According to our text, learning theory is define as an enduring change in behavior, or in the capacity to behave in a given fashion, which results from practice or other forms of experience (Schunk, 2016). I believe learning theory is so important because it has everything to do with how we, as individuals, learn, retain, gain, and absorb appropriate knowledge in order to be great learners. By skimming the pages of the text, I noticed the process. By seeing the word process in a few of the chapter headings, I know that learning doesn’t come 1. Naturally to everyone and 2. It will take time to achieve the goal of learning. Process is a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end. With that being said, I will take into consideration that this text as a lot of information (that may get overwhelming) that will help us teachers truly understand the learning processes and its theories.
My goal for this class is to have a better understanding on how the brain works and how it effects the learning process. I hope to learn about the different functions of the brain when it comes to retaining information. In order to become a great teacher, I believe we must fully understand that not all children learn the same and that some brains work differently from each other. The brain is absolutely fascinating and students processes and ability to learn has so much to do with how the students learn, retain, and gain knowledge.
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When I decided to go back to school, I knew there were classes I really needed and wanted to take in order to become a great educator. These courses included, theories, problems in schools, and an assortment of special education classes. The chapter on motivation really caught my eye. Skimming through the chapter, I saw some points I want to focus on because I think all students need to be motivated to succeed not only in school, but throughout life. I also hope to learn more about behaviorism and go in-depth on reinforcement, operant conditioning, and punishment. I recall touching upon this topic in college but I feel I need to learn more about it, especially since I hope to be an early education teacher.
As I went through the text, there were a few chapters I found the most intriguing and wanted to diver deeper into the subject. The chapter that stuck out to me was Chapter 3: Behaviorism, Chapter 4: Social Cognitive Theory, Chapter 9: Motivation, and Chapter 10: Self-regulated learners. Although all the topics are important, I feel I need to learn and retain the knowledge from this chapter because it can relate to everyone.
According to the textbook, behaviorism is the behavior that can be explained in terms of conditioning and psychological disorder regarding humans or animals. In this chapter, Schunk highlights very important factors in behaviorism. He teaches us about classical condition, operant condition, and enforcement. This are topics I have had trouble differentiating in the past and look forward to learning in depth on these topics. First the section I will talk about is classical condition. Classical condition was created by Pavlov. It is a theory in which a neutral stimulus becomes conditioned to elicit a response through repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus.
The example below shows that there are three phases of classical condition. Phase 1 is unconditioned response. The dog with the unconditioned stimulus (food, dog is drooling) and the neutral stimulus (whistle) no response. The second phase happens during conditioning. The whistle is blown and the food is readily available. The final response is that the dog is conditioned to know when the whistle is blown, it is time to eat.
Having personally used this behaviorism in my classroom, I find this is a successful condition tool. When I first tried this out in the classroom, the children had no idea what was happening. Before conditioning the children would clean up when they were told (unconditioned response) and then I introduced certain music (no response). During the conditioning, I played the music while the cleaned up (unconditioned response). After the conditioning, I would turn on the music and the children would automatically start cleaning (conditioned response). They responded with a verbal communication.
Schunk describes social cognitive theory is a way human emphasizing the role of social environment in learning. While reading the chapter, Bandura’s theory of reciprocal causation is explained. Bandura reciprocal model is composed of three factors that guide behavior. These factors are the environment, the individual, and the individual’s behavior. These behaviors are determined are influenced by personal characteristics and the environment around them. Ex: [image: Image result for bandura’s theory of triadic reciprocal causation]
The triadic stages occur when we don’t even realize. The text tells us that this model greatly expands the rate and range of learning. Although we experience the reciprocal at one time, there can be one factor that is more dominate that the others. Schunk points out a great example. When they align cognition influences behavior, which influences environment. Bringing this theory to my classroom would be help to my students. Sometimes they would be out of order and one stage would be more dominate they would eventually experience flow of all them. I could give out an assignment, the students would do it and be proud and if they like what they are doing, they can continue working on it.
Everyone deals with motivation. Whether its lack of or one is inspired by it, it’s there. Schunk states that motivation is the process of instigating and sustaining girl-directed behavior. Motivation suggests need for doing well and achieving a goal. When an individual is highly motivated they try hard to be successful. Schunk states that achievement behavior exemplifies an emotional conflict between hope for success and fear of failure. As a teacher, I am motivated to teach, encourage the children to have fun, encourage the minds to think the impossible. On a day to day basis, I hope to keep my students motivated by giving words of encouragement, offer help, and praise when they succeed or when I know they tried their best. The student’s behalf, I hope my teaching teaches them that learning can be fun and not boring, they want to be successful and complete their own work and the also take great pride in their work.
In my future classroom, I plan on following these ideas to ensure the student have strong motivational skills. When the students have an idea, set goals, have a positive attitude, is encouraged, has support, and performs appropriately, they will reach motivational success. With motivation comes achievement. I believe that Weiner’s attributions theory can be a very helpful tool for my future classroom. The attributions theory identifies the reasons given by performers to explain success and failure. It has shown to have strong implications for success- related behavior and there are very strong links between attributions motivation
The final topic that really caught my attention in the text is the self-regulated learning. This chapter peaked my interest because it is about the self and how individuals act. It explains to that everyone is different and no two children learn, think, react, and feel the same way. It is not so much the ability or mental state of a human but rather, its process on how the individuals chooses to build their learning pattern. It is being in control of one own learning. Schunk’s talks about how there are three assumptions when it comes to self- regulated learning. The first assumption is that the learner must be engaged cognitively, behaviorally, metacognitively, and be motivated to perform well. The second assumption is cyclical process comprising feedback loops.
In other words, Feedback loops are created when reactions affect themselves and can be positive or negative. I was still a bit confused so I asked my friend and she gave an example of a thermostat (and found that explanation. She was exactly right and found one on the internet). was a thermostat regulating room temperature? This is an example of a negative feedback loop. As the temperature rises, the thermostat turns off the furnace allowing the room to rest at a predetermined temperature. When the temperature falls below that predetermined temperature the furnace reignites to return the room to its balance state.
Because Self-regulation has all to do with the individual, they must find it in themselves to truly understand the behavioral processes. The process are self-monitoring, self-reinforcement, and self-instruction. It is up to the individual to decide what behavior to regulate. In order for the individual to be successful in an achieving Self-regulated learning, it is a good idea that teachers explain what exactly it is and how to set goals. Practicing these skills can help an individual be more aware of when they need to be regulated.
Schunk text was one of the more captivating materials I have read thus far in college. It was insightful, informational, and he made a lot of great points that made sense on why individuals act, think, and learn in many different ways. The first chapter of the text is a in-depth introduction on the study of learning. He describes study of learning as “humans learning focuses on how individuals acquire and modify their knowledge, skills, strategies, beliefs and behaviors.” (Schunk, 2016).
Although all the topics were interesting, I plan to bring what I learned from motivation, social cognitive theory, and behaviorism in the classroom. I read so many interesting facts about the learning process and how it is so important to know the skills as future teachers.
First topic I know I will enforce in the classroom is how to be a good motivator and how important motivation is. I will admit, I will have some issues when it comes to motivation. I believe that ties in with confidence. I am not the most confident person. I feel when someone is confident, they are more motivated.
In my future classroom, I will be my students’ number one support. I will give them praise, help them through the hard times, and will absolutely see their worth. Being motivated individual is such a great quality to have. In schools today, I have seen a lot of inspiring and motivational ways to increase the learning in classrooms. For example, in reading class, students get to volunteer to read a section in the chapter book. When the student is done, the other peers give a positive reaction to how they did. They small act motives child minds to get out of their comfort zone and participate in something that may be hard for them. It was truly and eye-opening experience to see how proud and how kind the peers were to each other.
As I continued skimming and reading the text, I noticed that motivation can affect self-regulation and behavioral processes. Self-regulated learning is being aware of one’s behaviors and how an individual chooses to regulate them. I believe that I can incorporate this into my teaching because it is up to us, as teachers, to learn how to manage their self-regulatory skills to be more efficient learners. If a student isn’t made aware that they can learn to self-regulate their behaviors, they can cause a downward spiral when it comes to learning. Each child deserves a fair chance at becoming the best learner and have access to tools that can help them reach their goal.
Looking back at my days of being a young student in a classroom, I wish I had the resources when it came to becoming a better learner. I remember classes being very textbook oriented and honestly, quite boring. Because I was bored, I lost all sense in wanting to learn. I would doodle, stare off into space, or talk to my neighbors. I’d my teacher taught me how to self-regulate, I could’ve practiced and would have had a much different learning experience. I don’t want to blame my teachers (because honestly, it was mostly me) but I have learned what I need to ensure success in learning for my students.
Another reason why I found self-regulated learner important is because it has to do with the individual itself. Every child is unique and are different in so many ways. Students all learn differently and at different paces. For example, one student can answer a math problem in their head and get it correct while, another has to write down the problem and visually see it. All in which are fine as learners but as teachers, we must be ready and teach different ways on getting one answer.
What is truly amazing about today’s schools, is the access to technology. Technology seems to have a negative connotation because “kids can become vid-iot and their brains will turn to mush!”. Not always the case. Schunk tells us that technology has help students develop self-regulatory skills. Technology is today’s tomorrow and it is crucial that students are taught the proper skills. Through the positive power of student’s imaginations, us teachers can focus on teaching self-regulation techniques to ensure they successful futures for all. Embracing technology is just one small act to help a student reach their goals.
The final topic I learned so much about (and enjoyed the most) is behaviorism. As I explained in the beginning of this paper, mentioned conditions and the power they have. Pavlov’s classical condition is one of the most interesting topics in the chapter. It shows tells us that we can train a brain to respond to something without being told. I hope to bring this idea into a classroom one day because it is a way to students to get into a routine and complete something without being told. For example, the beginning of the school year, I will explain to the students that when we enter the classroom in the morning, they may chatter with friends until it’s time for morning work. When I ring a bell, they will at me and then I will explain chatter time is over so now it is time for morning work. As time goes by, the students will be conditioned when they hear the bell ring, they will know that chatter time is over and it is now time for morning work. This classical conditioning is not only interesting because it works but because the students don’t realize that they are proving a theory from so many years ago.
There is so much more to behaviorism then classical condition. It is truly what makes people different from each other. It is acts and movements, reinforcements, punishments, behavior modification, mastery in learning and so much more. There are so many theories to refer to if you have a student who seems to be reacting or acting differently than other peers. Human learning is so fascinating and different for each person. Although we use conditioning to better the lives of others, we must keep into consideration that everyone is still human and they have feelings and beliefs.
