With our ever changing world we need to utilize technology in the classroom so that our student will be prepare for the working environment after graduation.
For students to be able to monitor their own level of success, academics and behavior must be enforced in the classroom. Student's don't always realize the importance of believing effort(Pilter, Hubbel, Huhn, & Malenoski,2007). A way to involve students in monitoring their efforts is to use rubrics for projects as well as for classroom assignments. Rubrics can be with very little effort by the teacher because of the many rubric programs available. An easy way to produce a rubric is by using a spreadsheet. Rubrics should be easy to follow and student friendly. This is an example of behaviorist learning theory that students want to have good behavior, that gives them the opportunity to see their progress and results. Therefore, they will know if they are doing poorly and why and they can see the positive effects of their work. They will see what they need to do to get the results they want.
Homework and practice are areas where behaviorism put into practice in learning. Homework should have a purpose and feedback should be timely. Immediate feedback serves as a reinforment to students as they practice a specific skill, thus changing the behavior and developing learning and understanding (Orey, 2001). Student showing effort and having homework to reinforce skills that are being taught are very important and all contribute to a child's success. Dr. Orey states "you want them to show they are learning something"(Laureate, Inc. 2008). Through the use of rubrics students know what is expected of them and by teachers using the collected data to assess the students performance, teachers are following the behaviorist learning theory.
References:
Laureate Education Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program four. Behaviorist Learning Theory[Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Orey, M.(Ed.) (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Pilter, H., Hubbel, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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Gayla,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. I agree with about having student monitor their progress through a spreadsheet. In this way, both the teacher and the student would be able to monitor the work done. Homework should be used as a reinforcement tool instead of busywork. I feel that they do need homework to extend the learning of the day. But they also need the feedback to know that they are grasping the skills.
Gayla,
ReplyDeleteMy students think everything they do in the classroom should be for a grade.If it is not for a grade they will not do it. It appears they can't see the scaffolding effect of learned skills have upon their learning, even though we tell and show them.
Educators often complain that that students do not take the responsibility of there learning. I think we have not done our job of truley showing the correlation between effort and achievement. We must be more diligent in modeling and instruction the effect effort has upon achievement.
I agree with you that feedback needs to be immediate. I think that is why behaviorist based computer programs, such as SuccessMaker, are so great. They provide the practice, instant feedback for the student, and detailed feedback for the teacher.
ReplyDeleteJoy,
ReplyDeleteI just made a comment to someone else about making the connection between effort and achievement. My comment was that by using a rubric along with a spreadsheet so that the students will be able to track their progress and see their accomplishments or area they need to improve would help make the connection. I agree that modeling is essential. I model what I expect from my students and then sometimes I have a student model for the classroom.
Marketta,
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard of successMaker, can you give me more details?
I think feedback is vital to students learning. If we do not provide immediate feedback, how are they supposed to how they performed and what they need to improve? I know some teachers who wait for days and even weeks before returning work to her students. I don't understand why, but I'm sure the students could improve their performance if they knew what to improve.
boon7,
ReplyDeleteI just learned a new way to use spreadsheets from class techie, A.K.A Brenda, from our class. She color codes them so it is easier to use.
I agree, students need homework as a reinforcement of the skills taught at school and feedback should be immediate.
Gayla,
ReplyDeleteSuccess Maker is a Pearson product which has programs for both Reading and Math. The students complete their first round of questions which gives them an initial placement (as they answer correctly the questions move up, when they begin to miss the questions stop getting harder until they are assigned a level). After the IPM (initial placement movement) is found the students begin working on skills for that level in 15 minute practice sessions. When they continually miss a skill, the program switches to remediation and alerts the teacher in the reports printed. If a child is mastering a skill then that skill moves into the next level. A child's IPM (after the first session when it is being determined) can change daily based on their performance. I get reports on how many questions they answered, how many times they clicked the mouse (to keep an eye on "Happy clickers"), and what skills they are struggling with (correlated to state standards). I love the reports. I use them to determine my center groups for each week. We do a Success Maker session every Tuesday, that night I look at which students need help on which skill. Students that are struggling at the same skill are put in a group with an activity on that skill. I will also pull my higher students who are not struggling and place them in a group on a skill they have mastered to lead that group.