Learning Log Ch. 9

So the big "tada" for class was on Behaviorist Views of Learning.  I feel like the majority of focus was spent on positive and negative reinforcement.  We spent a lot of time defining positive and negative reinforcement along with punishment.  We also touched on classical and operant conditioning.

An analogy that was mentioned for positive and negative reinforcement was a hot air balloon.  I liked the comparison to hot air being positive reinforcement; something that is added which increases behavior.  And the comparison to the sand bags being negative reinforcement; something that is taken away which also increases behavior.  It is important for me to remember that the behavior that is increased isn't necessarily negative nor is it necessarily positive, It could be either. I also liked the idea that punishment is the taking away something wanted.  Classical conditioning is an involuntary response that results from the pairing of two stimuli, and operant conditioning is a voluntary response that is usually followed by a stimulus.

All of the things that we talked about are good to be aware of when teaching in my future classroom.  I think the thing that I will most focus on is the reinforcement.  I want my students to understand positive and negative reinforcement.  I want them to reinforce their own behaviors.  Hopefully by understanding what fuels student behaviors I will be better equipped to deal with my future students.