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Behavior learning theories are still with us as educators today. The behavior learning theory is where a reinforcement and punishment technique is used to get the desired outcome. Two strategies that Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski established were reinforcing effort and homework and practice.
Reinforcing effort strategy discusses student’s attitudes and beliefs about learning. If a student has the attitude that they do not want to be in school than their work is going to show that they do not want to be there. If their attitude is more of a positive manner than their work is going to show that they care about what they are learning. As Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski suggest, “the instructional strategy of reinforcing effort enhances students’ understanding of the relationship between effort and achievement by addressing their attitudes and beliefs about learning” (2007, pg 155). Although the student needs to place some effort in their learning the teacher as well needs to make the learning …… As teachers we need to understand what the students interest are so that we can incorporate that into our lessons. With this the students will be more interested in the material being taught and instead of thinking they are learning they will be having fun!
The other strategy is homework and practice. Homework is a tool for not only practice for the students on the lesson that was taught but reinforcement for the teacher that what was taught was understood by the student. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski state, “As an extension of the classroom, homework provides opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of the content and to gain proficiency with their skills” (2007, pg 187). Students are able to practice what they were taught in the classroom at home to reinforce the skill. But with that the teacher needs to make a conscious effort to keep track of what they students did at home in case the student has seemed to misunderstand how to complete the task. “Because it is easy for errors to slip in when students are practicing, teachers should give feedback as quickly as possible” (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007).
There are many ways for students and teachers to keep track of homework and progress throughout the year. Technology is a great way to have students keep track of their homework and test progress. With a spreadsheet students can calculate their averages. Students could also use blogs or websites for ways of communicating homework issues or questions to the teacher and or other students about concerns with topics discussed in the classroom. This would allow the teacher to reinforce those students who look not only to her for help but to others in the classroom and also to those students willing to help others out.
Reference:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
The idea of students tracking their homework and or using blogs, websites and email to communicate is excellent. If homework is assigned, it should be commented upon(2007). What better way to do this then trough the use of technology.
ReplyDeleteI guess that hard part of getting students to put more effort into their work is the students attitude. Like you said, if the student has a good attitude they are more willing to put more effort into their work. Creating a cohesive and safe learning environment can help change students attitude toward school. You also suggest that we need to make sure that we design lessons with students interest in mind. They are much more motivated to do work when it holds there interest. Recently we were learning about coordinate grids in my 3rd grade math class. Instead of having points A, B, C, etc. on the grid I put pictures of characters from their favorite pleasure reading books. Little thing like this seem to motivate the students, they got a kick out of it!
ReplyDeleteMeghan I loved your idea about putting pictures of their favorite characters as points on a grid. This is something I would have never thought of!
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