Fanquadet A. Garnett
OMDE 610 9040
Assignment 2: Behaviorist Learning Activity
“Are You Smarter Than A Regulation” Learning Activity
The proper management of regulated medical waste (RMW) is imperative to maintain the healthy
environment and earth that we have grown accustomed to living on. As such, it is essential that
individuals that handle, transport, and manage RMW are equipped with the required training necessary
for them to govern these wastes appropriately. This requires extensive training on laws and regulations
governing safe handling and transporting practices. Unfortunately, the main audience of this course tends
to be those who have limited knowledge and use with regulations and very few, if any, have postsecondary education. Some of the students that take the training have learning disabilities and challenges
such as English as a second language (ESL) limited hearing, visual challenges, and dyslexia. To meet
some of these challenges, various activities have been incorporated into the training course to actively
engage the minds of the students keep them involved in the learning process, challenge their thought
process and to test their comprehension of the material. The “Are You Smarter than a Regulation”
learning activity will test the students’ knowledge on how to reference, identify, and utilize various
regulations for the purpose of retrieving key information within the regulations when needed.
Objectives:




Students will state the purpose of the 49 CFR, IATA, DOD 4500.9-R, MEDCOM 40-35
Students will identify key Parts and Subparts of the regulations
Students will identify the “hazmat” table and its appropriate term in each regulation
Students will demonstrate their understanding of packaging, marking, and labeling per
regulations
Activity Analysis
“Are You Smarter than a Regulation” is a simple program for a computer game. In this activity,
the students will be a student just like on the show. However, in this game the students are competing
against three regulations instead of three 5th graders. The regulations are the main regulations taught in
training: International Air Transport Association (IATA), Code Federal Regulation (CFR), and
Department of Defense (DOD). The students have the option to choose a regulation category and are then
asked a series of questions in that category. The object of the game is to answer all the questions in each
category correctly. They will have three lifelines: a peek, a copy, and a save. If the students answer a
question incorrectly after using all three lifelines then they have failed to meet the objective and must
claim, “They Are Not Smarter than a Regulation” and the game restarts.
The core theory for the basis of this instruction is the behaviorist theory. It provides the
framework of this learning activity through an aged old technology that has been used for over half a
century; Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI). CAI is a type of programmed instruction that allows the
designer to control the outcome of information to be absorbed by the learner (Harasim, 2012). As
Harasim states, “CAI is essentially a drill-and-practice approach to learning…” (2012, p. 44). This type
of repetition is exactly what the behaviorist approach is based upon; invoking continuous actions
(stimulus) that elicit the desired results one would like to attain (response). In the learning activity the
stimulus is the activity and the various questions that require continual stimulating of the mind. The
desired response would be successful answering of all the questions; hence understanding of the
regulations.
Are you Smarter than a Regulation Outline
I.
Introduction/Rules of the Game
A. Game Tutorial
i.
How to control game (game functions)
ii.
How to enter and exit game
B. Game Rules
i.
List of game objectives
ii.
Instructions on how to win/play the game
II.
Playing the Game
A. Student choose category (regulation) to play from
i.
Categories to chose from: IATA, DOD, 49 CFR, MEDCOM 40-35
ii.
Answer question from each category
1. If correct- move on to next question
2. If incorrect- choose a lifeline
B. Three lifeline: Peek, Copy, and Save
i.
Peek- Allows student to peek at any regulations answer
ii.
Copy- Allows a students to copy an answers from a any regulation
iii.
Save- Allows a student to get the correct answers directly from the correct
regulation
C. Don’t let the regulation outsmart you!!!
i.
Using up all lifelines without answering all the questions correctly restarts the
game. Unfortunately student “ You are not Smarter than a Regulation”
III.
Winning the Game/End of Game
A. Answering all the questions correctly even if all lifelines are used will result in a win.
This will end the game and earn the student their claim to say “They Are Smarter than a
Regulation”!
4
3
2
1
Rubric
Consistently does all or almost all of the following:
Identifies and classifies hazardous materials using the hazmat table in various regulations
States key Parts and Subparts in various regulations
State responsibilities and training requirements in various regulations
Demonstrate applied knowledge of packaging, marking, and labeling
Does most or many of the following:
Identifies and classifies hazardous materials using the hazmat table in various regulations
States key Parts and Subparts in various regulations
State responsibilities and training requirements in various regulations
Demonstrate applied knowledge of packaging, marking, and labeling
Does most or many of the following:
Minimally identifies hazardous materials using the hazmat table in various regulations
Difficulty identifying key Parts and Subparts in various regulations
Difficulty identifying responsibilities and training requirements in various regulations
Minimally demonstrates applied knowledge of packaging, marking, and labeling
Does all or almost all of the following:
Lacks ability to interprets hazmat table
Fails to identify key Parts and Subparts in various regulations
Fails to state responsibilities and training requirements in various regulations
Unsuccessful in demonstrating applied knowledge of packaging, marking, and labeling
(Pierce, 2006, para. 9)
Conclusion
The learning activity is a creative and fun approach to the behaviorist theory. It builds upon the
concept that response can be manipulated through conditioning (Harasim, 2012). In the students’ case the
condition is repetition through continuous questions through CAI. With successful completion of the
activity, the students have been conditioned; this means the students have met the objective and learned
the required information that was needed. The behaviorist approach has thus been effectively put into
action.
References
Harasim, L. (2012). Learning theory and online technologies. New York and London: Routledge.
Pierce, W. (2006). Designing rubrics for assessing higher order thinking. Columbia, MD: Howard
Community College.