Behaviorism

It's hard in a theatre classroom to really implement the behaviorism theory, not that it's impossible though.  The theatre I am observing this semester, Ms. Brugger, uses this theory in her film studies class.  While most of the class is a lot of watching movies to understand the different types of film and such, she uses the Premack Principle to have the students work on the packets that she gives out on varying subjects (usually about the era they are studying) and then as a reward, the students get to pick out of a list of movies that fit with the lesson which one they want to watch in class.  If the students are getting off topic or talking during their study time and their packets aren't getting completed, she implements the Response Cost and takes away their choice of working as a partnership on the packets, or simply chooses the movie they get to watch, rather than allow them to choose.

The students responded quite well to this particular example.  It motivated students to get their packet done efficiently because they got to control how the class went as they did their work.  They got to pick what they wanted to see and who they worked with and understood that failure to do that resulted in the loss of those privileges.   There were some students who simply didn't care or tried, and Ms. Brugger took that into her judgement of these rewards and punishments.  She work talk to those students to make sure they were both on the same page and she would try and find something that would motivate those students to do the work and not ruin the experience for the rest of the class.  (I am not aware of any of those deals that she has made with those students, but they do seem to work harder for a different goal.)

I love this article because it talks about how giving students choices truly helps empower them and feel like they are getting the most out of their education.  This works hand it hand with what Ms. Brugger is doing because she is giving the students the choice to pick the movie they enjoy.  If they enjoy it, they are more likely to watch it and get more out of it.  If they end up not liking the movie, they learned more about what they don't like in movie choices because they picked it!  Giving students choice is the best learning strategy and behaviorism plays a role in that choice.