Dan Taylor — IDE621: Principles of Instruction and Learning, FA24
One of the primary reasons I decided to attend graduate school was to explore the wider world of instructional design. I was familiar with behaviorism from a college psychology class, but we didn’t delve this deep, nor was the framing focused on education and learning.
At first, I wasn’t sure how some of the principles of behaviorism would apply to my work in the asynchronous classroom. I rarely, if ever, do instruction. While I work to center the learner, I’m not in a position to see their response to stimuli. It seemed that the essence of behaviorism only happened in person, so it took me a little while to wrap my head around how I could apply it (this was before becoming familiar with instructional designer principles that embrace behaviorism). I put myself into a headspace that the fundamentals I was learning about behaviorism didn’t necessarily need to apply directly to my work. After all, it is a learning theory, and I’m here to learn.
I grasped the major concepts but needed help understanding Punishment 1 and 2; the differences eluded me. I think part of my issue was the change in name from positive and negative reinforcement. I understand why the naming convention is different since the connotations of “positive and negative” can equate to “good and bad.” It wasn’t until I made the matrix in my infographic that I got it. By making a plus and minus symbol, I saw the terms in a different way and, thus, experienced shaping and chaining.
I also really struggled with remembering all of the theorists' names, which came back to haunt me on the quiz. However, creating the infographic really helped me out there. Finding their photos and doing a basic biography helped solidify their contributions and why they were important (a bit of reinforcement).
What surprised me was how I began seeing evidence of conditioning everywhere and unexpectedly. I would notice first as I reflected on my own behaviors. For example, why do I tend to back in when I park? I began unpacking my own learning, looking for signs of conditioning. In this example, I saw a lot of signs of negative reinforcement. It’s harder to see backing out of space, so I remove the problem by backing in. I also worry less about damaging a car or person, another negative reinforcement.
I had a moment yesterday when I felt like my knowledge of behaviorist learning theory was feeling innate and accessible. I was outlining course content with a new faculty partner. We had just finished talking about an activity where students are stretching themselves. My immediate thought was we needed a reinforcement for them. The activity was self-guided, so there wouldn’t be a “right answer.” I thought a discussion would do the trick. They could talk about their reasoning, reinforce their choices, and provide some nice opportunities for further shaping with each other.