Behaviorism in Practice

         In an effort to keep abreast of educational theory and technology, I am continuing work on my Graduate Certificate in Integrating Technology in the Classroom at Walden University.  I am currently enrolled in EDUC 6711:  Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology.

It is amazing to me how learning theory has evolved over the years and has been integrated with educational technology.  I took my first education classes in 1983 and was so busy with the business of teaching those first years that I did not really synthesize learning theory in a way that informed my teaching practice at a satisfactory level.  However, getting my Masters in Literacy Education reignited my interest in current research and how it can be used to improve teaching, and the journey continues with my technology classes at Walden. 

In class this week, our reading assignments allowed us to revisit the behaviorist learning theory.  With all of the strides we have made in educational practice, why would we even consider using behaviorism theory in our classrooms?  Certainly, behaviorism has its uses in terms of behavior and classroom management practices, however, one might think that as far as classroom teaching is concerned there is no place for old, outdated ideas like operant conditioning.  To my surprise and delight, I discovered that behaviorism is alive and well in today’s classrooms and is being used to motivate and reward student effort in the form of tracking data and progress. 

One of the strategies we learned about this week looks at the relationship between effort and achievement.  Students must have a sense of self-efficacy if they are going to make an effort to engage in a task and believe it is possible.  According to Marzano, Pickering & Heflebower (2011) students can develop a sense of self-efficacy through tracking and studying progress which would include tracking achievement, setting personal academic goals, and examining effort and preparation.  That’s where motivation and behaviorist theory comes in; Skinner’s behaviorist theory of operant conditioning has manifested itself in the form of reinforcing effort using technology (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p. 155-164).  Spreadsheet software and data collection tools are used by students to track the effort they make on studying and assignment completion and then compare that data to the scores they receive; the results give immediate feedback and show students that there is a direct correlation between the amount of effort they put toward studying and the grades they can achieve .  If students can see that making an effort will pay off such as being successful, getting better grades on a project, or receiving positive reinforcement from a teacher or parent, then they are more likely to make an effort in their classes (McREL as cited in Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p. 155).  That reinforcement, or payoff, along with immediate feedback from using technology to track the effects of their behavior and the grades resulting from that effort, will serve as motivation.  Hartley believes that “reinforcement is the cardinal motivator” (as cited in Smith, 1999).   When I read how this strategy was used by combining data from surveying peer groups and sharing that information with incoming freshman as a tool for motivation to do well in school, my mind was reeling with ideas on how I could use this same strategy to help with freshman transition in my high school.  Forty percent of our freshmen have failing grades during the first trimester.  We already have access to Survey Monkey and now I have access to information on how to go about asking the right questions and gathering data with a purpose in mind.  I am taking this idea to the next Student Achievement Leadership Team and am very excited by the prospect of trying this.

One behaviorist strategy that I have used that involves technology with students and promotes self-efficacy is to instruct students on how to use the readability statistics in Microsoft Word when writing a paper for their classes.  This strategy is discussed in Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski (2007, p. 190).  This is an excellent motivational tool for students to use to improve their writing because they can get immediate feedback on what they might need to do to improve, particularly if they are writing far below their grade level.  In fact, one of the members of my cohort did a similar project for her Master’s thesis in Literacy Education.  This chapter has a plethora of links and resources that support using technology to help students with the rote rehearsal of concepts they need for success in math, science and language arts as well as resources for students to use for collaborative projects which would help students make deeper connections to what they are learning (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p. 192-201).  Behaviorist theory supports the use of technology with students as they practice, review and apply learning because it has several key principles to reinforcing learning:  students are learning by doing, practicing frequently through repetition, and receiving immediate feedback using programmed instruction (Hartley, 1998 as cited in Smith, 1999).  With all of the strides we have made in education, of course we should use behaviorism in our classroom.

One of my favorite blogs is http://www.freetech4teachers.com/, it has won several awards including “Best Resource Sharing Blog”.  It is written by Richard Byrne, who is a teacher, writer and consultant and is passionate about using technology to engage students and help them achieve.  If you would like to learn more about how to engage students in the classroom using motivational strategies, I recommend that you check out www.marzanoresearch.com/, it has a variety of free resources for teachers as well as a considerable amount of research to peruse.

So, what are you waiting for?  Try out a little behaviorism in your classroom and reap the rewards.

Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D., & Heflebower, T. (2011). The highly engaged classroom. Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory.

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

Standridge, M.. (2002). Behaviorism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved 2012, May 8, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/