Behaviorism Reflection
How is behaviorism applicable to the distance education environment? In the online classroom, sometimes I feel that I have not truly grasped what the assignments should look like - the high expectations of the professor. I worry that what I develop is not high quality. I love it when a professor puts an example of exemplary work up. It helps me know how high the bar can be raised and motivates me to minimally reach that goal. It also provides confidence that I can reach those expectation. It takes out the fear that I am not good enough. This is important to adult learning.
What concepts of behaviorism do I see as useful to distance education instructional design? Modeling is an important part of distance education from my point of view. As an active learner, I really appreciate when a professor gets involved in the discussion boards. They model for me how to connect with the others in the class. When they get involved, I really feel that sense of community that we are suppose to work for.
Hello Willie!
ReplyDeleteI smiled as I read your thoughts on behaviorism. Your example helps me understand it more so you have in essence modeled that to me. (smile) I also smiled because I feel the same way about my courses. It is difficult not seeing an instructor face-to-face to ask questions about an assignment. I also worry that my work will not be the right caliber or even the right assignment! I do enjoy seeing quality examples. This is also an example of modeling the assignment through another student. Yes, it is also true that when professors model discussion in the course, it helps improve the sense of community and an online classroom.
I agree that I had a different perception of behaviorism before reading your post! Therefore thank you for clarifying and simplifying. I understand completely what you mean about seeing examples and being able to use that as a guide to drive your completion of assignments. I think that is very important in distance education because the instructions are sometimes difficult to understand without a visual. I know that I am a visual learner and that gives me a great model to go by. I am the type of person that likes to have a cookbook with pictures so I can see how my food is suppose to turn out!
ReplyDeleteWinnie,
ReplyDeleteI guess behaviorism is such an old theory that I never thought of it in the terms you have described. I also really appreciate seeing examples of exemplary work. I believe feedback is crucial to learning. Both positive and negative feedback help to motivate students to reach the standard. In one course I had to do a project where I interviewed children. I thought the results of the project were insightful and I was disappointed when my instructor made no comments on the project. I received a 100, but that was not really what I wanted. I wanted some feedback. By the way, your post was so readable. You have a knack for writing!