Wed, 24 Apr 2002 14:04:16 You have been removed from the BEHAVIOR2000 list (Behavior2000: Behavior and Digital Technology List) by David Feeney <DavidFeeney <at> AOL.COM>.
Rolf Marvin requests advice on "difficult conversations."
This was readily available decades ago, in a book that anticipated many of
behavior analytic findings. Dale Carnegie wrote it:
"How to Make Friends and Influence People."
"Try it. You'll like it," and you will be able to translate it directly
into p.c. beh. an. language!
W.S.V.
_____________________________________________
William S. Verplanck wverplan <at> utk.edu
An award-winning site: http://web.utk.edu/~wverplan/
http://web.utk.edu/~wverplan/kantor/kantor.html
_____________________________________________
In a message dated 04/18/2002 5:45:56 PM Eastern Daylight Time, wverplan <at> UTKUX.UTCC.UTK.EDU writes: << There is already far too much evidence that the process of cult-formation is already too far advanced… Today's NYT reports that 42 (1 out of every 6) of Philadelphia's schools (most failing victims of educationalism?) are being privatized, most of them contracted out to the "Edison" people, five to Temple University, three to the Univ. of Pa, and the remaining fourteen to four other bodies, with a variety of methodologies. Do any of these apply the methodologies of applied behavior analysis? Will the able behavior analysts (both exptal and applied) at Temple participate? If not, why not? How many such schools and charter schools have behavior analysts set up, worked in _or_ with? >> Exactly how does this constitute evidence that BA is a cult? -- JE
In a message dated 04/19/2002 7:16:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time, jcautill <at> ASTRO.OCIS.TEMPLE.EDU writes: << I guess the issue is cult vs community. Are we a community? I would say yes. No differnt from APA is for psychologists. >> Agreed. We are actually several subcommunities who agree at most that human behavior is deserving of study and is the subject of practical change. To me, a cult means something like that Jim Jones group that committed mass suicide in Guyana, or the Heaven's Gate group that committed suicide when they thought the comet was the Mother Ship.
(1) Sorry, Joe, under no circumstances would I participate in this
program. It's no more, and no less, one more step in the direction of the
development of behavior analysis, and especially 'applied' behavior
analysts, into a cult.
To quote myself:
"We're great at explaining ourselves to ourselves and at neglecting to note
that there are many others with whom we should converse, to whom we may
contribute, from whom we might learn, and with whom we may
accommodate. Behavior analysis must _not_ become a cult."
There is already far too much evidence that the process of cult-formation
is already too far advancedÂ…
Today's NYT reports that 42 (1 out of every 6) of Philadelphia's schools
(most failing victims of educationalism?) are being privatized, most of
them contracted out to the "Edison" people, five to Temple University,
three to the Univ. of Pa, and the remaining fourteen to four other bodies,
with a variety of methodologies. Do any of these apply the methodologies
of applied behavior analysis? Will the able behavior analysts (both exptal
and applied) at Temple participate? If not, why not? How many such
schools and charter schools have behavior analysts set up, worked in _or_ with?
Are we talking only to ourselves, and not to parents, school boards, review
boards, and those politically responsible for education?
Shouldn't behavior analysts be out there running schools and teaching, by
example? (Whatever became of Don Cooke's very beh. an. endeavors?)
(2) I'd like to believe that I'm totally out of the loop, laboring
under a great misapprehension, and that the foregoing is altogether
wrong-headed. Then, there's another reason I can't participate in
Nietsche. I'm 86 and live on the end of a fifty or sixty foot oxygen
tube. Emphysema precludes long-term commitments--of which I already have
too many!
W.S.V.
P.S. I note that the record of Edison's schools is lousy. Should behavior
analysts try to teach _them_ something?
W.S.V.
_____________________________________________
William S. Verplanck wverplan <at> utk.edu
An award-winning site: http://web.utk.edu/~wverplan/
http://web.utk.edu/~wverplan/kantor/kantor.html
_____________________________________________
In a message dated 04/18/2002 4:37:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time, wverplan <at> UTKUX.UTCC.UTK.EDU writes: << When a student takes a multiple-choice exam and doesn't recognize the 'correct' answer, he or she guesses, with a 1/4 or 1/5 "chance." What is the probability that he or she will repeat that choice at a later time? That they will _learn_ the errors they have made? That they will now "know" a bit of 'disinformation?' >> It depends on a lot of things, for example, how you write and compose the MC question.
When a student takes a multiple-choice exam and doesn't recognize the
'correct' answer, he or she guesses, with a 1/4 or 1/5 "chance." What is
the probability that he or she will repeat that choice at a later
time? That they will _learn_ the errors they have made? That they will
now "know" a bit of 'disinformation?'
Data from research on this specific issue will very likely show that there
is a _very_ high probability that students acquire a bundle of
misinformation this way!
W.S.V.
_____________________________________________
William S. Verplanck wverplan <at> utk.edu
An award-winning site: http://web.utk.edu/~wverplan/
http://web.utk.edu/~wverplan/kantor/kantor.html
_____________________________________________
On 4/11/02, Jonathan Cooke sent the following which opened a very
educational exchange.
W.S.V.
>Dear Behav-An,
> I recently read an article by B. F. Skinner, "Teaching Science in
> High School - What is Wrong?" What struck me as profound was the
> applicability of Skinner's analysis to science today not only in high
> school but also in university settings. As a student with an interest in
> mathematics, I have been dismayed by the punitive methods employed by
> math educators at my university. Restricting the following to
> mathematicians at my university, mathematicians seem to know math but
> little about the learning process to effectively teach their subjects.
>
>Would anyone know about the implementation of programmed instruction to
>lower division calculus? The only reference I could find was Kleppner,
>D. Quick Calculus: A Self-Teaching Guide. 2nd Ed.
>
>This part is addressed to anyone with a substantial math background.
>
>Has any work been done with programmed instruction for advanced courses in
>real analysis, differential equations, or abstract algebra? If so, what
>are the references?
>
>How would someone go about the preparation for a course in discrete
>variables or a bridge course for proofs in upper division math classes?
>
>The best work that I have found in programmed math instruction is
>"Engineering Mathematics" 5th Edition by K. A. Stroud and Dexter J.
>Booth. The book is roughly 2000 pages long and consists of 40
>programmes. It is almost a self-contained book starting with elementary
>mathematics to 3rd semester calculus, topics from linear algebra, and some
>differential equations. From the preface of the first edition:
> "The book is the outcome of some eight years' work undertaken in
> the development of programmed learning techniques in the Department of
> Mathematics at the Lanchester College of Technology, Coventry. For the
> past four years, the whole of the mathematics of the first year of
> various Engineering Degree courses has been presented in programmed form,
> in conjunction with seminar and tutorial periods. The results obtained
> have proved to be highly satisfactory, and further extension and
> development of these learning techniques are being pursued.
> Each programmed has been extensively validated before being
> produced in its final form and has consistently reached a success level
> above 80/80, i.e. at least 80% of the students have obtained at least 80%
> of the possible marks in carefully structured criteria tests. In a
> research programme, carried out against control groups receiving the
> normal lectures, students working from programmes have attained
> significantly higher mean scores than those in the control groups and the
> spread of marks has been considerably reduced. The general pattern has
> also been reflected in the results of the sessional examinations.
> The advantages of working at one's own rate, the intensity of
> the student involvement and the immediate assessment of responses, are
> well known to those already acquainted with programmed learning
> activities. Programmed learning in the first year of a student's course
> at a college or university provides the additional advantage of bridging
> the gap between the rather highly organised aspect of school life and the
> freer environment and greater personal responsibility for his own
> progress which faces every student on entry to the realms of higher education."
> K. A. Stroud wrote these insightful words over 30 years ago. Why
> are these behaviorally based methods of instruction not in greater
> use? What is it going to take for these proven methods of instruction to
> be implemented on a large scale in educational establishments?
>
> Books like the aforementioned give me a shred of hope for math and
> science education in the United States.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Jonathan Cooke
_____________________________________________
William S. Verplanck wverplan <at> utk.edu
An award-winning site: http://web.utk.edu/~wverplan/
http://web.utk.edu/~wverplan/kantor/kantor.html
_____________________________________________
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