1.

Teacher Mara is a neophyte teacher in public school she always complains about her
noisy and unruly pupils. Telling them to keep quite in a soft manner has not been
effective. Suggest some tips on how she can condition her class to keep still by applying
the Pavlonian and Watsonian Behaviorism theories.

 Compliment Good Behavior

The simplest way in which to apply positive reinforcement is to praise a student
when she behaves well or successfully completes a task. You could employ a system
of giving gold stars that result in a small prize when enough have been earned. Take
advantage of the effectiveness of simple statements of praise. When offering praise,
however, opt for a specific statement such as, "you really showed mature insight right
there" as opposed to a vague statement such as "nice work." The fact is that students
can sense when praise is generic or disingenuous. Reserve such comments for when
you really mean them, so your students won't take them as empty words.
 Support Praise with Evidence
Saying nice things to your students will work fine for a while, but they might stop
believing you unless you can show them exactly why their behavior warrants praise
in the first place. Whenever possible, show them the proof: point out the specific act
and explain why it was so important. Another way to provide concrete examples of
good behavior is to have them keep their work in portfolios for you to review
regularly. The routine of reviewing keeps you from appearing as though you've gone
out of your way to issue some praise, and having their work right in front of you gives
you the opportunity to cite specific, concrete examples of their accomplishments.
 Utilize Negative Reinforcement
Negative reinforcement isn't punishment. Rather, it's when reward good behavior
by taking away something your students sees as negative. For example, your class
clown always makes inappropriate comments during health lessons and disrupts the
class. He also really doesn't like writing book reports because the writing is boring.
You could offer to let him do his book report another way, perhaps as a diorama, on
the condition he behaves appropriately during health lessons. By removing something
he sees as negative, you've reinforced a separate, positive behavior.
 Apply Unpleasant Consequences When Necessary
Sometimes punishment is necessary to discourage undesirable behavior, but you
must be careful not to go too far and embarrass your students. And just as there are
positive and negative reinforcement for good behavior, two methods are appropriate
for applying punishment. Presentation punishment is the type we are most familiar
with: a student misbehaves and you act by adding a punishment like a detention or
time-out. Removal punishment is similar to negative reinforcement: you remove
something the students see as good because they have behaved badly. For example, if
they refuse to stop encouraging your class clown's inappropriate comments, you
could threaten to cancel an upcoming field trip, or an upcoming class party.
2. Why is it important for in-service teachers to learn the concept of conditioning in
teaching a learner-centered classroom?
It is important for in-service teachers because through professional
collaboration and planning, teachers work together in teams to focus on using
technology in our everyday teaching and learning. Students are introduced to
concepts that are current, relevant and interesting to each individual learner and I
believe that the primary goal of teaching is to impart knowledge and to monitor
change in behavior while learning aims to understand and apply knowledge.
A teacher seeks to share what he knows whereas a learner intends to receive new
information.