Behaviorism in Technology

I just had a recent realization on how behaviorism was able to demonstrate a change on my students’ behavior, thus, facilitate learning.

I have been a proponent of technology use in the classroom. However, as an educator, I have to make sure that the technology or application that I am using is aligned with the curriculum and pedagogy and not just merely giving students means to have fun. As they always say, “Learning while having fun.”

I have been teaching science to middle school students for 2 years now and it is quite difficult for students to remember bunch of terms in science. Moreover, it seems difficult for them to analyze problems, conduct investigations and make reflective essays on how science can make an impact to some global issues. It is not because they don’t have the skills but rather because they lack sufficient terms to use in explaining. And so as a teacher, I have to address this matter.

I ponder, “How can I let the students remember the terms and keep these in their minds so that they can pull it out whenever they need it, for example in making a lab report?” And I remember this Quizlet app I tried using a year ago in my class. I failed to engage my students in learning before probably because I was not able to navigate its usage and maximize its potential.

Quizlet is an online platform where educators and students can create flashcards or study sets that can be used in studying and reviewing. One can create a study set by listing down the terms and writing its definition. Pictures associated to the term can also be added. After going through series of webinars, I learned how the technology works and realized how it can be a game-changer in my classroom.

I was astonished how efficient the flashcards can be done and used in the classroom. However, merely reading the sets I made and learning independently seems not effective in bringing about a change on my students’ behavior, which is evident as getting low scores in the test given after.

Then I discovered something. There are two features of Quizlet that can engage my students and motivate them to learn – Quizlet live and Gravity. And so I tried.

In Quizlet live, students are grouped into teams and each teams compete to finish first. Each members have sets of vocabulary cards on their devices. A question, that is the same, is given among the team members and the member who has the card pertaining to the answer should tap it.

Positive reinforcements are finishing first, being awarded with badges and beating the other teams.

Gravity, on the other hand, is an independent learning game for the students. In this feature, an asteroid, with a question on it, is falling on the screen and the student must type the answer as fast as he can. There is a score to beat, which is a positive reinforcement. A score is rewarded at the end of the game.

These two features are the top on my students’ list and they crave for more and more sets everytime we have lessons. Now I understand, how these type of teaching strategies keep the students engage and more likely to continue the behavior of learning. Through a positive reinforcement in behaviorist perspective, learners will increase repetition of a certain behavior.

Now science terms are easier to learn than before. Indeed, rote learning still is needed for the students to be able to analyze, synthesize and evaluate. Thanks to technology, I do not have to prepare too much and spend much time for it. Now that students are motivated to learn using it, I practiced them how to create their own study sets and are now reviewing on their own, beating their own scores and letting their classmates use their sets and beat their scores. Because technology was presented to them in such a way that they can grasp the benefit from it and reinforced, students positively embraced it and will keep doing it as long as they can see that they are gaining something from it.

Note: We just finished the Final Exam this week. And those that are challenged and troubled learners got some good grades this term.