Behaviorism
As we introduced different ways that coding is part of our student’s lives and how they can apply their coding skills in different ways, we have been documenting and observing their learning behaviours. For our project, the interaction with our students has focused on two types of behaviourism: Positive Reinforcement and Reinforcement Removal (Discoll, 37).
To begin, positive reinforcement has been the most effective. The students started with coding apps, online courses, or coding toys. As their skills progresses, they earned their way to more challenging apps, courses, and coding toys. An example would be introducing the Lego We Do’s to the students. At first, we gave them a design to build that was already created and the code was easy to follow. Basic! Easy! They loved this and excelled. We positively reinforced this behavior by challenging them to design their own build with their group; a design that they planned, built, problem solved and showcased! Again, they were challenged, worked together and created something new. Some of the new designs included cars, swing sets, and a swinging boat. A few of these students mastered the Lego We Do’s so we moved them to the Lego EV3 Mindstorms. Their ability to work together, share ideas, problem solve and think critically allowed them to be rewarded by challenging more difficult coding tasks.
In all honesty, very few students have needed any type of negative reinforcement such as removal or punishment. Students have been engaged and respectful to each other and the tech tools that they have been working with.
