Week 4 - Module 5 - Theories of Learning: Behaviorism
According to Skinner (1954), “Any one who visits the lower grades of the average school today will observe that a change has been made, not from aversive to positive control, but from one form of aversive stimulation to another” (p.90). Nowadays, there are still parents and educators concerned about this type of approach in some educational systems. However, it seems that more schools are implementing new systems where formative assessment does not have a bad consequence on the students’ grades. In my current workplace, when students submit a formative assignment, they receive full credit just by submitting the assignment (positive reinforcement). They do not get penalized even if they make mistakes. The majority of the students take those assignments very seriously because they are preparing themselves for summative assignments that will grade their performance.
Behaviorism has been present in different instructional approaches even when some theorists do not want to accept that. As discussed by Foshay (2001), “it’s quite possible to see many, if not all, behaviorist principles lurking inside many cognitive and constructivist theories” (p.1). A great example of that is the one mentioned by Mayer (2004), “a constructivist theory of learning in which the learner is cognitively active translates into a constructivist theory of teaching in which the learner is behaviorally active” (p.14-15). In addition, Dr. Mayer mentioned in his synchronous conference that constructivism without guided activities cannot be seen as an instructional theory and it should be taken as a learning theory.
As an educator, I see behaviorism being part of the daily learning process. After teaching for 4 years at a college-preparatory school, I have understood that students need a lot of reinforcement as part of their school life. They take positive and negative reinforcement very seriously and this situation could affect their performance and motivation in class. Finally, I think that educators need to continue paying attention to behaviorism and the types of reinforcement they give to students to create a more engaging positive environment that promotes the learning process.
Skinner, B.F. (1954). The science of learning and the art of teaching. Harvard Educational Review 24:1: 86-97.
Foshay, R (July 2001). Is Behaviorism dead? Should HPT care? ISPI News & Notes, 1-2.
Mayer, R. E. (2004). Should there be a three-strikes rule against pure discovery learning? American Psychologist, 59(1), 14-19.
Your post was thought provoking!
ReplyDeleteI never considered how human psychological development stages plays into the behaviorism learning theory until I read your post. What I learned from this is that students who are in the early development stages may benefit more from teachers who focus on behaviorism more so than adult learners who may not benefit from reinforcement based on their experiences. When I think about the three theories (behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism), I think of how adults later on in life may benefit more from opportunities that promote a cognitive and/or constructive approach.