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Behaviorism in Practice

The book, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, made two “generalizations.”
1. “Not all students realize the importance of believing in effort.
2. Students can learn to operate from a belief that effort pays off even if they do not initially have this belief” (Pitler, 2007).
Pitler continued by giving two examples of teachers who used spreadsheets for students to track and evaluate their own effort in relation to their grades. The teachers incorporated spreadsheet skills and graphing/charting with their regular math lessons. This use of technology showed the students with graphic representations how their effort was directly related to their grade (Pitler, 2007). The students recognized the correlation between their behavior, putting forth effort, and the desired response, a good grade. This is a practical application of behaviorism.

Another instructional strategy mentioned in the book suggested using word processing software tools to research, not just write papers. It also mentioned multimedia homework as “an opportunity to deepen understanding and gain proficiency. Practicing with multimedia allows students to shape the experience to their individual learning style and increase their level of understanding to mastery” (Pitler, 2007). In my classroom, students love to make multimedia presentations and discuss them. We are currently researching a “dream vacation project.” My students must research their favorite vacation destination and create an electronic presentation or a brochure to convince the rest of the class to go on their vacation. This has been a favorite project for both my students and me. It reviews all their computer skills and keeps them interested in the material, just as the textbook stated.

I am looking forward to reading more of the interesting ideas presented in this book.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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Comments

  1. Susanna RobertsonMay 16, 2009 at 12:04 PM

    My students also love creating multimedia projects. However, they spend too much time on the visual aspect than on the content. For example, when students create a Word document as part of a project, some will spend 10 minutes or more 'playing' with the title. PowerPoint presentations also provide opportunities for the students to experiment with special effects. Learning the "tricks of the trade" for these applications is best suited for a technology class, rather than Math or ELA classes. How do other subject teachers keep students focused on the content, rather than on the visual design?

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  2. J. EllefsenMay 17, 2009 at 9:44 AM

    I love your idea for a research project; it is fun and interesting at the same time. Do you place restrictions on the presentation of the project? For example: limiting the amount of pictures the student uses and placing a minimum on the amount of writing the student is to incorporate into the brochure? My students are visual learners and their brochure's would be reflective of that. I would be forced to limit the amount of visuals they place on their brochure because it would probably consist of just pictures. Thank you for the idea, I am going to have my students create a brochure about visiting Ancient Egypt -- the topic we are studying right now. Since they are not able to access the internet, they can also use the research tool in Microsoft Word to expand on their knowledge.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Author Donna WaylesMay 17, 2009 at 11:14 AM

    My brochure has several required elements:
    1. Map of the area
    2. short paragraph of the history of the area
    3. weather/temperatures to expect
    4. things to do at their area
    5. costs of visiting-lodging, food, etc.
    Then they are allowed to put pictures to add interest to their project. I only allow them one sheet of paper for the brochure, so they have to prioritize their information to make it all fit.

    ReplyDelete
  4. J. EllefsenMay 17, 2009 at 8:52 PM

    Thank you Donna for the specifics... I really appreciate it! I will let you know how they turn out!

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownJune 1, 2009 at 12:33 AM

    Donna,
    What a great way to end the year! The Math teacher on my team does a similar activity, however, she has them work on the prices of the plane tickets to get to their destinations and back, also how much their vacations will cost for the amount of time they stay, etc. She has them put together a spread sheet and budget using real world costs. They search on-line for prices and have a taste of what it will cost to actually take one of these dream vacations.

    Perhaps you and your Math teacher could do a cross-curricular activity to end the year together??

    Thanks for sharing your project and I agree that this new textbook is going to be a fantastic guide for the rest of this class and also next year in our classrooms.

    ReplyDelete

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