Behaviorism:

As a college instructor instructing a research class, I frequently applied the principles of behaviorism when requiring students to meet the benchmarks that took them from brainstorming a topic to completing a 10-page research paper. Every class, a different deadline was to be met. Materials had to be “signed off on” before the end of the class period, and students completing the activity quickly were sometimes permitted to leave a bit early (carrot!); others struggled all period to catch up because they hadn’t begun the project as HW. They would frequently stay after class trying to satisfy the requirement before I packed up my bags for the night. As each small assignment had points associated with it, and as missed assignments could not be made up, one’s grade could quickly rise or fall dependent on the rate of completion.

 
I believe a positive aspect of this structure was that students understood what was expected of them, and I believe they felt empowered to meet the deadlines and not let things “get away from them.” This sort of benchmarking along the way really improved the quality of the final papers—as well as the number I received! A con would be that students who fell more than a couple of weeks behind perceived their grades to be irredeemable, and some students would stop attending all together feeling there was no point.

 
Another more impulsive use of behaviorism, which I occasionally used in my classroom, I found referenced in an article entitled, “How to Use Behaviorism in a Classroom.” Dr. M. Dowd suggests, “if you suspect students aren’t completing assigned readings, you could start giving quizzes to motivate students and reward those who work hard” (n.d.). Indeed, I found this technique useful at times and can remember it being used on me as well when I was a student.

 
I can see why learning theory shouldn’t begin and end with Behaviorism, but it seems to me there is still a place for it in the modern classroom.

 
Dowd, M. (n.d.). How to Use Behaviorism in a Classroom. Retrieved from
https://classroom.synonym.com/use-behaviorism-classroom-8156621.html