Communication of Goals
and Creating Behavioral
OBJECTIVES
UNIT # 5
Dr. Martha Pelaez
Communicating Expectations
One of the best ways to manage behavior in the
classroom is through explicit communication of
expectations
Remember, effective classroom management is
comprehensive
It includes
•
•
•
•
Organizing classroom space
Time management
Positive classroom rules
Explicit communication of expectations
Communicating expectations
A teacher communicates her expectations
through words as well as actions
Classroom rules
Student goals and objectives
Your daily objectives for each lesson should
be written on the chalkboard so student will
know what they are going to learn
Goals
Goals are broad statements about the
direction of change in behavior
David will learn to read at a second grade level
Sara will add two digit numbers
Objectives
Objectives identifies a proposed change in
behavior
Describe a level of performance and serve as the
basis for evaluation
During science class David will read a paragraph orally
in two or less minutes with less than two omissions or
substitutions on 5 of 5 occasions
Given a set of 25 two digit additions problems Sara will
write the correct sum to 23 or more problems on 5 of 5
occasions
Components of a behavioral
objective
 Identify the learner
 Identify an observable target behavior
 Identify the conditions under which the
behavior is to be displayed
 Identify criteria for acceptable
performance
Observability of action words
Action words that are directly observable
Cross out
Mark
Place
Cover with Draw
Repeat
Cross out Circle
Press
a card
Count orally orally
Write
Underline Say
Read
Label
Name
Put on
Choose
orally
Shade
Remove
Action verbs that are not directly observable
Understand Perceive
Know
Discover
Think
Discriminate Generate
Discriminate Feel
Think
Conclude
Appreciate Analyze Deduce
critically
Infer
STOs
Short term objectives (STO) are smaller,
more workable components used in writing
lesson plans
During a small group activity in science class
David will construct a model of 3 planets and
assist in the construction of a model of the solar
system by cutting or pasting, or directing other
students to do so
Good Objective?
John will improve writing skills.
Ashley will correctly answer "wh" questions in
conversation with peers and adults with 80% accuracy.
Given typed sentences, Leo will use a period or question
mark appropriately at the end of a sentence.
Mary will compose two complete sentences with the
correct punctuation every day in her Daily Journal during
writing class.
Good Objective?
When Larry is in a situation in which he feels that someone
else is in his personal space, he will move to a comfortable
distance while remaining on task.
Sue will understand the causes of the civil war after 3
lectures on the civil war with 100% accuracy.
Joe will correctly identify his nose when asked by the
teacher 3 out of 4 times.
Good Objective?
During math class Sparky will reduce the
number of inappropriate comments in class
to no more than 3 per class period
While presenting, Sara will say "um" less
than 30 times during a hour presentation.
Selecting Goals and Objectives
All goals and objectives should be based on the
relevant assessment data obtained beforehand
For Goals
Identify broad areas of need
For Objectives
Identify observable behaviors to achieve the goal
Identify smaller target behavior accomplishments for
STOs (task analysis may be helpful)
Translating your goals and
objectives into student
learning
The learn unit
The Lean Unit
Stimulus control and active student
responding
The three term contingency
The three term contingency represents the point of
contact between the teacher and the learner(s)
behavior
It is through the three term contingency that learning
(stimulus control) occurs
The three term contingency consists of three parts
Antecedent (S)
Response (R)
Consequence (S)
In education, no concept is more important than the
three term contingency
Some definitions
Stimulus- an environmental event
Antecedent- an environmental event that occurs immediately before a
behavior and set the occasion for a response to occur
Consequence- an environmental event that occurs immediately after a
behavior and determines whether or not a behavior will occur
Behavior/response- movement that produces a change in the
environment
Choral responding
Me: an environmental event is a…
You: Stimulus
Me: You are so smart!
Me: An environmental event that occurs before a response and that sets the
occasion for responding is an…
You: Antecedent
Me: Well done!
More choral responding
Me: An environmental event that occurs immediately after a response
and determines whether or not a behavior will occur
You: Consequence
Me: Right on the money!
Me: Movement that produces a change in the environment is…
You: behavior/response
Me: You are correct!
Definitions
Stimulus class- a range of stimuli that control the
occurrence of a single response which results in
reinforcement
• Dog: German Shepard, Cha wow wow, Cocker Spaniel, Beagle,
Mastiff, Poodle, Bull dog, Rhodesian Ridgeback
Response class- a single stimulus controls the occurrence
of a range of response topographies which result in
reinforcement
• Meeting someone: Hello, howdy, g’day, hi, how do you do, what’s
up?, Hey, Welcome, Good to meet you, My name is…, hola, Aloha
Definitions
Stimulus control/discrimination- the process by which
antecedent stimuli come to set the occasion for responding by
being paired with a reinforcing consequence
Stimulus generalization- the process by which similar
antecedent stimuli come to set the occasion for responding by
being paired with a reinforcing consequence
Concept formation- stimulus generalization within stimulus
classes and discrimination between stimulus classes
• The development of conceptual behavior is the primary goal of
education
An example of concept formation
(triangle)
Is a triangle
(generalization)
Is not a triangle
(discrimination)
Choral responding
Me: The process by which similar antecedent stimuli come to set the
occasion for responding by being paired with a reinforcing
consequence
You: Stimulus generalization
Me: Way to go!
Me: the process by which antecedent stimuli come to set the occasion
for responding by being paired with a reinforcing consequence
You: Stimulus control/discrimination
The learn unit
The learn unit is a set of interlocking three
term contingencies between a teacher and
students’ behavior
The learn unit includes:
The teacher’s response (student’s Sd)
Student(s) response (teacher’s Sr+ or Sp+)
Teacher’s response (students’ Sr+ or Sp+)
The Learn Unit
Teacher’s Antecedent
Students
looking at
the teacher
Students
looking at the
teacher
Teacher’s behavior
Students’ antecedent
Get out your
response boards
Teacher’s consequence
Students’ behavior
Students get out
response boards
Students write
u-t-o-p-i-a
Teacher’s antecedent
Students consequence
Everyone is
ready to learn.
50 cents goes in
the pizza party
jar
Well done class,
five more
correct and no
homework
The learn unit
Learn units can be different based on the stage of learning
During the acquisition stage almost every correct response should be
reinforced
Learn units should be presented more quickly
time =
“Class, what is 4 X 7?
“28”
“Yes, 4 X 7 is 28”
Next LU
During the practice stage LU’s should be designed to develop
fluency (accuracy + speed), so reinforcement should be provided
after a number of responses
Class get ready for a
1 minute time trial
on math facts. Please
begin
Students write
answers
Tally your
score and
chart it on you
graph
The big idea
“Students learn by doing”- John Dewey
The more LUs the teacher presents the more the students are responding
The more the students are responding the faster they are learning
The key to learning is active student responding (ASR)
When all other variables are equal:
A high-ASR lesson will produce better achievement than one in which
students make few active responses to the lesson's content.