The basic premise of behaviorism revolves around reinforcements and punishments. These days we condition our students, but not like they have been conditioned in the past. Today we reinforce effort and use homework and other practice to help our students to be successful students.
As outlined in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, the general belief is that students do not realize how important their effort is in their success but they are able to learn that the effort they put in will pay off (p. 155). Therefore, it is the responsibility of the teachers to teach the importance of effort and one way to do that is by keeping track of their effort. Teaching effort is not like teaching how to punctuate sentences. You cannot force a student to study every night or to do their homework at home instead of on the bus. They have to be shown what the benefit would be. One of the suggestions made by Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) is to create a spreadsheet where the students record their effort for each week of a unit. This is a great way for students to see the correlation between what they are doing inside and outside of school compared to the grade they receive in that area. It does not take students long to see that there is usually a positive correlation between putting in time and effort and receiving better grades. Along these same lines, I liked the idea of creating a survey on Survey Monkey. This is something that I would like to do at the end of a unit and then show the results to students the following year. For example, after teaching an Algebra unit, I could have students rank the difficulty level of specific concepts. When I show this to students the following year, they can see what former 8th graders thought and would then know where they might have to increase their effort so they don’t fall behind.
The other aspect of the behaviorist learning theory is repetitive practice in the form of homework or other tutorials. Homework is dreaded by all students because it is boring, monotonous, and time-consuming (if they put in the effort). Teachers know why they give homework, but do the students understand it? Homework, and any other activity that involves independent practice, must allow for feedback and a time to learn from mistakes. The math homework I give my students consists of 3 or 4 problems about each concept we talked about that day. I explain that I want them to go home and try it on their own after being in school to see if they remembered it. I always encourage them to put something on their paper and try something. The next day homework is checked only for completion. The reason for this is that not everyone will understand something right away and the purpose is to see if the students can complete the task on their own. We go over the homework in class and this is where I clear up confusions.
Technology and internet resources are becoming more and more helpful for providing activities that students can do on their own to practice a concept. These tutorial programs, like homework, provide the instant feedback. There are also a plethora of websites that are instructional and give students another explanation of a topic that they might not have heard in class or seen in the textbook. Technology is also good for expanding on the tutorials and providing more enrichment-type activities. One example that I really liked (because I’m a math teacher) was the use of Excel to create a spreadsheet and graphs representing equations (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 191). This is a great way for students to see how the numbers in an equation change how the graph looks without having to hand-draw each graph.
There is certainly a place for behaviorist theory in today's classroom. It is not the same as what we may have experienced as students, but it is still there in a different form. I think the biggest thing we have to remember though is to use these strategies in moderation.
Because I am curious I will pose these questions: What are your thoughts on grading homework? Would you ever use the score of an online tutorial as a grade?
References:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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I really like your idea of creating an online survey and showing the results to the following year’s class. It would be interesting to have them take the same survey and compare the findings from the two years.
ReplyDeleteWhether or not to grade homework is an interesting question. I teach sixth grade at an elementary school, and I do grade science and social studies homework. We do not have enough time in class to do the work, so assignments are sent home for completion and given a grade. I do not grade any other homework. I, too, check to see if it has been completed, and then we go over it. If it is not reviewed, what was the purpose of assigning it? I want to make sure that my students understand what was to be done and that it was done correctly. As for grading a tutorial, it would depend on the subject. I do not have strong feelings either way.
Hi Emma,
ReplyDeleteI agree that effort is something that needs to be taught to the students. It is a process that should begin at the start of the school year. Like you said, it isn't an easy concept for students to understand but hopefully when they see the benefits they will continue to put more effort into their work.
I like how you just check homework for completion. I do not feel that homework should be grading. The purpose of homework is for students to practice the skills that was taught to them earlier that day. Homework allows students to try out these new concepts without fear of getting a bad grade. If they didn't understand a concept the student can then ask the teacher for more clarification. Perhaps the lesson can then be re-taught.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI am not sure that a person can teach effort. Much of this comes from home and the attitudes about the importance of education. It also depends on content and how it is presented. Many of our students have family issues and that can affect student effort.
I do not give a grade on homework, but I do check to see if my students have attempted to complete it. If so, they get credit and this is recorded. To me, trying is the main goal for homework. I have given grades for completing tutorials, however I weigh these grades low.
I am with Mike on the effort subject. You stated that it is the teacher's job to teach the importance of effort and here I disagree. It is a parent's job to teach the importance of effort and a teacher's job to reinforce this valuable asset. There are many ways to do this, but without the initial lesson from the home, it is a difficult task to complete.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to homework, I do not grade it. I simply want to know that an attempt was made with as much effort as the student is capable of. Additionally, I have taken grades and used them for online tutorials. The students are aware they will be graded and it is up to them to perform in a way that they would be proud of.
I like your approach to homework. Three or four practice problems requires effort from the students, but it is not excessive. Often when students are given a long list of practice problems, the task seems so overwhelming that they never start it.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to your question, I do grade homework. However, it counts for a very insignificant portion of their overall grade. In the past, I did not grade homework and as a result, the students did not feel that it was important to complete, despite my best explanation of its significance. The grade associated with the homework is intended to provide additional motivation. I know that using grades as a punishment is not successful, but when I grade homework I experience a better completion percentage. I really believe that it is more important to provide specific feedback on ways to improve on the homework than it is to actually grade the homework.
Thanks for all your comments!
ReplyDeleteI like hearing all the points of view on homework. I am finding that my students appear to be completing homework but not necessarily putting in the effort to complete it well. Therefore I have been tossing around the idea of randomly grading homework assignments if I am getting the sense that students are not actually working hard.
Mike and Jamie, I do agree that the effort does ultimately come from the home. I find that the more involved parents have children that are more intrinsically motivated. The problem is that there are many children that do not get the support from home and parents to not stress effort. This is where the teachers have to step in and "teach" effort.
Again, thank you all for your input.
I am with everyone comments on the role of homework, however I differ on if it should be graded. I have found my students put more effort into knowing they are going to recieve a grade. I also believe that the feedback on their work is important. I don't weight the grade much in the marking at the end of the marking period, but I want students to expect a grade for thier effort.
ReplyDelete