Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Behaviorism concepts can be applied to coursedesign as well, and will be illustrated in acouple of examples. First, weighting assign-ments, projects and tests to correspond withthe proportional amount of effort you wantstudents to put into these activities rewardsand reinforces student effort and performancein those areas. Similarly, providing feedbackduring the development of projects, essays orresearch projects rewards and reinforces learn-ing over time and should result in better reten-tion and skill development. This later type ofreinforcement frequently occurs at the graduatelevel but also can be used effectively in under-graduate offerings too.
Some things to remember when incorporatingbehaviorist principles into your teaching:
• Write observable and measurable behavioral learning outcomes
• Specify the desired performances in advance (the learning outcomes serve this purpose) and verify learning with appropriate assessments
• Emphasize performance, and practice in an authentic context
• Use instructional strategies to shape desired skills
• Reinforce accomplishments with appropriate feedback
The principles of behaviorism can be usefulin facilitating learning within the classroom.However, they do not account for the motiva-tion or thought behind actions taken. There-fore, our next two articles in this series willfocus on cognitive theories and perspectivesof learning.
References:Driscoll, M. P. (2000). Psychology of learning for instruction (2nd ed.). Boston:Allyn and Bacon.
In this Issue...
OTL Advisory Board..............................................
Disruptive Students and You:Dr. Jan Collins-Eaglin.......................................
C&IT/Faculty Issues...New Faculty Liaison Geoffrey Nathan...............
Office for Teaching and Learning
DirectorDonna Green, Ph.D.
Assistant DirectorPending
Program CoordinatorVacant
Graphic DesignerLaura Barnard313.577.0243
Graduate Student AssistantsHelayne Beavers313.577.0250
Kristi Wolfe313.577.0250
How to contact us:Office for Teaching and Learning
2210 Adamany Undergraduate LibraryWayne State University
Detroit, MI 48202-3967
http://www.otl.wayne.eduHours:
Mon.-Fri. 8:30 am - 5:00 pm313.577.8224
OTL Mission StatementThe Office for Teaching and Learningpromotes and facilitates excellence inteaching in the University at all levels.It supports individual faculty membersin the development of instructional skills.
The Office for Teaching and Learning NewsletterDecember 2002, Volume 7, No. 2
Behaviorism offers a particular perspective onhow learning occurs and how teaching impactsthat process. The theory took decades to de-velop and cannot possibly be done justice inthis short article. However, we will provide abrief overview of the principles most applicableto teaching and learning and suggest ways toincorporate those principles into instruction.
Learning is “a persisting change in performanceor performance potential that results fromexperience and interaction with the world”(Driscoll, 2000, p.3). These two ideas—theimportance of measurable and observableperformance and the impact of the environ-ment, comprise foundational principles of thebehaviorist approach to learning. The basicargument is that only observable, measurablebehavior is the appropriate object for psycholog-ical study. Initially, the theory contended thatcertain behavioral responses come to be assoc-iated with specific environmental stimuli.
B.F. Skinner extended this concept of associa-tions. Skinner argued that a behavior is morelikely to reoccur if it has been reinforced orrewarded. Thus reinforcement can be used tostrengthen existing behaviors, as well as learnnew ones. Principles of behaviorism can beused for classroom management. For example,a group of Professor Houston’s students persis-tently talk amongst themselves during class.He believes that by simply ignoring those stu-dents, the problem will cease. Unfortunatelythey have learned that there are no consequencesfor disruptive behavior. Professor Houstonmight reconsider and instead, focus on andreward them when they exhibit desirable be-havior. For example, “Yes, John. That’s an excel-lent answer. I’m glad to see you’re payingattention!”
From Theory to Practice:Behaviorist Principles of Learning and Instruction
2
3
3
2
I’d like to both introduce some new people and facesto you through this news-letter and to say thanks tothose who have worked with the OTL in the past.
I believe it is OTL’s role tobring information and resources to faculty.OTL does this directly through our workshops,individual consultations, these newsletters,the reading room and FacDev Lab, and cross-university collaborations. Through this news-letter, I also want to keep you informed ofother on campus resources outside OTL thatare available to faculty.
In this issue of the OTL newsletter I am pleasedto introduce you to two new faces on campus:Geoffrey Nathan and Jan Collins-Eaglin. Al-though neither are a part of the Office forTeaching and Learning both hold positionson campus that also support faculty and thebasic missions of both WSU and the OTL.Dr. Collins-Eaglin, Director of Counselingand Psychological Services, will be making apresentation at OTL for faculty with sugges-tions on how to handle disruptive students.Dr. Geoffrey Nathan is serving as an intermed-iary between faculty and their research andteaching needs for computing resources andC&IT. In this newsletter you’ll find a statementfrom each on their roles on campus and howthey can help support faculty.
Shortly after the OTL was established a chart-ered university committee, the OTL AdvisoryBoard, was convened. The Advisory Boardmeets with me four to six times a year. TheAdvisory Board is comprised of WSU facultymembers—one representative from each col-lege—who have demonstrated excellence inteaching at Wayne State University.
As I rely on the board members for adviceabout the OTL offerings and faculty needs,I want to be sure that you know who yourcurrent board members are (see list to side).With the university budget cuts and reorganiza-tions likely within Wayne and major changesin personnel within the OTL, I will rely heav-ily on the advice of the Board to be be sureOTL continues to meet teaching and teachingwith technology needs. I also want to publiclythank the retiring members of the Board for
Director’s Corner....
Happy Holidays from the OTL!their dedication to the OTL during their yearsof service.
Finally, while talking about changing faces atOTL and on campus I want to let the teach-ing community know that two of the familiarfaces you’ve come to know at OTL, VictoriaCorriveau and Deborah Armstrong, have mov-ed across campus to help with the develop-ment and selling of fully online courses forthe newly formed organization, eWayne andLifelong Learning. Both are missed at OTLbut we wish them and their new unit goodluck in their future endeavors.
Victoria Corriveau, OTL’s former AssistantDirector, Instructional Technologies, is nowVikki Corriveau, Director, eLearning Cor-porate Sales. As a member of the OTL Victoriabecame involved in the TLTR conferenceplanning committee. She is continuing in thatrole so you may see her name from time-to-time at WSU.
Deborah Armstrong, OTL’s former ProgramCoordinator, is the Senior Course Designer inthe new unit. Deborah was with the OTL forfive years—since shortly after its founding.Deborah began as a Graduate Assistant andthen moved into the Program Coordinatorposition. For many of you, Deborah’s is the
voice you heard most often when registeringfor workshops, getting announcements forupcoming events or facilitating workshops.She was also a strong contributor to the OTLnewsletter and facilitated many of the OTLworkshops. Her last day at the OTL wasDecember 6th.
You should have received the Jan/Feb calendarof OTL workshops. The mix of workshops isnot as broad as we are usually able to offer butwe have made an effort to continue supportof Blackboard and PowerPoint through ourworkshop offerings. We felt this especiallyimportant now that Blackboard course Websites are ready and available for every facultymember to use for their courses. Other offeringswill be limited for the short term. As the OTLevolves I will keep you informed through thisnewsletter and through your Advisory Boardmembers. Interviewing is currently taking placefor the Assistant Director position.
Have a happy holiday season as our thoughtsturn to next term and the new year.
Correction: Diane Featherston taught the first online(75%) undergraduate nursing course. The first totallyonline nursing course was NUR 6010 Writing for Pub-lication (2000). Next was NUR 7000 Statistics. Othergraduate nursing education courses were online by 2001.The online pioneers from nursing are: Marilyn Oermannand Mary Jirovec.
OTL Advisory BoardNew MembersBusiness Administration Atilla Yaprak [email protected] Rangaramanujam Kannan [email protected] Laura Bartell [email protected] Arts Lisa Vollendorf [email protected] Barbara Pieper [email protected] Dian Walster [email protected] Work Lois Garriott [email protected] Kenneth Palmer [email protected]
Returning MembersEducation Rita C. Richey [email protected] & Allied Health Patrick Woster [email protected] Ratna Naik [email protected], Labor & Metropolitian Affairs Ralph M. Braid [email protected]
Thanks to Retiring MembersBusiness Administration David L. Williams [email protected], Performing & Communication Arts James Lentini [email protected] Learning Lisa Maruca [email protected] Donal O’Leary [email protected] Marilyn H. Oermann [email protected] Nancy B. Johnson [email protected]
!3
Continued on page 4...DISRUPTIVE STUDENTS
AboutDr. Jan Collins-Eaglin...
My professional career be-gan as a teacher in SouthCentral Los Angeles toearning my doctorate inEducation and Psychol-ogy, combining both theclinical and learning areas. I was a clinicalpsychologist at Eastern Michigan University’sCounseling Services office. Along with provid-ing individual therapy to students, I workedextensively with special populations. For manystudents, their reason for coming to CounselingServices focused on trying to adjust academical-ly, negotiating the bureaucracy of trying to ob-tain help from offices and resources on cam-pus and adjusting to being a minority on apredominantly white campus.
Because of my work with minority students,I was offered the opportunity to design a reten-
C&IT/Faculty Issues...New Faculty Liaison Geoffrey NathanA significant problem on university campusesis the wall between the computing and infor-mation technology unit and the users. Facultyand researchers, in particular, often view C&ITas a roadblock to getting things done and/orgetting new and appropriate services. On theother hand, IT tends to view the academicusers either as obtuse or unappreciative of theservices that they labor long hours to provide.In both cases, policies seen as essential by onegroup are seen as somewhere between pettyannoyance and active sabotage by the other.
Sources of miscommunication include the needfor security of access, on the one hand, and theneed for openness that is a hallmark of anacademic environment. Faculty need access24/7 to any site in the world, and need to beable to run obscure, obsolete or super-poweredsoftware without having to worry about
tion services program and focus my attentionon exclusively working with these students.I coordinated the Equity Office programs forthree years. The purpose of this office was tohelp students with special needs or studentsfacing unique learning challenges to find waysto have successful academic experiences. Whilein that office, I designed and implemented theSummer Incentive Program, which is similarto Project 350 at Wayne.
While coordinating this effort, I also beganworking extensively with faculty helping themunderstand the dynamics of being a studentof color on a predominantly white campus. Igave workshops on issues of culture and learn-ing, appreciating the dynamics of students ofcolor in the classroom and providing forumsfor students and professors to interact.
As a faculty member in the Educational Psy-chology program, I along with another collea-gue developed the Research in Teaching and
Disruptive Students and You: Dr. Jan Collins-Eaglin
Uncivil and disruptive behavior can negatively affect the learning environment for faculty and students. Faculty often feel at a loss whenforced to cope with students exhibiting troubling and/or inappropriate behavior. You are on the front line and may be the first to recognizewhen a student is troubled. Research has indicated that uncivil student behavior can contribute to faculty stress, discontent, and eventualburnout.
Please join us at the Office for Teaching and Learning on January 22nd at 10:00 a.m. for a workshop led by Dr. Jan Collins-Eaglin, Incivilityand Disruptive Behavior in the Classroom. Dr. Jan Collins-Eaglin will discuss ways faculty may recognize signs of student distress andinappropriate behavior, and strategies to address these behaviors. Effective communication skills, clear expectations in the syllabus anddefinitions of appropriate classroom behavior are some of the more effective strategies that faculty can use to create an effective learningenvironment for all. These and others will be discussed in this session to help reduce incidences of disruptive behavior in the classroom.
Learning Program. We assisted faculty in de-signing discipline-based research that assessedthe process of classroom teaching and learning.This position led to directing EMU’s Centerfor Instructional Excellence, which is compar-able to the Office for Teaching and Learning.Faculty often dropped by to discuss behavioralissues they faced in the classroom. Many feltunprepared to deal with students’ uncivil actionsand emotional outbursts. Since the tragic occur-rences at the University of Arizona and at Wayneit is important to be able to discriminate be-tween disruptive behavior and potentially dan-gerous behavior. The workshop I will presentat the OTL addresses some of those issues.
As Director of Counseling and PsychologicalServices (CAPS), the staff addresses studentspersonal and social concerns. The office isstaffed with three psychologists, a clinical socialworker, and a fully licensed counselor. Our
standards, compatibility or the availability oftrained help-desk personnel. IT staff knowabout the continuous hacker probes on theUniversity’s unattended ports, the fragility ofnon-standard software and the fact that every-
thing breaks occasional- ly no matter how hard
we try.
To help try to bridge these difficulties Geoffrey Nathan was hired to serve as the C&IT/faculty liaison.
Message to Faculty from C&IT / Faculty LiaisonGeoffrey Nathan
I joined Wayne State University in August ofthis year, fifty percent as an Associate Professorof English in the Linguistics program, and fifty
percent for Computing and InformationTechnology, in a role as liaison between theinformation technology customers (particular-ly faculty and researchers) and IT suppliers.
My goal will be to provide a conduit for thesekinds of issues in both directions, ensuringsmoother communication and cooperationbetween the two worlds.
One of my goals will be to attend meetingswhere policy issues are discussed, and anotheris to establish and coordinate advisory groupsdealing with particular policy questions.
Second, I hope to serve as a visible and “public”point of contact for concerns that the usershave about C&IT. I don’t want to supplant
Continued on page 4...C&IT/FACULTY ISSUES
is published throughout the academic year.[December 2002]
Editor: Donna Green
ContributingWriters: Helayne Beavers
Jan Collins-EaglinDonna GreenGeoffrey NathanKristi Wolfe
Layout &Design: Laura Barnard
Wayne State University – People working together to provide quality service
Wayne State University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.
2210 Adamany Undergraduate Library
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI 48202-3967
Want to read a back issue of Teaching Matters? Available online athttp://www.otl.wayne.edu/newsltr.html
mission is to assist in the development andmaintenance of a positive and healthy universitycommunity. In order to do this, we providea variety of psychological services, preventionworkshops, and educational programming thatpromotes personal well-being and success. Weare developing numerous outreach programsthat address issues that students face, such asdepression, anxiety management, and eatingdisorders.
We are always available to faculty who havequestions about students and are ready to res-pond to faculty referrals. Our office hours areMonday through Friday from 8:30-6:00 pm.Faculty just need to call our office, ask to speakto an available counselor, and indicate whetherthis is an emergency or not. If the concern isnot an emergency, our intake hours are Wed-nesday from 1-6 pm, and Thursday morningfrom 8:30-12:00 noon. If the situation is acrisis and it is after office hours, emergencyhelp is available. CAPS staff can be reachedby calling 313-325-5634 or the Wayne StateUniversity Police.
C&IT/FACULTY ISSUES...Continued from page 3
existing relationships that people within C&ITmight have with the community (or vice versa),but rather provide a contact for those outsidewho do not know whom to call. Ideally I willbe able either to direct those comments to thecorrect unit within C&IT or to find the answerand communicate it back to the initiatingperson. It is important to note that this is nota Help Desk function (“How do I save a filein Word?”) but rather a policy interpretationfunction (“Why can’t my GTA input mygrades?”) On the other hand, there will needto be communication in the other directionas well. Many policies have good jusificationsin the preservation of security and privacy, orfor technical reasons. If I can serve as an avail-able conduit for information in both directionsI think the IT component of this campus canbe better understood and even appreciated.
This issue will become increasingly importantas Wayne State moves towards a more integrat-ed information management environmentthrough the Pipeline/Blackboard portals. Fac-ulty need to be encouraged to participate in
the effort to make information uniformly avail-able and the developers of these facilities needto be aware of the specific problems and “issues”users (particularly non-technically-inclinedones) are likely to encounter.
Third, it is often the case that those engagedin cutting edge research know of software andfunctionality ahead of those in IT, and it wouldbe good to have a single point of contact toadvocate for their needs across all divisionswithin C&IT. By publicizing my existence,particularly among active researchers, it shouldbe possible to encourage two-way communica-tion. Finally, as members of Internet2 we shouldbe looking for ways to increase utilization ofthat resource for specific tasks related to thehigh-speed capabilities of that network. In sumI hope to serve as a conduit between C&IT andits customers and as a point man for issuesthat arise between the two constituencies.
To contact Dr. Nathanemail: [email protected]
Linguistics (English):313-577-8621 or
Computing and Information Technology:313-577-1259
DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR...Continued from page 3
