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Praise, I believe, is a powerful reinforcer and it’s evident everywhere, from people wanting to get approval from someone in place of authority (like children with their parents) to dogs being excited because their owner was happy with them. In the classroom setting, I think praise from the teacher is a very strong reinforcer. The fact that the teacher, who typically has so many students to pay attention to, saw your work and praised it could be seen as a validation of your work, of your sense of self. This past week, when Ms. Hebs was helping a student solve a problem, she walked them through the problem by asking questions like “What do we do now?” and “How do we get the x by itself”. When the student solved the problem, she simply stated “beautiful” and then got up and went back to walking around the classroom. Even though this interaction was very short, I think that this moment could have impacted a student’s feelings about the subject at hand. In terms of behaviorism, the students received a positive reinforcement; by saying “beautiful”, Ms. Hebs was adding validation and/or praise to the situation.
Another reinforcer that is present in the classroom is good grades. Personally, I think this is the most important reinforcer for 8th graders (and really any high schooler). In order to make the prospects of your future good, you need to have good grades which are seen as proof of your intelligence and cognitive ability (to reach full cognitive ability, one has to get to the formal operational stage according to Piaget). In terms of behaviorism, good grades would be a form of pleasant stimulus that was added to the situation; vice versa, not-so-good grades would be a form of punishment (punishment #1 to be exact). With good grades, a student’s future is open to a lot more opportunities.
Looking through my notes, I was trying to find a kind of cognitive approach to learning when I read my note: “taking digital notes on a school-given iPad”. When Ms. Hebs teaches a new topic, she has a PowerPoint that she makes her students download on their iPad. She would then go through the PowerPoint, modeling how to solve certain equations and telling her students “remember to watch your signs!” When I saw this for the first time, I remember that I was surprised that she was letting them use a device that could distract them. It made me reflect back on the times where I wrote down my notes in notebooks which I think helped me remember the material better. During work time, students would use their iPads to work on not only fractions (because no one likes fractions), but what I would consider “simple” math (like 10 / -2 or 3 * 7). I know that everyone cannot solve math problems in their head mentally (which could be seen as a benefit of attaining a formal operational mind), but does this easy access to electronics help the students at all develop their cognitive skills? Ms. Hebs doesn’t let her students use their iPads on tests, but she has repeatedly told them that they should get a calculator that can do fractions for them. I believe that by having a device at hand that would solve fractions for them, the students’ schemata concerning fractions would not develop until much later (maybe in trigonometry).
This past week, there were so many observations that I made! Towards the end of the 2nd hour, I saw a way a student could express themselves and that was through the pins on their backpack (I wasn’t able to write this down in my blog post for Week 5 because I wasn’t looking at their backpacks). Another observation that I witnessed was that sometimes students cover their work with their hands. Is it because they don’t want help with their work? Are they afraid of getting help? Or is it just because their arm was situated that way when I passed by? Moving on, I did see Vygotsky at work. Seated together, a student helped her classmate with the process of solving a problem. Even though he said “you tell me the answer”, he was still following along with her which I thought was great.
On Friday, students, teachers, and staff dressed up in Halloween costumes (if they wanted to). Ms. Hebs chose not to dress up but some students in her class did. One student had on a pirate costume that she looked awesome in. A few others dressed up as “frat boys” which I thought was hilarious. Mr. O’Keefe popped into the class for a bit and told Ms. Hebs that some of her students contacted him about wearing a hat to class for their “frat boy” outfit. Feeling hyped, the students dressed up as “frat boys” proclaimed it to the class. Mr. O’Keefe corrected them by stating “no, fraternity boys”. They went back and forth on that which was funny. Later in class, the “frat boys” asked me if Carleton had any fraternities (which I denied) and then asked me what a fraternity was!
And I know this is a random tangent, but why aren’t the jokes on math worksheets funny? At least make the reward of finding out the answer an actual reward!
Frat Boys Halloween Edition
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Hi Chisom! Your blog post was entertaining to read, especially the observations of Halloween and the “frat boys.” I think your point about praise and grades is very important for behaviorism! It’s true that grades act as reinforcers for many students, but I don’t think all. It seems like parents’ reactions to grades are a bigger reinforcer for some kids than others. Perhaps a student isn’t internally motivated to get good grades for the sake of the grade/learning, but they want to get good grades so that their parents will be proud or not punish them. In addition to grades leading to praise/punishment, getting good grades can also lead to scholarships or getting into a certain school. As you mentioned, students want to have good prospects for the future, so they may work hard in class to get good grades and as a result, they get into a good school or win a scholarship. Grades are very tied into all sorts of reinforcers! The grade itself doesn’t really matter, it seems, but the result that comes from it, whether that be a parent or teacher’s praise or something larger. Perhaps the reason not everyone wants to be a straight-A student is that they have tied different meanings to grades and so the outcomes of grades aren’t as rewarding/punishing as they are for their fellow students.
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