Reflection on Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning is a type of learning which focuses on how involuntary
responses (such as heart rate, blood pressure, or aspects of emotions on which we
have no direct control) may be linked to particular objects or events.
In my perspective, classical conditioning method or technique can be very
effective in the classroom if properly understood and used. As proven by research, this
technique can present/use a conditioned stimulus that can create a positive response to
a subject (students in particular). One of the concrete examples of its effectiveness is
seen in the product commercials, in different media like television, radio and print ads.
Its principle applied in endorsing products made the consumer react positively on the
product regardless of its effectiveness on them.
The commercial seen is being
associated with a positive feeling, feeling good about ones’ self when using the product.
I believe that the attitude that students have for the subject or topic can either be
a major obstacle or boon to learning, therefore, this must be one of the major concerns
of any teacher before setting any expectations from his/her students. Every teacher
must devise an activity that would set students attitude into the right frame. Seeing the
great effectiveness of classical conditioning’s principle on human’s behavior, I therefore
conclude that this can be used as a powerful tool to make/create a very stimulating
learning avenue for children.
This gives me a better understanding how essential
motivational activity is in the classroom before actually discussing any lesson.
A
motivational activity does not only help the teacher prepare the students to be in the
right mood to get started with the lesson for the day, it also makes the students
associate learning into something fun and positive.
I am certain that thousands of
researches and experiments have been made and tested as to how effective this type of
learning is, but after reflecting on this topic and relating it with my personal experience; I
find the following helpful in motivating the students; to catch and sustain the students’
interest in any subject:
a. Before the student could really like and enjoy things that are asked from them
to do, the teacher must first show the right attitude towards the subject that she is
going to teach.
In a real life situation, teachers are sometimes required to teach
subjects that are not of their liking or within their area of expertise. In cases like
this, it is important to make every effort to project a positive attitude for all subject
content and to treat it as relevant and worthwhile. I believe that a way to arouse
student’s enthusiasm is to show one, as the saying goes “goodness begets
goodness”.
I think it is also true that “enthusiasm begets enthusiasm in the
classroom.” Student will respond positively to the attitude that a teacher projects
toward a subject.
b. The attitude that a teacher has for his/ her students. I remember when I was
still in High School I have the best teacher in Mathematics. I can say that he
really has the mastery of the subject matter, he is very creative in presenting the
lessons and he is a very kind teacher. But in spite of this, only few of us would
listen to him while the rest our rowdy and restless. In events like this he would
just say “I am doing my job, it is up to you if you want to listen or not.” Another
classic example is the stereotype about math, a student who got a bad
experience with a math teacher due to failure to answer the question/problem
given, become afraid of the teacher. Now even if the student has a new teacher
in math, he/she still has the same fear towards the subject. I have come to
realize that mastery of the subject matter, being a kind teacher or being the most
feared one does not guarantee a satisfying outcome. What went wrong to the
strategies used? Maybe the teacher failed to communicate well to his students
his real and profound intentions, that he wants his students to pay attention to the
discussion because he does not want them to fail. Having been in the teaching
profession shorter than my High School Math teacher, I believe that each teacher
must strive to project a sense of sincere concern and care for all of his/her
students. Thus, teaching should not only be a means of living but a labor of love
as well.
If this pairing is continuously done, not only the subject will be equated to fun but
the teacher as well. We often observe lots of students cuddling and a warming a
teacher even if they are not in the classroom anymore; perhaps it is because the
presence of the teacher has become a conditioned stimulus that makes the students
automatically feel excited and happy every time they see the teacher. In the same way
that, no matter how uninteresting or hard the lesson is, students still manifest positive
attitude towards the subject.
Reflection on CONSTRUCTIVISM (Jean Piaget)
Is Piaget’s theory still applicable to children today?
According to Piaget Children learn by directly acting upon their environment,
manipulating objects, and constructing SCHEMAS based upon their experiences.
Schema networks can be constructed so that knowledge can be widened.
I would like to focus on how children are advancing from one to stage to another
in terms of behavior.
I think Piaget’s theory is still applicable and very true to children at present,
especially beginning from Stage 1 which he calls Sensorimotor period (from birth to age
2) up to Stage 2 or the Preoperational period (ages 2 to 7). What made the difference
today are the added influences they get from the environment, significantly the advent
of technology, which are not present quite a long time ago.
In his Stage 2 -
Preoperational period for instance, he says that the limitation of the child’s mode of
thought may sometimes place him/her in conflict with adults. For example, a child
would interrupt his/her father who is talking to a visitor; the child does not understand
that his father cannot make two conversations at a time. Today children at this stage
would still do things similar to how children behave/do in the same stage before, which
is based on their own perspective or the lack of ability to take another person’s point of
view (egocentrism). An example of this would be a child who insists that his/her mother
buy him/her a toy that he/she saw in the mall. No matter how the mother explains that
they don’t have enough money to buy the toy and that they can still wait for sometime to
buy it, the child would still continue showing disagreement by crying. While it is still true
that children at this stage tend to do things based on their own perspective, I would like
to add that because of the technology and many influences seen through the different
media, children learned to intensify their mechanism on how they will manipulate things
in order for them to get what they want of do what they want to do. What do I mean by
this? Children now don’t just simply ask something because they want it, now they are
more persevering in asking for things plus can reason out well why they should get what
they want by imitating what they see through the internet, in television, print materials,
and hear in the radio. Children nowadays, at the same stage in Piaget’s theory, are
capable of persuading or even outsmarting adult by using their innate characteristics
and in addition to this, the fed experiences that are readily accessed in this so called
information superhighway era.
In the Third and Fourth stage on the other hand, I think the development is
reversed. Again Piaget’s description of these stages is still true and evident to children
of the same age today, only this time knowledge widens abruptly. Children (puberty –
adolescence stage) can get information that they need in an instant, experiencing things
that are not appropriate at their age yet, thereby missing out many important things that
are only achieved through undergoing natural processes patiently.
REFLECTION PAPERS
CE 202 ADVANCED EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
(Saturday 8:00 am – 11:00 am)
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
CONSTRUCTIVISM (Jean Piaget)
Submitted by:
Analy A. Arcueno
Submitted to:
Caroline S. de Leon, PhD