Post 1: Current Instruction Style & Learning Experience

Hi Kteacher,

I believe that your post exemplifies a behaviorist approach to teaching. As you have mentioned, you are do not know your students because you are a teacher on call (TOC). A behaviorist is mainly concerned about the stimulus and response. This idea is clearly shown in your assessment where you are only interested or capable (due to time constraints) of only offering the instructional material. If you knew your students better, it could be easier to include a cognitivist or a constructivist approach. However, I would have loved it if you had added the response or feedback you get from your students. The behaviorist approach works when the stimulus is accompanied by the appropriate response. It shows that learning is taking place. Nonetheless, as a teacher, the approach you use affects the learning and retention of each student. A behaviorist approach is widely accepted as one of the instructional theories.

Prompt 1 – Part 2: How do I study for a Chemistry Final Exam?

Hi Deanna,

I like the ingenious way you have explained behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. In behaviorism you do really capture the essence of creating an environment/stimulus and a response. By creating an exam, and filling in the appropriate answers, you have clearly used a behaviorism. A cognitivist will also concentrate on the learner in addition to the environment and response. Learning Chemistry by this method is much better than using behaviorism because Chemistry is a technical subject and cognitivism requires concentration on the mental processes. It allows the learner to understand a complex subject. Still, the most effective method for learning Chemistry is the constructivist approach. Constructivism will require the accomplishment of additional task that translate the knowledge into memory. The many tasks required could include quizzes and labs.