Big Idea: A teacher introduces a certain subject to their
students. Once children have some background information on the topic, it’s up
to the student to continue to explore the subject and gain more knowledge. Once
they become more knowledgeable, the student participates in some type of
activity that enhances that knowledge. They then study all the information they
have been introduced to and are tested on it.
After they are tested, the student will receive a good grade for all the
work they have put in. The teacher will praise the student for receiving such a
good grade. The student will then want to continue the process in order to
continue to receive good grades.
Activity/Example: The teacher wants her students to learn
about chemicals. She creates a PowerPoint and teachers her students the main
points they will need to know about chemicals. The students will then want to
explore this subject area and find out more about the topic. Once they know
about chemicals, they will participate in a science lab, experimenting with
different chemicals and seeing different reactions. What they learn in the lab
enhances their previous knowledge about chemicals. Next, the students need to
study for their test. After they take the test, they receive an A and their
teacher praises them for doing such a fantastic job. The student likes the
feeling of feeling smart and having their teacher be proud of them, so they
repeat the process for the next topic they’re going to learn.
Reflection: Originally, my model was entirely based on hands
on activities. However, after reading several of the readings and many
comments, I have decided although hands on activities are very important, they
are not actually doing the teaching. Hands
on activities are there in order to enhance the learning process. The teacher
first has to introduce the topic and teach them the background material before
the students can participate in any hands on activities. This is why I added
the studying picture to the equation. It is important to repeatedly review the
information in order to learn. After reading Module 9, I decided to add the
pictures of a student receiving a good grade and a teacher cheering. In Module
9, I learned about operating condition. Operating conditioning is a theory that
says that behaviors associated with good consequences are more likely to occur
again in the future. I believe this to
be very true. If students are praised for something good that they have done,
they will much likely do it again in order to receive that praise again.
I think that you said some good things in this post. I think that it is a good idea for the teacher to praise the students for the good things that they are doing in the class. I do not think, however, that it has to be only applied to giving a good grade on the exam. I think that operant conditioning can be applied to all parts of your activity, even during the PowerPoint. The teacher could praise the students who are taking good notes, giving them a reinforcement that they are doing the right thing, and then that is also a good reminder to others to make sure they are taking good notes. You could also use operant conditioning during the lab, letting them know that they are on the right track and that they are putting in good effort. I believe that it is important to stress that the students put in good effort more so than getting a good grade, because that way students know that they will be rewarded based on effort more and so even if an assignment is easy to them, they still know they should make an effort on the assignment.
ReplyDelete-Sarah Isaacson