Exploring theories of learning - Behaviourism

Last week Why do teachers need to know about theories of learning? Learning styles – uses and problems?

Outcomes You will be able to.. Define a behaviourist approach to learning Describe how behaviourism can be applied to your own teaching Evaluate behaviourism in terms of application to your own practice

It may be a mixture of approaches will be most appropriate. LEARNING THEORIES CONTINUUM BEHAVIOURISM COGNITIVISM HUMANISM Watson Thorndike Skinner Gagne Piaget Bruner Ausebel Dewey Neill Maslow Rogers Kolb Teacher controls Student controls Objective model Process model Easily measured Not easily and evaluated measured Teacher needs to use approach best suited to the students and organise accordingly. It may be a mixture of approaches will be most appropriate.

But for now; the Behaviourists… Do not look for the “underlying cause” of behaviour View the learner’s mind as a “blank slate” (Classical approach) View behaviour as the result of conditioning (when you learn 2 things are associated) View learning as a gaining of new behaviours

Pavlov’s Dog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=R4kDmkXwU2k

Watson’s Contribution First used the term “behaviourism” (1913) Applied the animal experiments of Pavlov to human behaviour Scientific explanation of behaviour (observable cause and effect) Behaviour explained in terms of Stimulus and Response (S R)

The Skinner Box

Watch the following……. Dog = student! Key phrases – look out for these on screen What does it tell you about the role of the teacher and the student? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=AML-JVLfYFE

Watson (1878 - 1958) “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.” Watson, John B (1930) Behaviorism. University of Chicago Press.

Reinforcement or Punishment Reinforcements: increase the probability of a behaviour being repeated. Reinforcements can be either positive (pleasant) or negative (removal of unpleasant) Punishments: decrease the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated. Punishments are unpleasant consequences. Note pleasant and unpleasant consequences are subjective http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4muo6jXzLX8

Neo-behaviourism Logical learning sequence A bit more human in their approach – thought that the human mind selective NOT just a response. Learning must be driven by goals and targets, so need Logical learning sequence Opportunities to apply learning Highly structured learning with planned rewards and feedback for reinforcement Cagne – start with lower order and move to higher order

Behaviourist Learning 1850’s onwards - overview Originated in research into animal behaviour Emphasis on demonstrable and measurable learning outcomes Gives clear focus and direction to lesson planning Mainly relates to learning of skills Pavlov, Thorndike, Watson

Behaviourism – some key concepts Learning by association / reinforcement Conditioning Shaping behaviour – manipulative? Stimulus and response Habit forming Can be controlled by external environment – by the teacher The more frequent and repeated the response the better the learning

What does it mean for my teaching? Practice should take the form of question (stimulus) - answer (response) which expose the student to the subject in gradual steps Require that the learner make a response for every step and receive immediate feedback Try to arrange the difficulty of the questions so the response is always correct and hence a positive reinforcement Ensure that good performance in the lesson is paired with ‘reinforcers’ such as verbal praise, prizes and good grades.

Give feedback frequently and quickly, especially when the learning is new. Supply rewards less often later List what you want them to learn at the start of a session Arrange materials in steps Negotiate completion times for work and attach a reward to it Job of the teacher is to reinforce the ‘correct’ response while discouraging the ‘wrong’ response (R and W)

Pavlov’s brickwork student (a poor example! Before conditioning - “what do I do with these bricks?” After Conditioning - “Nice wall!” How might these students have been ‘conditioned?’

Power Teach http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBeWEgvGm2Y

Some criticisms of behaviourism Does not account for…. free will and internal influences such as moods, thoughts, and feelings other types of learning, especially learning that occurs without the use of reinforcements or punishments adapting behaviour when new information is introduced, even if a previous behaviour pattern has been established through reinforcement.

What happens when they don’t get rewarded? Can you reduce complex human behaviour to such a simple analysis? Your Criticisms? Another view http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=R-Ez5YXezxE

Influence: Huge influence upon the development of curriculum in the UK and elsewhere Led directly to the development of the outcome/product models of curriculum Developing measurable learning outcomes a direct result of this approach Vocational courses in particular but education in general Appeals to government, managers, regulatory bodies Gets rid of vagueness

What about your own life experiences Do you have any strong stimulus > response stimuli?

What to do with all of this in your essay Describe the main characteristics of behaviourism and how it was developed – make this to the point (I don’t want hundreds of words on it) How do you use this approach in your teaching? Give precise examples Why is it appropriate for your subject specialist area?

Why do you use this approach What are the issues/problems with the approach What (if anything) will you do differently as a result of what you have learnt on the module?

Your re-cap And your definition is………………….? “The term behaviourism refers to the school of psychology founded by John B. Watson based on the belief that behaviours can be measured, trained, and changed” (Kendra, C. 2013)

Someone else’s recap http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=CB_T-vPzQKk

In class activities

So it’s all about conditioning or changing a students behaviour by providing stimuli Read the explanations of these key elements to Operant Conditioning: Operant conditioning Reinforcement Punishment Shaping Stimulus control NOW take one each and explain it to the rest your group – NO help from me

Activity Think about your own teaching and learning explain to your group what you do to condition your learners/get the ‘right’ response from them (no electric shocks allowed) – use specialist terminology from the handout e.g. how do you start a class, how do you get attention, how do you get them to work in groups or on a task?

Try this activity Do you want maths or English?

Activity in your team If you don’t do it I’ll make you stand in the corner Work in your team to complete the activity sheet to complete the first 3 columns on the activity sheet