Key Concepts

According to Duchesne et al. (2014), behaviorism is a theory of learning that is founded on the principle that learning takes place through teachers’ rewards and punishments which leads to changes in learning behavior. Unlike social constructivism, which emphasizes on learning via interaction, for behaviorism learning occurs when the intended output is observable. Little is room for the learner and their cognitive development or intrinsic motivational factors. For behaviorists such as Skinner (1953), learners learn through a response to a stimulus. Ivan Pavlov, proposed the concept of classical conditioning after his observations of a salivating dog. According to classical conditioning, a behavior is formed through repetitive response to a repetitive stimulus (Skinner, 1953). Supplementary to classical conditioning is operant conditioning, in which a positive response is rewarded and a negative one is punished (Gray and McBlain , 2012)

Strengths

One of the strength of behaviorism is the quantifiability of the observable behavior (Cherry, 2020). Since the final product is observable, the educator can adapt the learning materials and the input to receive the desirable response. In this way, the course objective and students' performance can be aligned and revised if needed.

Weaknesses

The biggest weakness with behaviorism is its disregard for learner with their unique values, cognitive abilities, and internal/external motivations. Behaviorism, as Cherry (2020) put it, is reductionist and mechanistic. Since the focus is on the final observable response, students and their background or prior experience is overlooked. Furthermore, little interaction is foreseen between learners in behaviorism. It is primarily the teacher who assumes the primary role and provides the stimulus and reward/punishment.

Implication for instructional design

Behaviorism could be connected to instructional design when the instructor sets measurable skills that could be observed. Furthermore, feedback could encourage positive reinforcement of knowledge or could encourage learners to revisit their responses. A branching scenario as formative assessment in the midst of a training module is a good example for behaviorism. A branching scenario is a condition in which a learner responds to a stimulus (a question in this context) and receives a response based on whether or not they responded correctly. If their response is correct, the scenario branches to a different question, and, if not, they receive feedback and are encouraged to try again. In branching scenarios, characters that can change gestures and facial expressions could be used to reinforce knowledge.