Week 2: Brian's Class: What is learning and how can a teacher be effective?
In addition to the definitions I used last week, I'd like to add more based on this week's readings. Learning can be learned responses based on positive or negative reinforcements. Since our beginning, we are conditioned in our learning. Whether it is seen as stimulus and then response as Pavlov believed, or response and then stimulus as Skinner contended, repetition and practice serve as great educational tools.
This week's reading was also a good reminder that positive reinforcement is a powerful motivator but so is negative reinforcement. What needs to be considered, though, is what the end result is. If a teacher is trying to effectively build confident learners, negative reinforcement will not be very effective. If the teacher is trying to instill a complete stop to a behavior (ie: touching a hot oven), negative reinforcement may be necessary. Skinner stated that negative reinforcement could be very harmful and was only appropriate when an individual could cause harm to themselves or others. It makes me think about the studies that show it takes a significant amount of positive reinforcement to compenstate for just one negative experience. I want to be a positive force in a child's education where they feel safe, loved, and comfortable learning new things. The rewards may vary (praise, small trinkets, books, stickers, grades, a high five, etc) but the intent should be similar. I need my students to know that I care and to be aware that they can learn! I think that is an effective teacher.
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Submitted by Jullie Payne on Wed, 09/02/2009 - 8:19pm
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Any opinions expressed here, except as specifically noted, are those of the individual authors or commenters and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences, the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services, or Utah State University.
4-1 positive/negative
I like what you wrote about the positives and negatives. This year at our school we have to give 4 positive comments before we give one negative comment. Sooooo, if you see something bad happening, you had better get your positive comments in quickly so you can correct the other behavior! We also have high 5's at our school.
I don't think I could have
I don't think I could have summed the readings up in a better way myself. I think what you have said is very valid that we should try to be as positive as possible, and on the rare and important cases use the negative reinforcement. But with that negative reinforcement after the 'danger' has passed, explain why it was so important to get the message across. It helps take some of the sting out of the rebuke. An example, a bad one but still, If someone is about to walk in front of a car they don't see and you tackle them to the ground, they may be hurt physically and mad but when they understand the reason- a scrape is not such a big deal. (If that makes sense.)
The dreaded negative
First off, I completely agree with the argument. Postive reinforcement is a wonderful tool that produces miles of good for the student your reinforcing. I also agree that negative reinforcement need be minimized and used only when absolutely necessary, and the student should be recognized for something else positive ASAP. With that, however, I look at my lesson on rules and regulations in the class. Most of the rules I outline are connected to negative reinforcements, i.e. punishments that will result from the breaking of these rules. In this way, the negative reinforcement is generalized, not targeted at specific individuals, and consequently is usually well received. I just think that negative reinforcement is productive when used in necessary and appropriate contexts.