again, they would stay back and not participate in the meet.  The undesired behavior ceased immediately.  The threat of consequence, not participating in the meet, motivated students to stop the inappropriate behavior.  I don’t believe rewards and consequences works for all students, but I do believe that it works for most.

Resources

Flipped Learning Network / Homepage. (2014, May 12). Retrieved May 14, 2014, from http://flippedlearning.org/FLN

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program four: Behaviorist learning theory [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

 Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., & Kuhn, M. (2012). Using technology with classroom instruction that works (2^nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Smith, K. (1999). The behaviourist orientation to learning. In The encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved from http://infed.org/mobi/the-behaviourist-orientation-to-learning/

Standridge, M. (2010). Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching, and Technology. Behaviorism. Retrieved from http://www.etzacorp.co.za/akademia/Biblioteek/Emerging%20Perspectives%20on%20Learning,%20Teaching,%20and%20Technology.pdf