During this week of graduate classes we were asked to read about the “Reinforcing Effort” and the “Homework and Practice” concepts in our textbook, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. In the section on reinforcing effort the authors discuss the concept of using technology to encourage students’ effort. During this chapter Mrs. Powell has the students keep track of their own effort and achievement as they work through the class. Mrs. Powell learns that “by looking at the chart, students can clearly see the relation between their effort and grades they earned on their tests” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). This concept works into the idea of behaviorism in the fact that students are able to see the relation with their efforts and the positive reinforcement of getting a good grade. The students are able to see that if they put more effort into their schoolwork they will have a better more positive outcome. Those students that did not do well on their tests are getting the negative reinforcement letting them know that they did not show the adequate amount of effort and have the grades to show for it.
In the second section homework and practice there is a focus on many ideas from using spreadsheets to multimedia and web resources to help students learn. I found the idea of using web resources with the students to be interesting and helpful. Many of the websites use “programmed instruction” from the behaviorist theory (Laureate, 2010). Through this type of instruction students are given problems; if they solve it correctly they are encouraged and strengthened in their knowledge. If the student were to answer them wrong the students would be told what they did wrong and how to fix it. This teaches the students how to fix the problems; it does not just simply tell them that they have done them wrong. The students are also reinforced if they did something right with leads them to keep trying harder and harder.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010d). Program #: Behaviorist learning theory with Michael Orey. [DVD]. In Walden University: Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore: Author.
Erinn,
ReplyDeleteThe web resources that are available to students these days are phenomenal. The immediate feedback that students receive saves so much time for students as well as the teacher. When students are doing paper and pencil homework and make a mistake, there is no way to check for understanding. Then class time has to be spent to "unlearn" the misunderstandings and "relearn" what was taught the day before - time we really can't afford to lose.