Behaviorism Connections to Teaching and Learning

Week 2

Behaviorism and Connections to Teaching and Learning

The main idea of Behaviorism is to observe and analyze how instructors or teachers can control or manipulate the learner's environment to positively or negatively change behaviors and improve a learning strategy or an approach by using positive or negative reinforcements.

Some benefits of positive reinforcements in a learning environment

It encourages students to repeat desirable behaviors and achieve their goals.
It boosts students' self-esteem and confidence.
It fosters a positive and nurturing learning atmosphere.

Some benefits of negative reinforcements in a learning environment

It helps students avoid or escape from unpleasant or aversive situations.
It increases students' motivation and persistence.
It reduces students' anxiety and stress.

Teachers or instructors may use other strategies from a Behavioral perspective, such as:

Modeling (positive behaviors and classroom expectations)
Shaping (gradually reinforcing desired behaviors)
Cueing (asking questions with reminders, visual cues of expectations or behaviors)
Prompts (guiding students towards the correct response)
Direct Instruction (clear, explicit, and structured instructional time)

Teachers or instructors must explicitly set clear expectations for daily and yearly learning objectives. When students understand and accomplish these objectives, they experience a sense of accomplishment, a crucial aspect of the Behaviorism approach.

Principles of Behaviorism in the 21st Century

Principles of Behaviorism in the 21st-century classroom (from LinkedIn), teachers should:

Ensure the learners understand and have internalized the expected behaviors.
Split each action into smaller steps or chunks. Start with simple steps and gradually increase the complexity.
Allow the students to perform the steps and provide feedback to them.
Oversee, guide, model and facilitate the process until learners reach the learning goals.
Use a variety of reinforcements to maintain learners' performance and motivation (Skinner, 1968, cited in Brau, Fox, & Robinson, 2018)

Back to LDT100x

Sources and Citations

Bates, A. (2022c, August 18). Teaching in a Digital Age: Third Edition - General. Pressbooks. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev3m/

Tprestianni. (2023, August 17). Behaviorism in education: What is Behavioral learning Theory? National University. https://www.nu.edu/blog/behaviorism-in-education/#:~:text=Behaviorism%20can%20be%20applied%20in,promote%20a%20positive%20learning%20environment.

Foong, Y. (2023, April 13). Applying behaviourism in the 21st century classroom. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/applying-behaviourism-21st-century-classroom-yean-foong/

Behaviorism Connections to Teaching and Learning​

Behaviorism Connections to Teaching and Learning