Summary
In this lesson, students first consider what they are motivated by, and then match descriptor cards with the four types of operant conditioning. Next, students summarize a reading and a video about Operant Conditioning before writing their own operant conditioning scenario and groups, and then sharing with another group. Learning is summarized by the creation of a six-word memoir about the operant conditioning theory of learning.
Essential Question(s)
How is behavior influenced?
Snapshot
Engage
Students participate in a Four Corners activity and reflect on statements about motivation.
Explore
Students match cards related to types of rewards and punishments.
Explain
Students summarize a reading and a video about operant conditioning learning theory.
Extend
Students create an operant conditioning scenario in groups, then share with another group.
Evaluate
Students compose six-word memoirs to summarize the operant conditioning learning theory.
Materials
Lesson slides (attached)
Four Corners posters (attached)
Operant Conditioning Cards (attached; one per group of three to four students)
H-Chart handout (attached; one per student)
Operant Conditioning Reading handout (attached; one per student)
Sticky notes (one per student)
Scissors (one per group of three to four students)
Notebook
Paper
Pen/pencil
Computer with Internet access (attached; optional)
Authenticity Practitioner’s Brief (attached; optional)
Works Cited page (optional)
Authentic Use of Technology handout (attached; optional)
Engage
10 Minute(s)
Use the attached Lesson Slides to guide the lesson. Introduce the Four Corners strategy to students on slide 3. Move to slide 4, and read the statement to students. Have students move to the poster that reflects their level of agreement with the statement. Ask students to discuss why they agree or disagree with the statement in their groups at each poster. At each poster, have a student share what their group discussed. Repeat this process with slides 5-7. Tell students to return to their seats. Move to slide 8 to review the essential question and slide 9 to review the lesson objective.
Explore
10 Minute(s)
Tell your students that they will be participating in a Card Matching activity. Place students into groups of three to four. Pass out to each group the attached Operant Conditioning Cards and a pair of scissors. Have a student cut out the cards. Move to slide 10, and tell students to first make a row out of the four types of operant conditioning. (The text on these cards is in bold.) Next, have students work together to place the descriptor cards under one of the four types.
Display slide 11 after students have had time to place the cards, and review the definitions of the four types of operant conditioning. Ask students if they need to move any cards based on the definitions, and provide time if needed.
Explain
25 Minute(s)
Pass out the attached Operant Conditioning Reading and H-Chart handouts to each student. Introduce the Paired Texts H-Chart strategy to students by explaining that the left side of the H-Chart will be a summary of a reading and the right side will be a summary of a video. Students will then combine what they have learned from the reading and video to answer the question in the middle of the H-Chart. Display slide 12, and have students first read the Operant Conditioning Reading individually. Afterwards, have them summarize the main points on the left side of the H-Chart.
Next, move to slide 13, and go over the instructions with students. Play the video on slide 14 for students. After the video, provide a few minutes for students to add a summary to the right side of the H-Chart.
Display slide 15. Have students pair up to write a response to the question in the center of the H-Chart: According to operant conditioning, how can behavior be influenced? Ask for several volunteers to share what they wrote as a response.
Extend
30 Minute(s)
Place students into groups of three to four, and move to slide 16. Tell students to write an operant conditioning scenario that uses either reinforcement or punishment on notebook paper. The requirements for the scenario are listed on the slide for students. Provide students with about twenty minutes to develop their scenario, then have each group pair up with another group. Tell the newly formed groups to share their scenarios with one another and discuss the use of reinforcement or punishment in the scenario.
Evaluate
5 Minute(s)
Provide each student with a sticky note. Display slide 17, and introduce students to the Six-Word Memoirs strategy. Tell students to create a six-word sentence that concisely summarizes the learning theory of operant conditioning. An example of a six-word memoir about B.F. Skinner is on the slide for students. Have students place their sticky notes in a common area of the classroom.
Consider collecting students’ H-Chart summaries to assess understanding of the lesson content.
Resources
K20 Center. (n.d.). Card matching. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/1837
K20 Center. (n.d.). Desmos Classroom. Tech tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/1081
K20 Center. (n.d.). Four corners. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/138
K20 Center. (n.d.). Paired texts H-chart. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/132
K20 Center. (n.d.). Six-word memoirs. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/75
Sprouts. (2020, June 30). Skinner’s operant conditioning: Rewards & punishments [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne6o-uPJarA