#8

In this high school case study senior history students are uninterested and misbehaving.  Due to the time of the class and the age of the students they do not pay attention are causing a distraction to other class members.  Some students are paying attention and would like the opportunity to learn but this opportunity is being minimized by the disruptive students.  A behaviorist could tackle these issues in two different ways.  First, the disruptive students could be handled by administering punishment.  Because they are behaving in ways that need to be eliminated, the teacher could give more homework, take away fun things, or physically "call out" these students in the middle of class.  Another way of handling this situation is to address the students that are behaving properly.  You want to encourage their actions and hope that the other students will take notice of the treatment that the well-behaved students are receiving.  In order to reinforce the well-behaved students, you can present negative or positive reinforcements.  You can give these students less homework (negative reinforcement) or you can give a reward for their good behavior (positive reinforcement). 

The main difference between the way a behaviorist and a constructivist would handle this situation is addressing the behavior or addressing what is causing the behavior.  I would assume that a constructivist would attempt to get the entire classroom's attention by changing the instructional strategy.  The behavior must be addressed but not necessarily punished or reinforced.  Instead of calling out individuals, you could address the situation as a class and talk about what problems the misbehavior is causing and why it needs to change.  This website talks about different ways to address behavior issues in a classroom from a constructivist perspective.  It is important to realize the repercussions that may occur from always punishing bad behavior or always positively reinforcing good behavior.  Sometimes good and bad behaviors can be overlooked individually and the whole class can benefit from a group discussion.  I believe that constructivism will play a larger role in my classroom due to my level of expectations for my students.  I hope that my students will use the knowledge that I provide them and the things that they learn from the class to create their own ways of thinking and learning.  This will promote higher level thinking and help my students understand concepts within math.