Post 6 - CSEL and Behaviorism (Option B)

The main problems for the high school case study is that the class as a whole is suffering from a bad case of “senioritis,” and three students in particular are disrupting the class.  The undesirable behaviors could be discouraged by using negative reinforcement.  For example, if students are disruptive during another student’s presentation, those causing the problem could lose points on their presentation.  Because the students in this case are seniors, they might not really be concerned about losing a few points on an assignment, so more serious consequences may be needed.   Conversely, if there are some students that are still respectful, positive reinforcement such as praising them or maybe giving them a piece of candy for their good behavior may be useful.

In this case, students may not necessarily have issues with self-efficacy.  They are nearing the end of the school year and just want to be done.  This does not mean that they have low expectations for themselves.  Self-regulation, however, may be important here.  The students could have potentially lost sight of their goals.  Their long term goals of working or going to college have been replaced by short term goals of graduating and having a fun summer break.  This lull in attention and productive behavior may be grounds for reminding the students of their long term goals.  They may need help getting back on track and realizing that they need to self-regulate so that they do not mess up their grades or get into serious trouble during their last stretch of time in high school.