Before I learned the Principles of Instruction and Learning, I was always heard of the word “Behaviorism”. After the learning the behaviorism via IDE 621, this word “Behaviorism” becomes more clear. I know human learning can be defined as a relatively permanent change in observable behavior as a result of experience. The learning process starts to become specific and measurable.
Some thoughts after learning Behaviorism: how we respond to the stimulus in daily life, we keep learning all the time. Get reinforcement or punishment force us to adjust our behavior subconsciously. At the same time, I believe the way we change our behavior also changes our path to tracking what we want, what kind of person we want to be. The behavior and mental influence each other mutually.
The way of how the instructor delivers the content in the IDE 621 also impressed me. The engaging activities involved students to think actively and the group activities collaborate to complete the task. For example, the booklet activity, teach the vocabulary in a group unit, the candy awards. The booklet requires the students to compete based on the behaviorism theory, and when we finish each item, we can go forward to get positive reinforcement or go to the next page to get negative reinforce reading and answer more questions. Also, the activity asks the student to explain and teach the key vocabularies to enhance students the understanding of behaviorism and learn how to collaborate. The candy awards activity is my favorite one, which exactly is positive reinforcement in the process of stimulus and response! The gamification learning mode is a referential experience if I am going to design a course.
After the learning of Behaviorism, I know the learning process could be defined as the happening of observable behavior. The learning behavior can be measurable via observation. This definition is very useful and helpful when we are going to define the learning objectives as an Instructional Designer.