Chap 9 & 10

A

Behaviorism is a “theoretical perspective, which focuses on how environmental stimuli bring about changes in people’s behavior.” Applying the behaviorist perspective to the mastery of my lesson objective would include focusing on the implementation or the Instrumental Conditioning Theory.  My classroom works well when structure is maintained and therefore students learn most effectively when they receive feedback on their behaviors.  I believe that both positive and negative reinforcers have their place in my classroom, though mostly positive reinforcers should be practiced to encourage productive behaviors. The reinforcers should vary between students and it is always important to find those most effective for each student.

The Social Cognitive Theory is “a perspective that can help us understand what and how people learn by observing others and how, in the process, they begin to take control of their own behavior.” Applying this perspective in my classroom to produce mastery of my lesson objectives would involve the use of both modeling and enhancing student self-efficacy through various avenues. Students observe my behavior and language usage and it provides them with a greater understanding of recently covered material used in the correct context. It is important for my students’ levels of self-efficacy to be high, in order to master and produce the target language in the most accurate way possible.  I work toward this enhancement through the use of incentives, praise, and the promotion of self-regulated learning.

B

My case study involves a class of high school seniors that are just becoming out of control.  From the behaviorist perspective, I find that Applied Behavior Analysis would be a good tool to use in this case to discourage their undesirable behaviors. I would recognize the current situation, as they are close to graduation at this time. I would identify both positive and negative reinforces that would promote change in the environment and explain the consequences to the students.  I would then provide explicit instruction as to the expected behaviors, and modify accordingly.  Self-regulation and self-efficacy might contribute to my intervention plan if I were to ask my students what would make the end of their high school experience more exciting, in terms of learning in my classroom.  By implementing some of their ideas, the environment can be transformed into an effective learning space.