I teach a Foundations of Algebra class that is made of students that were not successful the first time they took the course. I could relate to Pitler, Hubbell, & Kuhn (2012) when they talked about the relationship between effort and achievement. Dr. Orey (as cited in Laureate Education. 2015) states reinforcement is more powerful than punishment. The relationship between behaviorism, instructional strategies, and technology tools can impact student learning by reinforcing effort.
One approach that can be used in the classroom is having students keep a spreadsheet of their effort (Pitler, Hubbell, & Kuhn, 2012). Students can visually see that when their effort is high, their success will reflect that effort. Showing students a group’s data can be a “powerful way to convince students that effort is tied to achievement” (Pitler, Hubbell, & Kuhn, 2012, p. 60). Posting success stories can inspire students to have high effort and reward those that are being successful (Pitler, Hubbell, & Kuhn, 2012).
In my district, we use Canvas as our management system. I can quickly gather data for different tasks and quizzes to recognize students that are successful or are showing growth. Canvas allows me to verbal praise students so they can hear my voice and my enthusiasm. In the future, I can recognize students on a web page, wiki or the announcement section of Canvas. Pitler, Hubbell, & Kuhn (2012) suggest personalized certificates and badges for achievement. I would like to try gamification in my classroom, which would reward and “punish” students. Gamification “is presenting the learning material employing game design elements in an entertaining way to motivate and engage the audience throughout the learning process” (Keramida, 2015).
The ISTE Teacher Standard that would be addressed would be "design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments" (ISTE, 2008). The ISTE Student Standard would be “Knowledge Constructor -Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others (ISTE, 2016).
I applied my Twitter source to the information about gamification. Both my scholarly and popular sources support stimuli and consequences in the classroom. I chose Genius Hour and behaviorist learning theory would with this lesson. Recognition could be given to the students that put great effort into their presentations. The presentations could be placed on my website, the school website or the district website.
References
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2016). Standards for students. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/for-students-2016
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2008). Standards for teachers. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/standards-for-teachers
Keramida, M. (2015, May 28). Behaviorism in instructional design For
eLearning: When and how to use - eLearning industry. Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/behaviorism-in-instructional-design-for-elearning-when-and-how-to-use
Laureate Education (Producer). (2015). Behaviorist learning theory [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., & Kuhn, M. (2012a). Assigning homework and providing practice. In Using technology with classroom instruction that works (2nd ed., pp. 167-179). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., & Kuhn, M. (2012b). Reinforcing effort and providing recognition. In Using technology with classroom instruction that works (2nd ed., pp. 57-72). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.