Running head: COOK W19 DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING 1

Development of Student Learning Based on Behaviorism and Attribution

Alyssa C. Cook
Northern Michigan University
COOK W19 DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING 2

Introduction
I am a secondary education teacher candidate majoring in integrated science and double
minoring in biology and math. I cannot say I have always wanted to be a teacher, but I enjoyed
tutoring students in algebra in high school and community college. I have a passion for science
and math, since science uses complex concepts to answers questions about the world, and math
engages logical thinking to solve problems in every aspect of life. I am writing a capstone to
capture knowledge I have learned from field experiences and lectures I have been immersed in. I
will be using the ED 231 online source textbook, SELPS Professional Behavior Rubric,
Capstone Field Report Rubric, and Classroom PowerPoints to analyze my learning in ED 231. In
my capstone, I will address Development Theorists, like Piaget and Vygotsky; Professionalism
and Behaviorism in the classroom and with colleagues; how students’ Information Processing
works; Undoing Learning Helplessness in students who believe subject matter is too difficult;
Leadership and Problem Solving as a teacher and a student; and Diversity Experiences in the
classroom.
Developmental Theorists
Piaget
Piaget’s Theory on Cognitive Development addresses stages of development:
preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Most students of age seven and
above are in the concrete operational stage, where students can understand tangible concepts,
like adding three blocks together (P&V ppt. 14). When students are working on abstract
concepts, like percentages, students can use previous knowledge from concrete examples to
accommodate students’ learning. At Bothwell Middle School, I helped a student work on
percentages. He used knowledge gained from a previous lesson to find the percentages. I
explained how to fix his mistakes and offered a way to answer the problems. He then worked on
the percentages and found the answer.
Vygotsky
Vygotsky’s theory explains how peers and adults influence students’ learning (P&V ppt.
23). Vygotsky’s ideas also explain the use of scaffolding, which means students use teachers and
other adults as a backboard for learning until students are able to understand information (P&V
ppt. 24). In Bothwell, the student I was helping had a few questions for the teacher and me, using
our knowledge as a scaffold until he was able to work on the problem by himself.
Erikson
Erikson’s Eight Stages of Cognitive Development addresses the most prominent
difficulties of each age. The age range of 6-12 years [1st – 6th] has a stage called Industry vs.
Inferiority, which means students battle feeling inferior, and students who succeed in the
Industry vs. Inferiority stage will be ready to attempt challenging material and will feel pride in
accomplishments (E&K ppt. 4-5). Students in the age range of 12- 18 years [7th -12th] has a stage
called Identity vs. Confusion where students attempt to find an identity and find goals for life
(E&K ppt. 4-5). The students I have been working with at Bothwell Middle School are in
between the Industrial vs. Inferiority and Identity vs. Confusion stages. The students are
struggling to attack problems in class and at home; the students seem to know how to do the
assignments, but lack motivation to compete the work. The students are also finding social roles,
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by being exposed to classrooms and extracurricular activities such as band and after-school
sports. I feel the students I have worked with are struggling to find a balance between
satisfaction of completing tasks and formations of social relationships.
Kohlberg
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Reasoning has three levels: pre-conventional, conventional,
and post-conventional with the ethics of children described in each level, as well as two stages in
each (E&K ppt. 12). Kohlberg addresses ethics of each level, which are punishment obedience,
market exchange, interpersonal harmony, law and order, social contract, and universal principles
(E&K ppt. 12). The students I have encountered in Bothwell Middle School are in stage 3,
interpersonal harmony, and stage 4, law and order. The students know differences between right
and wrong and know actions others approve. The students also know school has rules and
understand when another student gets into trouble. A student was found in math intervention
when he was supposed to be in band; the student I was working with knew the other student had
done something wrong. The student observing another student getting into trouble knew the
student broke the rules and was being dishonest, which corresponds with interpersonal harmony
and law and order, respectively (E&K ppt. 12).
Behaviorism
Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning is an emotional and physiological response to an action
(Behaviorism ppt. 3). Conditioning starts with an unconditioned stimulus, like a student failing a
test, which leads to an unconditioned response of anxiety. The student then begins to feel
anxious (the conditioned response) before taking future tests (the conditioned stimulus)
(Behaviorism ppt. 12). In Bothwell, I find if I smile when working with students, I receive a
smile in response, and the students begin to feel comfortable when asking for help. I feel smiling
makes me look approachable in the school system and will allow students to open up to me.
Classical conditioning includes extinction, generalization, and discrimination as ways to describe
responses to stimuli.
Extinction. Extinction is the loss of a response when the stimulus becomes interrupted
(S&S 27). An example of extinction is if a student becomes accustomed to his teacher smiling as
he walks into class and returns a smile. But later if the teacher does not smile at him, he will
begin to stop smiling. I have not yet experienced extinction at Bothwell Middle School yet, so I
am unable to reflect on my experiences.
Generalization. Generalization happens when one stimulus leads to a response in a
student in many different classrooms (S&S 28). An example of generalization is doing well on
an exam in one math class, making a student feel accomplished, leading to the student feeling
confident about higher-level math tests. Generalization can be a conditioned response in
different classrooms, even different subject areas. If a student is exposed to many personable
teachers, the student will begin to feel happy at school in general. I met a student at Bothwell
who told me he struggles with science. When I asked him the type of science he was struggling
with, he did not know. I believe he had a hard time in an early science class and became
conditioned to respond with “science is hard” and “I cannot do well in science.”
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Discrimination. Discrimination is identifying with one stimulus within competing

stimuli (S&S 28). Discrimination may or may not be beneficial, but in terms of school, students
should be able to respond under any stimulus. I have noticed in one classroom of Bothwell,
students do not smile when the teacher walks in, but will smile more often when a teacher
candidate smiles. The teacher does not seem to smile at the students, which creates an
environment where students do not smile.
Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning states consequences lead to specific behaviors (S&S 29). If a
teacher says great job to a student while doing a task, the student is more likely to respond again
in a later task. Operant conditioning contains both reinforcement and punishment to describe
events that affect behavior.
Reinforcement. Reinforcement is an event increasing the likelihood a particular behavior
will occur and can be positive or negative (Behaviorism ppt. 13). Positive reinforcement is
receiving something that increases behavior (Behaviorism ppt. 13). An example of positive
reinforcement is a teacher complimenting a student on a correct explanation of material, leading
the student to respond more frequently. Negative reinforcement is removing something that
increases behavior (Behaviorism ppt. 13). An example of negative reinforcement would be a
teacher removing the final exam if the students come to class. Removing the final exam gives
students an incentive to come to class, therefore, increasing the behavior of coming to class. I
have seen positive reinforcement at Bothwell, with the Moby Max program. Students are
rewarded for being focused on math problems and earn points to play games once the work is
completed.
Punishment. Punishment is an event decreasing the likelihood a behavior will occur
(Behaviorism ppt. 13). Punishment has two categories, which are presentation and removal
punishment. Presentation punishment is receiving something which decreases behavior
(Behaviorism ppt. 13). An example of presentation punishment is a teacher shushing students to
decrease the volume of students’ voices. Removal punishment is the removal of something that
leads to a decrease in a behavior (Behaviorism ppt. 13). An example of removal punishment is
the confiscation of a distraction, like a phone, from a student to decrease distraction from the
lesson. I have seen removal punishment in Bothwell, when a student had his computer taken
away, since the student was misusing his computer to play games.
Information Processing
Sensory memory can accept large quantities of information but remembers information
for a short period of time (Information Processing Model ppt. 10). Students need time to copy
work problems into a notebook before solving the problems. The students will have time to pay
attention to the steps to solve a problem. Teachers should always give time for students to read
and begin questions before being asked to solve a problem. In Bothwell Middle School, I was
observing and helping a student with math. I made sure to give him time to read the problem and
think of the answer for himself before I inserted any help.
Students’ attention lasts for a short period of time (Info Proc. Model ppt. 11). To help
with students’ attention span, the Moby Max program at Bothwell Middle School shows students
how long attention was held. Students are given a reward system of games if the work is
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finished. Giving students more activities could increase the students’ attention. Activities also
give students a visual aid and help solidify learning.
Perception is how a person views a particular object (Info Proc. Model ppt. 14). A
person’s perception can be skewed from previous thoughts of how processes work. To make sure
students’ perception will be able to lead to correct answers at Bothwell, I ask students if I can
answer any questions about the problem and allow students to work alone with limited help, until
the students are stuck and need assistance.
The working memory is where information is stored for a short amount of time before
information is committed to long-term memory (Info Proc. Model ppt. 25). Students use previous
knowledge to work on new material and take in information from lessons learned recently to
attack problems. At Bothwell, I ensure the small lessons in Moby Max have been absorbed by
the students by reading the lesson aloud after the student has read the lesson. Repetition of
information helps students absorb material better, if the students pay attention and have the
proper perception of the material. If students are given too much material in a small amount of
time, the working memory will be overloaded with too much information. The working memory
will not be able to process all of the information and much will be lost or forgotten.
To move information from the working memory into long-term memory, students need to
rehearse the information. Students should be asked to practice the material over several days to
weeks, with quizzing during the week to check for learning. Using interesting and different ways
to communicate information to students will help solidify material and may move material into
the long-term memory (Info Proc. Model ppt. 39). To help move more material into the long-
term memory, encoding information, like giving acronyms to processes, will help by reducing
the amount of words needed to be remembered (Information Proc. Model ppt. 30). Acronyms
help in a variety of classes, since students will have the first letter of each word needed, reducing
stress of forgetting full words.
The long-term memory depends on attention, perception, and encoding. (Info Proc.
Model ppt. 28). Students retrieve material from the long-term memory to approach learning new
information and solving problems. Information is only absorbed if previously in the working
memory (Info Proc. Model ppt. 28). Testing students on material will provide information on
students’ memory of material.
“Metacognition is thinking about thinking” (Puncochar Lecture). Metacognition is
practically teachers asking students to think about the process to a problem, to show greater
learning. I observed metacognition at Bothwell when I asked a student to think about an alternate
definition of a word.
To address forgetting, teachers should give students a question the next day on the
material, to allow students to retrieve any information in the long-term or working memory.
Giving students more practice on problems will help students remember. When the teacher asks
students to go up to the board to work out a problem, many students benefit from seeing how
another student approaches a problem.
Undoing Learned Helplessness
At Bothwell Middle School, I was working with a student on math homework he had
failed to do on time. He struggles with doing his homework on time, and late assignments led
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him to be in math intervention. Math intervention is a class where the student is able to work on
his math homework and complete lessons on material he has forgotten. The student also
procrastinates during class when he should be working on his math work. I told the student if he
does his work in class, he will have opportunities to ask questions. To combat learned
helplessness, I would give him a task of finishing one assignment on time. This goal is doable,
since he would only have to do one assignment. If he was to complete the assignment fully, I
would commend him on his effort. I would ask him to describe his achievement on completing
the assignment and wait for his response. I will keep him focused on the positive effort in his
work. I would continue to follow up with the student on future assignments to keep him moving
towards the end goal of turning in all assignments. An exception of the goal would be if the
student had a family emergency where he could not turn in an assignment on time. My overall
goal would be to move the student out of math intervention, once he is proficient in the math
topics of his grade level. The student is bright and seems to be learning the material, which leads
me to believe the intervention program is working. I am grateful the student has access to
teachers who will answer questions on material further, since he is improving his math skills.
Students can be in four categories of success. When success is a task is present, the
students can feel success-oriented or failure-oriented. Success-oriented students, in the presence
of success, will either give credit to the self’s ability or effort (Attribution Theory ppt. 23). When
a student is failure-oriented, success will be given credit to luck or the task (Attribution Theory
ppt. 23). Success-oriented students, when facing failure, will base the failure on lack of effort,
the task, or luck (Attribution Theory ppt. 23). When a student is failure-oriented, failure will be
blamed on lack of ability, apathy, or helplessness (Attribution Theory ppt. 23). The goal is to
promote an environment where students feel ability and effort will lead to success. My
understanding of the steps to undo learned helplessness is to focus the student onto how the
student can improve on work in a positive way. The first step is creating a doable goal to
prevent the pressure on students to be perfect (Attribution Theory ppt. 24). The next step is
offering students praise on a job well done to boost the students’ confidence levels (Attribution
Theory ppt. 24). The third step is asking students to describe the actions taken to reach the goal,
while maintaining a view of accomplishment (Attribution Theory ppt. 24). Focusing the student
to talk of personal achievements will make the students become more success-oriented. When
students talk about accomplishments, an energy of “I can do this” comes up, allowing for
students to focus on the effort put into a task. The teacher needs to keep checking on the student
to continue the positive behavior, since the teacher is the main facilitator in the process of
undoing learned helplessness.
Authentic Leadership Model
The Authentic Leadership Model is a way to frame problems into categories and provides
a general guideline to solving the problems. On March 13, 2019, Bothwell Middle School was
closed unexpectedly due to icy roadways. Many teacher candidates arrived at Bothwell early to
settle into school for the morning. The parking lot was empty, so I checked the school closings
online and found Bothwell had been closed due to weather. The teacher candidates and I had
spent extra time and money getting to the school, so our conflict was in the misuse of resources.
We spent time waking up early to arrive at school at the proper time and spent money in gas
driving to Bothwell. Resources are precious, and I was looking forward to working with students
more to gain experience.
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The solution to the waste of resources was in the mission category, since we began to
create professional relationships by talking about our common knowledge. We went to get
breakfast and were able to communicate our individual knowledge and share our motivations in
the course. The solution made everyone happy, since we were able to take precious time and
speak about ideas we were passionate about. We spoke about future courses and our current
commitments. We learned more about ourselves and others, creating professional relationships.
Even though we missed time with students, I believe we gained interaction with other up-and-
coming professionals.
Diversity 3
In my lifetime, I have not been exposed to any diversity until I came to college. I enjoy
learning about other cultures and religions, so I can have a rounded view of society. College
opened my eyes to the amount of diversity around me. The experiences at Lake Superior Village,
Danz Elementary, and the poverty simulation have made me more aware of the abundance of
culture around myself. I feel I have been professional in my experiences with diversity. I have
been aware of prejudice once at Bothwell; a student was told the project she was working on was
“crap” by the teacher. Telling a student the work is terrible harms the student’s perception of his
or hers ability. A teacher judging a student’s work should always be constructive, not
destructive.
Lake Superior Village
Volunteering at Lake Superior Village has given me interaction with elementary-aged
children and early middle school students. These children are in lower-income housing, are
enrolled in an after-school program for interaction with other students, and have access to
homework help. My interaction with the students is professional, by talking to students about the
school day and asking if the students have any homework. When the children wanted to make
slime, I made sure to check with the staff to see if the project could be done. I then took charge
and made sure the students did not handle the borax or food coloring. I made sure to ask all of
the children to participate, and I did not force anyone to. I wanted to include as many children in
the “experiment” as possible, so none of the children felt left out. When making the slime, one of
the boys believed I was being sexist by helping the girls first, and I told him I only helped the
girls first since I was seated closer to the girls. He seemed to understand me, and I quickly
finished helping the girls, then moved to help the boys.
Danz Elementary
In Danz Elementary, I worked with students of different backgrounds. I treated the
students as equals and remained respectful when one boy talked of his religion. I remained
professional in my time at Danz by allowing teachers to carry out the lesson for the day before
interacting with the students. When I was interacting with a Hmong kindergarten boy, he brought
up his religion, and I listened and nodded as he was talking. I felt asking questions would be
inappropriate, so I refrained. The kindergartners all began to talk at once when we headed to
lunch; the aides were losing the students’ attention, so I guided the students into the lunch line
quietly.
Poverty Simulation
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The poverty simulation increased my knowledge of the kinds of situations families are in.
I took the simulation seriously, while integrating my personal experiences when appropriate. I
was respectful of the conditions around me and did not joke about the situations of others. I was
respectful of my family’s opinions on actions to complete first, welcoming any ideas of
surviving the month.
Professionalism
Responsibilities 3
I am punctual, arriving at class and field experiences early. I actively participate in field
experiences while showing enthusiasm for experiences. I am willing to change dates of
volunteering as needed and take action when my engagements need to be explained. I
proactively write professional emails, asking for clarifying questions or providing information
about myself.
Preparation 2
I am prepared for class and have the material needed to complete tasks in the classroom. I
was unprepared for the first day of Bothwell by forgetting my blue sheet and a notebook. I have
been prepared for Bothwell and Lake Superior Village since the incident. I work hard on
assignments, reviewing the coursework before I turn in my work. I put effort into my academics,
so I will be able to work with students professionally and at students’ level. My second day at
Bothwell, I arrived early and had all the materials necessary. I need to prepare myself for the
level of math students are learning, to address particular concepts of the homework.
Collaboration 3
I work well with others, listening to others opinions in discussions. I actively incorporate
others into conversations, both in class and at field experiences. I respect everyone’s opinions
and speak my own opinions, while remaining cordial. I ask others if my approach to observing
and interacting with students is suitable for the learning environment. During the workshopping,
I provided potential topics to address in the workshop. I listened to others’ ideas and we
integrated our ideas together.
Participation 3
I am new in the school system as a teacher candidate, so I am beginning to engage with
students without prompting. I am comfortable interacting with educators and other adults. I am
attentive in class and at field sites, while being engaged with students in learning. I prompt
students with questions when students struggle with a problem, wait for the students to reply,
then offer an example of the solution. I took a leadership role in Bothwell when helping a student
absent the previous day finish his work. I explained concepts he missed and showed examples of
the work. I then stepped back and allowed the student to attempt the next problems. When
working with other teacher candidates, I am willing to change roles as a leader or follower
depending on the situation.
Commitment to Self-Reflection 2
I am able to look back at my experiences and evaluate my participation in class and field
experiences. I am slightly lacking in interaction with students, and I can work on interaction by
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introducing myself and inserting myself into students’ classwork. I am progressing in this way
by starting conversations with students by asking prompting questions. I understand my flaws,
and I am improving on the flaws. I accept and use criticism to improve my interaction with
students, classmates, and professionals.
Self-Evaluation
Professional Development 5
I have used my reflections on field experiences to enhance teaching for learning
strategies. I incorporate my field experiences into theory, which gives me insight into how my
strategies are working.
Theory to Practice 5
I have included an excess of examples from field experiences to describe theories and to
show my knowledge of the theories. I inserted examples in an eloquent way by integrating
relevant material to boost theories.
Professional Writing Skills 5
I have been to the writing center to improve my flow of writing and to eliminate vague
terms. Therefore, vague terms have been eliminated from my writing to provide concise
sentences. I structured my capstone with formal headings and subheadings to introduce material,
which provided a flow between topics. I used professional writing techniques and phrasing to
accomplish accurate descriptions of theory.
Diversity Behaviors 4
I feel I need further diverse experiences before I can give myself a five in this category. I
need additional time with students of different racial and cultural backgrounds in order to be
knowledgeable of others. I enjoyed interacting with students at Lake Superior Village, since
some of the students shared stories of school and home life with me. I felt unprepared at Danz
Elementary, since the school has many ethnicities I have not been exposed to. I went into Danz
without information on certain acceptable cultural behaviors.
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References
Puncochar, J. Attribution Theory Expectations [PowerPoint]. Retrieved from EduCat:
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on-14
Puncochar, J. Behaviorism and Social Cognitive Theory [Lecture]. Retrieved from notes on
March 11, 2019.
Puncochar, J. Behaviorism [PowerPoint]. Retrieved from EduCat:
https://educat.nmu.edu/moodle2/pluginfile.php/538464/mod_resource/content/8/Behavior
ism.pdf
Puncochar, J. Cognitive Development of Piaget and Vygotsky [PowerPoint]. Retrieved from
EduCat: https://educat.nmu.edu/m;oodle2/course/view.php?id=425
Puncochar, J. Erikson and Kohlberg [PowerPoint]. Retrieved from EduCat:
https://educat.nmu.edu/moodle2/course/view.php?id=425
Seifert, K., Sutton, R. (n.d.). Educational Psychology. Retrieved from
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nal-Psychology.pdf