Chapter 9 Case Study Analysis

Chapter 9 Questions:

1. Does Mr. Kessinger's class represent a community of learners as defined in Ch. 7? Why or why not?

Mr. Kessinger does not represent a community of learners in his classroom. In a community of learners, the teacher & the students work together to help one another learn. Kessinger doesn't really seem to want to help at all. Instead of yelling at Robin about her notes, he should encourage her & want her to share with the class.

2. Does Mr. Kessinger utilize presentation punishment or removal punishment with Robin? Justify your response.

This one made me think. Though, I would have to say that he utilized presentation punishment. He scolded Robin for using a concept map. This in turn lead to a reduction in her behavior & her confidence. I say this because after she was scolded, she went from being presumebly happy & taking her notes to just putting her head down & not doing anything the rest of the class period. Plus, when she went to her other class, she was very unconfident when the teacher asked her a question to the point where she left the class crying.

3. Explain Robin's reaction in Ms. Yamashita's class from the perspective of classical conditioning.

Robin's reaction was greatly affected by the way old man Kessinger got after her. She is now association Kessinger towering over her desk & yelling at her with fear & that she has doing something wrong. Now, when another teachers comes over to her desk, it doesn't matter what the teacher is asking, she immediately associates that with fear & that she has done something wrong.

4. How might Ms. Yamashita encourage Robin to create concept maps in the future? Include behavioral concepts such as shaping, reinforcement, etc., in your response.

Well, she could let Robin know that by creating a concept map, it helps her as a student organize her thinking, this being able to learn more effectively. This could be considered as shaping, by positively reinforcing this, this could very well help Robin decide to continue to create concept maps to help her study more effectively throughout her educational career. She could also encourage her by letting the class know that they could learn from Robin's idea to create a concept map.