Application of Skinner's theory

I will now focus my discussion on the practical application of Skinner's Theory.
In my first blog on this topic,I posed the following questions:
a) Why do we keeps on eating?
b) Why do we love some food and totally dislike others?
c) Why do we like to be praised and dislike being constantly criticized?
d) Why do we like a certain subjects and dislike the others?
e) Why do we have special hobbies?
f) why do we keep going out with certain group of friends and avoid the others?
g) How will the saying "once bitten twice shy" relate to Skinner's Theory?
Answers to these questions could be similar or totally different between individuals depending on each one's circumstances. For example, in the first and second question one could say, we keep on eating because we need food for our body or others would say because we feel hungry. We can also say that we keep on eating because there is available food to eat but we stop eating when there is no food to eat.One or two people would probably share the same answer but would not exactly be the same. Another fact to consider is that our need for food, the amount of food we take and our choice of food will also vary depending on our diety requirements and personal preferences. If we would analyze the answer to each of the other questions we would arrive at more or less the same conclusion. That is, human beings are so unique and diverse that each one would behave differently to a given stimulus. This brings to mind Skinner's 'stimulus-response' theory popularly known as 'operant conditioning'. This theory forms the basis for what we call in the learning process as 'MOTIVATION'. Motivation is a very positive stimulus that generates a very positive response. Motivation can be 'intrinsic' (internal) which comes from within the individual learner. This is a higher form of motivation and would yield lasting results. Learners with this kind of motivation can learn on their own with less supervision and guidance from the teacher. Individuals who are intrinsically motivated are usually successful in whatever they do. The second type of motivation is what we call as the 'extrinsic'(external). In this type, individuals are motivated to do something based on external reward/s or punishment/s. This motivation normally would not have a lasting effect because once the external reward is removed, the motivation also declines. Learners who are extrinsically motivated tends to be dependent on the external source of motivation and would therefore need constant supervision to finish a task. Younger learners responds easily to external motivation than adults.That is why, teachers in the lower years tend to use more external motivations than those in the higher years. While extrinsic motivation has its own merits, modern teachers are challenged to concentrate more on the development and use of intrinsic motivation throughout the whole learning process. Motivation comes in many different forms, from stamping a red star on a drawing paper of a kindergarten pupil to giving praises and encouragements to higher learners. Sometimes, just the enthusiastic presence and happy facial expression of a teacher can strongly motivate the students. Educators place a great deal of importance to motivation as it is a key to any learning process. Once a teacher fails to properly motivate the students at the start of every lesson, learning would be very difficult to achieve. This is true in any given scenario. A boss for example, who fails to properly motivate his staff will have a hard time in getting a quality performance from his team. It is also worthy to note that motivation is not only at the beginning of every lesson. It should be given throughout the whole learning process whether or not a teacher is using a contructivist model in the proper presentation of the lesson. Effective teachers has the ability to make any learning model/approach so motivating(enjoyable) from start to finish. This is a challenge that some teachers fail to achieve. MOTIVATION is one form of 'CONDITIONING' that is needed in order to achieve a specific learning objective.Teachers should always remember that the more motivated the students are the more eager they are to learn. Another relevant topic worthy of discussion is the use of 'rewards and punishment' in the classroom. I strongly suggest further reading on this topic. In my next blog I will discuss 'PRACTICE/DRILL' as the second form of conditioning which is equally important in the whole learning process.

Skinner's theory (follow -up1)

Thanks for reading my ealier blog on Skinner's Theory of Learning. I completely agree to author of this blog(Learning Theory from fatworm.wordpress.com) that Skinner's theory alone will not produce deep understanding and self-learning which contructivism and developmental theories would achieve but I still maintain my stand that if this theory is used properly, together with the other theories, it would play a vital role in achieving these educational goals. I emphasized this in my earlier blog when I said, "No theory stands isolated." Teaching is like cooking. One needs a combination of ingredients to cook a very tasty and appetizing meal.Each ingredient plays a specific role, some are vital that if removed would make a big difference in the taste of the food, others are just for effects or could be substituted with another if its not readily available. The whole preparation and the cooking process should so masterfully coordinated to achieve the desired results which would be appetizing, nourishing, tasty or a combination of all the whole cooking objectives. Teaching is just like that. A teacher picks a combination of approaches needed to achieve a specific lesson. Using a single/limited theory or approach throughout one's teaching career would be boring. Will you cook a chicken alone without even using salt or water or oil? Effective teachers use a variety of techniques and always has something new in every lesson so that the students would get something meaningful out of the whole learning process. Skinner's theory as far as I'm concerned plays three vital roles in achieving the objectives of the whole teaching and learning process. 1)MOTIVATION, 2)PRACTICE/DRILL and 3)FEEDBACK. All three ingredients if removed or misused has the ability to paralyze the whole learning process. I would also like to point out that conditioning can be viewed from a different perspective by different people depending on how it suits their objective. Proper conditioning will not lead to what most of the students here in Ghana are in right now. If it would be of any interest to you I would discuss these vital roles and conditioning further in my next blog. My whole point really in the matter is, just as any IT experts would say, please DON'T delete a file(idea/theory) completely unless you're absolutely sure that you will not need it in the future...:=) would love to hear more of your views. Cheers!

B.F. Skinner's Theory of Learning-My Perspective

I read a rather negative reaction about Skinner's theory from a friend who is on a short course in education. This reaction made me wish it is coming from one of my teacher trainees here in Ghana, whom I am trying to introduce a more varied and participatory teaching approaches in Maths. Which means that first, I have to teach them the different Theories of Learning. These theories serve as the solid foundation in any teaching methodologies a teacher will use. Why I wish it to be coming from my students, is simply because a reaction even if negative would mean that my students at least understand some implications of a concept. More importantly, it will help them develop a critical thought which is beyond just memorization, a very uncommon occurrence in Ghana's educational arena.
A negative reaction has its own merit because it has helped me realize that I should look critically at how I present any Theory of Learning to my students. In the past decade of my teaching career, B.F. Skinner's Behaviorist Theory of Learning specifically his 'operant conditioning' together with the other theories, has guided me in the way I presented my lessons and in the way I dealt with my students. So it is surprising to find that a would-be teacher would react negatively to his theory. Hence, a critical look at the theory might somehow shade a light on this. I strongly believe that theories per se has no use unless it has its practical application. This conviction has helped me to carefully choose the kind of educational theories that would suit my teaching style, my personality and my passion for learning. Over the years I discovered that no theory of learning stands isolated. Each can be interwoven/combined with other theories in order to create a really effective teaching approach. This process is not easy but continuous and reflective use of these theories will be greatly beneficial to both teachers and students. Hence, to discard one theory without trying out how it is applied in real situations, will be a disservice to oneself. So where does Skinner's theory fit here? Well, I can just argue from the practical point of view. First, let us look at the Theory and how relevant it is to everyday life. Behaviorist Learning Theory, argues from a view that individuals learn/behave in a certain manner based from their interaction with their environment. Environment in this sense includes; living and non-living things as well as events/experiences that individuals encounter be it in a formal or informal setting. Skinner's operant conditioning focuses on a stimulus-response principle. Given a stimulus, then a response would naturally follow. The more the stimulus, the more is the response that follows. A more positive stimulus, would bring out a more positive response. A more negative stimulus will result in a more negative response as illustrated in his experiment on the pigeon, who after trial and error, finally learned to picked on the right ball in order to get more food. In real life this principle has a wide practical application. Be it in the classroom, at home or anywhere else. Young and old alike, we are responsive/reactive human beings. For instance, a toddler who puts his/her finger near a burning candle and gets burned will cry because of the pain he/she felt. The burning fire(stimulus) made the toddler cry(immediate response). This negative experience will teach that child a lasting lesson to stay away from fire. This brings to mind other practical examples but I would not go to such details. Rather, I'd like to leave behind a series of question for anyone reading this to ponder. I will follow this up with how Skinner's Theory can be applied in the classroom and dealing with students in my subsequents posts. For now, think in the light of Skinner's theory...
a) Why do we keeps on eating?
b) Why do we love some food and totally dislike others?
c) Why do we like to be praised and dislike being constantly criticized?
d) Why do we like a certain subjects and dislike the others?
e) Why do we have special hobbies?
f) why do we keep going out with certain group of friends and avoid the others?
g) How will the saying "once bitten twice shy" relate to Skinner's Theory?
Bearing in mind Skinner's stimulus-response principle, the questions can be endless...feel free to add yours.:=)