According to Dr. Orey, behaviorism is used every day (Laureate Education Inc., 2009). I know I use it with my own children, with my students and with other adults. This week I viewed specific strategies that correlate with behaviorist learning theory. The first strategy was reinforcing effort. As I looked at a rubric from our text that allowed students to grade their own effort I was impressed. Often my students wonder why they did poorly on an assessment and their resulting answer is some reason beyond their control. When I sit down with them to discuss how much effort they put into the homework they begin to realize they did not sufficiently prepare in order to be successful on the assessment. I plan to implement this rubric hoping my students will be able to honestly grade themselves and chart their effort on homework with the resulting score on an assessment. “The instructional strategy of reinforcing effort enhances students’ understanding of the relationship between effort and achievement by addressing their attitudes and beliefs about learning” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p. 155).
The second strategy I reviewed related to homework and practice. “As an extension of the classroom, homework provides opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of the content and to gain proficiency with their skills” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p. 187). Behaviorism is related to observing and measuring human behavior. There is almost always a direct correlation to amount of time spent on homework and assessment scores. Retention rates of information are much higher when delivered in multiple ways. Students that hear information in class once and never visit it again will lose that information quickly. I often use educational technology intertwined with homework practice. For example, in my Computer Applications class students are asked to play one of the interactive games at home as part of their homework assignment. The games are modeled after famous game shows such as Wheel of Fortune and Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The textbooks are kept in the classroom and the games are often asking for definitions. The students come back to class with lists of words they want to look up to achieve mastery on the game. Mastery is not required; the students find the games, relevant, fun and engaging. The point is that the students want to do well, they are enjoying their homework and doing more than is actually required.
In my high school, academic rigor is expected. Students will often spend 4-6 hours after school completing homework assignments. I find this amount to be beyond excessive, is anyone in a similar situation? What do you think is a reasonable amount of homework every night for high school students?
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Behaviorist Learning Theory. [Motion Picture]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
I only teach 3rd grade and in our school our policy is 10 min for each grade level. So, third grade has 30 min. I do think 4-6 hours is crazy. Who corrects all that homework? I think students need time to be well-rounded. Sports, music, art and other interests should be explored. I am not saying that homework is not important, but there should be some limit to the amount a school assigns. If you keep with our school's policy, 12th grade would have about 2 hours of homework. (A much more reasonable amount) What do the students and their parents say about this?
ReplyDeleteWow, 4-6 hours is crazy. I agree it is beyond excessive. I teach 5th grade and we do not have a set amount for students each night. If students do not finish their in class work then that automatically becomes homework. I like what Julie Budd said when she commented on your blog, 10 min for each grade level. That still seems like quite a bit of homework everyday. High school students I think can handle 1-2 hours every night. It all depends on how or what they do in school. I honestly do not like to give homework everyday anyway. At 5th grade they need to be social, have fun.
ReplyDeleteI like that you mentioned that there is a correlation between the amount of time spent on homework and assessment scores. It is very true that our students need homework to practice concepts learned in class. Last week Dr. Wolfe mentioned that students need to keep making connections. Homework practice helps to make those connections. According to our text, “homework provides opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of the content and to gain proficiency with their skills” (Pitler , p. 187). The games your students play are a great example of how technology can enhance homework and learning. Your students are gaining proficiency with their skills and having a good time.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that your students average 4-6 hours of homework each night. I do believe that is a bit excessive. I have learned over the years that students do not need to complete an entire math worksheet to practice a concept. Instead, they can practice with 4 or 5 problems. I personally think that much homework cannot be beneficial to students.
Julie -
ReplyDeleteI think your school has set a sufficient standard of 10 minutes per grade level. A difficulty of this is how do you communicate with all of the other teachers? You cannot force a teacher to only assign a certain amount (teacher contracts here in WA state) and many of our AP teachers insist that they must give a lot for all of the AP material to be covered before the April tests. Students are stressed here because if they do not take a number of AP classes they feel they cannot get into college. Or at least get into the college they want (primarily Ivy League schools). Sometimes I wonder where all the pressure comes from and at the end of the day do they feel it was really worth it?