1

Michele Bodine
OMDE 610
Assignment #2

Behaviorist Learning Activity for High School Health Education

Introduction:
In Maryland, health education is a graduation requirement. Students in
grades 9-12 participate in a semester long course that provides them with
the opportunity to develop skills, attitudes and behaviors that enable one to
make responsible decisions about health and avoid health related crisis. In
Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS), the high school health
education curriculum uses the National Health Education Standards,
Maryland State Health Education Standards, the Common Core Literacy
Standards and UDL strategies as guidelines for the curriculum to ensure that
the overall goal for health education is met.

Description of Class and Lesson:

This class consists of a heterogeneous group of students aged 14-18.
The size ranges from 25 36 students. All students have a basic
understanding of the different health topics covered during throughout the
semester. Because students have participated in Health Education courses
in middle school (grades 6-8), many feel they have learned all that needs to
be learned about the subject of health. This mind set often leads to a lack of
effort in the course. In order to improve the desired effort, this lesson will be
based around the Behaviorist Learning Theory by incorporating the use of
technology (the stimuli) to help increase students motivation (the response)
throughout the lesson. Using these strategies, student will learn about
controllable and uncontrollable risk factors that can have an impact on the
students lives now and in the future.
Lesson Objectives:
o Students will identify the role played by each of the following in
causing illness: family history, lifestyle choices, environment, and
genetics.
o Students will analyze how their lifestyle can have a positive and
negative impact on their lives now and in the future.

Lesson Materials:
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Chrome Book
Computer
Longevity Game Reflection Prompt
Longevity Game Reflection Rubric
Pearson Health Textbook
Pen/Pencil
Smart Board
Smart Response Clickers
The Longevity Game - https://www.northwesternmutual.com/learningcenter/tools/the-longevity-game
YouTube Video 5 Extra Years

Outline of Lesson:
-

Topic: Risk Factors

Beginning of Class:
o Students will enter the room and retrieve a smart response
clicker and a drill sheet.
o Students will log-on to their clicker by entering their student
identification number and choosing Mrs. Bodine as their class.
Motivator:
o Students will complete the drill What do you know about risky
behaviors?
The questions focus on 10 topics that focus on risks in a
persons life controllable or uncontrollable.
o Students will examine the vocabulary terms risk factor
(controllable and uncontrollable) and sedentary
Classwork:
o Students will watch the video Five Extra Years.
After the video, the students will answer the question Why is this video relevant to todays topic Risk Factors
and Behaviors?
Students answers are discussed as a class.
o Students will be introduced to the Longevity Game.
The teacher will show students the steps locate the game
online and play the game.
o Students will retrieve a Chrome Book from the cart and begin
playing The Longevity Game
o Reflection Students complete the Longevity Game Reflection.
Using the points listed below, each student will write a brief
constructed response (BCR) that informs the reader about the
results of the game along with modifications made to the game.

They will use the rubric on page 3 to help them complete the
assignment.
Closure:
o Using the smart response clickers, the students will answer
questions that are similar to those asked for the drill question.
This will determine which information was retained and which
information will need to be revisited next class.

Learning Theory:
When students use technology, they have the ability to obtain information
almost instantaneously. Therefore, this lesson has been shaped by the
behaviorist learning theory because it focuses on stimuli followed by some
type of response whether it is positive or negative. Learning can be
achieved using the behaviorist learning theory because the participant
immediately understanding if they are "right" or "wrong" depending upon the
response provided. Each activity that involves the use of technology
provides the student with immediate results/feedback.
-

Smart Response Clicker and Smart Board Students answer questions

by choosing a letter (A, B, C, D) and hitting enter. For each questions,
the students response is sent to the Smart Board and the student is
provided an immediate response correct or incorrect.
Video Five Extra Years students will view the video and provide their
immediate reactions (thoughts, feelings, etc.).
Chrome Book and Online Longevity Game Students will use the
provided link to access the longevity game. At the beginning of the
game, they are provided with an age. As they answer questions about
their personal lives, the age increases or decreases. The change in
age reflects whether the chosen answer is a healthy or unhealthy
choice for the persons life.

Lesson Rubric:
The rubric that was chosen for this lesson is holistic. This type of rubric
requires the teacher to score the overall process or product as a whole,
without judging the component parts separately (Mertler, 2001).
Additionally, a holistic rubric works best for behaviorist learning theory
lessons. The rubric will be utilized to aid in grading the Longevity Game
reflection. This task requires the students to present the knowledge they
have obtained about risk factors along with recommending topics that could
be included to the Longevity Game to make the final score more accurate.

Rubric on next page (page #4)

Rubric retrieved from http://sbac.portal.airast.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/09/PerformanceTaskWritingRubric_InformativeExplanatory.pdf

References
Berkeley Graduate Division. (2016). Graduate Student Instructor Teaching
Resources Center.
Retrieved on March 1, 2016 from http://gsi.berkeley.edu/gsi-guidecontents/learningtheory-research/behaviorism/
Mertler, Craig A. (2001). Designing scoring rubrics for your classroom.
Practical Assessment,
Research & Evaluation, 7(25). Retrieved February 29, 2016 from
http://PAREonline.net/getvn.asp?v=7&n=2
Smarter Balance. (2016). Assessment Consortium. Retrieved on March 1,
2016 from
http://sbac.portal.airast.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/09/PerformanceTaskWritingRubric_InformativeEx
planatory.pdf