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Behaviorism in the Classroom

Prepared by April Deyo

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Three Productive ways to implement Behaviorism into the classroom

  • Use behaviorism to teach students what behaviors are or are not appropriate. Ex - Quiet time during a test. Give praise for following the rule.
  • Use operant conditioning to reward or punish students. Ex - Student did well on a test offer a token reward.
  • Use classical conditioning to have students behave certain ways in a classroom. Ex - Do a pop quiz from time to time to have students studying material.

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Three non- productive ways Behaviorism is used in the classroom

  • If the students views negative attention from the teacher as a reward instead of the punishment the undesired behavior may continue. Ex - student throws a piece of paper and is told to stop. They like the attention and continue to do that behavior.
  • If the student expects a reward for doing a task and one is not offered this may cause a negative behavior to begin. EX - token system stops being used and student withdraws from doing their assingments because they only wanted the reward.
  • If the student is use to being the class helper and that changes because someone else got a better grade they may completely withdraw from participation. EX - classhelper should not be assigned by good grades

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Ways I would apply behaviorism in my classroom

  • I would use this theory for classroom management purposes
  • I would use positive reinforcement to reward appropriate behavior, and punishment to demean inappropriate behavior
  • I would use negative reinforcement to help my students behave accordingly to my expectations

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  • Directive, teacher-centered instruction
    • Demonstrations, drills, lectures
  • Students can be taught best when focus is directly on the content
  • Breaking down skills and information to be learned is best when put into small units
  • Teachers would check student’s work regularly
    • Providing feedback as well as encouragement

Ways I would apply behaviorism in my classroom