Applying Learning Theory to Online Instructional Design for Alternative High School Students

According to the University of Michigan website, "instructional design is the systematic development of instructional specifications using learning and instructional theory to ensure the quality of instruction" (University of Michigan, 2005). Whether a community-training course in basic computers or a graduate course in psychology, instruction is best presented when there is a framework, a goal, or a design. Instructional design is created by analyzing the proposed learners' needs and goals. Being able to apply a workable educational theory to this process is one-step toward fully creating an instructional framework that will assist in learners in reaching their goals. Although this is an important aspect of all instructional design, it is equitably one of the most important factors when dealing with alternative high school students. Alternative high school students can be defined as those who do not succeed in traditional forms of education.

Not all students "fit" into what traditional high school offers. The "under-achievers", "free-spirits", or "individualists" students often suffer academically within four brick walls. These students struggle with the day-to-day process of traditional education, even though their test scores say they should not. Often, time constraints and political guidelines allow these students to fade into the background. Eventually the alternative student will give up on their educational pursuits and dropout of sight completely. Giving the alternative student a choice in their education "will oft time result in their brilliance shining through and a future that is brighter than the student may have imagined" (Aron, 2006, p.3).

Online education has become very popular in higher education and it is gaining more popularity in public high school education each day. Michigan Governor, Jennifer Granholm, passed legislature in legislation early 2006 that makes one credit of online learning a requirement of graduation for all incoming 2006/07 freshman (State of Michigan, 2006). Applying the successfulness of online learning as an alternative educational option for students, gives them the ability to question their environment, interact with other students who have equal issues with education, and depend on a close community based educational setting could ensure their future success. Finding the correct balance of learning theories to apply to the design of instruction for alternative students is pertinent for success.

Behaviorist Learning Theory

The theory of behaviorism can be defined in many ways. Stanford University's website on the subject states; "there is no knowable difference between two states of mind unless there is a demonstrable difference in the behavior associated with each state" (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism). Demonstrable is the key word in the previous sentence. Behaviorists believe that if behavior is not capable of being shown to exist, it does not exist. "Internal processes are largely excluded from scientific study [of behaviorism]" (Ormrod, 2004). Behaviorism theorizes that external situations, observable actions, affect the behavior; not the process of thinking about the behavior (Monte & Sollod, 2003; Ormrod, 2004).

Classical conditioning is one form of behaviorism that can relate directly to the alternative students' educational experiences, positively and negatively. Classical conditioning involves presenting a neutral stimulus, one that does not cause a reaction, alone; then putting that neutral stimulus in play right before presenting a different stimulus (unconditioned stimulus) that does create a reaction (Ormrod, 2004). Ivan Pavlov is famous for his research with his dogs in classical conditioning. Adding the neutral stimulus to the unconditioned stimulus enough times eventually leads to the neutral stimulus causing a reaction. With alternative students, classical conditioning can be a hindrance to their education. The students have been conditioned throughout their early years to listen and do. Questioning the authority figure (teacher), the texts, or the test is not allowed; this is conditioned through years of not being an active participant in the learning process.

Alternative students, by nature, wish to question that which surrounds them. Whether from environmental factors (i.e. family and culture) or by natural selection, these students cannot be satisfied with an unyielding set of norms. Negative conditioning affects the student for the rest of their educational pursuits. When they are not exposed to an active and more critical representation of learning, they may just walk away from all educational endeavors (Kohn, 2004). Kohn proposes, "instead of teaching to the test, so to speak, teaching by doing can change how children regard the activity in question" (p. 3). In his 2004 article, Kohn suggests that the reason TBD (teaching by doing) has not been widely accepted in K - 12 education within the past few years is because it is a form of behaviorism:
"Young adults who watched highly helpful people came to view themselves as more altruistic. Part of the problem is that modeling [teaching by doing] is a concept rooted in behaviorism. It began as a refinement of the principles of operant and classical conditioning" (Kohn, 2004).

Although behaviorism has been given a "bad rap" over the past several years (because of the acceptance of cognitive theories, which will be discussed in the next section), there are many concepts based in this theory that can be applied directly to the design of online courses for alternative students.

Technology enhanced learning (such as online learning) gives credence back to behaviorism. Cook, as cited on the website Behaviorism and Technology, considers twelve components critical to behavioral approaches for instructional effectiveness:
Task analysis, identification of entering skills, an instructional strategy, requests and opportunities for student responding, supplementary prompts to support responding, transfer of the new skill to the full context of application, provision of feedback, detection and correction of errors, mastery requirement for each well-defined unit, internalization of behavior, sufficient self-pacing to accommodate individual differences in rates of achieving mastery, and modification of instructional programs. (http://hagar.up.ac.za, n.d.).

Although these twelve components do not lead into the alternative students need to question the material, it does give way for instructional design to accommodate that need. It allows the alternative student to utilize his or her own learning style in a way that is conducive to retaining the knowledge. It gives ample room for questioning and feedback, along with mastery skill building. Practice is important in education. People are more likely to retain information when they have the chance to go over it repeatedly in ways that relate it to their own lives (Drevno, as cited in Ormrod, 2004). Ideally, then "students should be active respondents throughout the learning process" (Ormrod, 2004).

Designing an online course of instruction that allows the alternative student to be an active respondent would enhance the learning environment greatly. Active course room participation is supported in the online learning environment as it builds community and gives way to a comfort zone. Academic subject matter "should be encountered in a positive climate and associated with positive emotions" (p. 46). Proper instructional design can foster positive reinforcement along with the ability to model reinforcement. This will benefit the alternative student immensely by giving the student confidence (with immediate and individualized feedback) and the ability to remain in control of his or her own educational pursuits.

Operant conditioning is another branch of behaviorism. Edward Thorndike, in 1898, introduced operant conditioning (sometimes called connectionism) learning theory. This theory emphasized the "role of experience in the strengthening and weakening of stimulus-response connections" Ormrod, p. 50). With Thorndike's law of effect (responses to a situation that are followed by satisfaction are strengthened; responses that are followed by discomfort are weakened) and law of exercise (stimulus-response that are repeated are strengthened; stimulus-response connections that are not used are weakened) (Ormrod, 2004) there is a connection to the immediate experiences in an online learning environment. Satisfactory and constructive feedback can provide a strengthened feeling about education in general for alternative students. Making use of asynchronous and synchronous discussion between students, peers, and teachers in the design of instruction provides a way for operant conditioning to take place.

B. F. Skinner, one of the best-known theorists in behaviorism, took Thorndike's conclusions one-step further. Skinner theorized, "the response that is followed by a reinforcer is strengthened and therefore more likely to be repeated" (p. 51). While Thorndike spoke of rewards and punishments as key consequences shaping behavior, Skinner preferred the more descriptive terms positive and negative (Monte & Sollod, 2003). For alternative students, positive reinforcement (i.e. feedback, permission to question in a safe environment, and alternate methods of learning) leaves the learners wanting to continue. Negative reinforcement (i.e. lack of understanding from teachers, standardized methods of instruction, and confinement of creativity) leads students to giving up and becoming despondent about the learning experience.

Skinner also introduced an element that was not present in behaviorism before, what he called private events. These events, such as thinking, remembering, or even having an emotional reaction, "are not observable or necessarily apparent to the observer" (Ormrodp. 515). Although not inherently observable, they are a manner of behavior. Relating to the design process, giving these private events recognition in the course of instruction lets the alternative students find themselves involved completely in the learning process. Credit is given by the teacher and other learning peers to the students' thoughts, past experiences, and emotions. Monte and Sollod (2003) list three key themes in Skinner's theory of behavior (often called radical behaviorism). First is externalized human agency, so that the behaviorist looks outside the person for the basic causes of behavior (p. 521). For alternative students, this factor is a needed issue. Designing an online learning module that relates to the best behavioral methods for this type of student is significant. The next theme is elimination or rejection of feelings as casual variables in human psychology (Monte and Sollod ,p. 51). Feelings reflect how students accept the environment and how it is processed. For a student who does not exist well in traditional educational settings, feelings are tantamount to learning. Ignoring them or counting feelings as casual variables in the design of a course for alternative students would be to resort back to stimulus that causes negative responses. The third and final theme is that thought is used to choose among or select environmental stimuli (Monte & Sollod, 2003). This could perhaps be the most important theme for the instructional design on alternative education. Preparing a course that takes into account different environmental stimuli best suits the needs of alternative students. From prior experience, in a controlled classroom setting, the students have failed to meet educational expectations. Presenting a variety of ways to approach the learning process in the design of the online course will benefit the non-traditional way these students learn.

Although behaviorism is not looked upon favorably in the 21st century educational world, this world is not always meeting the needs of the alternative students either. Perhaps looking back to the theorists who started it all would do the field of education a favor. Combining behaviorist theories with current technology could provide a solid basis for saving alternative students from failing. Research based in theoretical framework concerning instructional design for online learning may soon find that behaviorist theories do have a place in the educational world today. Looking at how cognitive learning theory can relate to the design of these courses may give a look into a shift in pedagogy that allows alternative students the enriched education that they deserve, using a blend of the two theories.

Cognitive Learning Theory

During the 1970's there was a large movement in learning environments from behavioral theory to cognitive theory (Prawat, 1999). Unlike behaviorism, which is built upon observable differences, cognitive learning theory builds upon what is unobservable; processes of learning that occur mentally, not physically (Hung, 2001; Martin, 2004; Ormrod, 2004; Prawat, 1999). Memory, recall, motivation, socialization, and problem solving are all cognitive learning components (Ormord, 2004). Within the whole theory of cognitive learning, there are several sub-theories; a few of these directly relate to the education of alternative students in the online environment. Focusing on the cognitive theories of constructivism and social developmental (sometimes called social cognitive theory) theory, we can explore how these theories can enhance the design of online learning for alternative students.

Jerome Bruner (a major theorist in constructivism) believes that education is a social process in which the student constructs new ideas and knowledge based on what they all ready know. Designing instruction so that it is easily grasped, concerned with the students experiences, and making sure it goes beyond the information given are three things Bruner feels are pertinent to constructivist learning (Huit, 2003). Utilizing this for the alternative student gives them a taste of an education that they are responsible for constructing, which up until now may have been non-existent in their educational endeavors. Bruner's thoughts should allow the student to be active in their education; to ask questions about the subject; and to apply the knowledge directly to what all ready exists in their minds. As history has shown, and as the failure to thrive in traditional schools has shown, traditional schools often do not promote environments where students can "play an active role" (Riddle, 1999) in their own education along with interaction with their learning peers educations.

As constructivism is a social theory, the interaction of the community of online learners fully supports the acquisition of knowledge within this context. When designing courses for alternative students, focusing on support of this community is an important aspect. With their experiences in traditional education being a "stigmatism", the student needs to know that they are not alone in their thoughts and actions. Palloff and Pratt speak about how communities have changed in their 1999 book "Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace: Effective Strategies for the Online Classroom":

Carolyn Shaffer and Kristin Anundsen (1993) talk about our human yearning for a sense of belonging, kinship, and connection to a greater purpose. Changes in the makeup of our families, neighborhoods, and towns have increased that longing, as we are not as easily able to identify with something we can call a community. Our communities today are formed around issues of identity and shared values; they are not place based (Palloff, 1996). (Palloff & Pratt, 1999). Bringing an online community of students together and allowing them to share their thoughts and feelings about education along with the subject being introduced can give them a feeling of belonging without having to be in the same place at the same time.

Online instructional design can utilize this community using web-based tools that promote constructivist tasks. Discussion groups (asynchronous and synchronous), email, voice chat, and instant messaging can all enhance the interaction between students. Utilizing these things to debate the ideas, set personal and group goals, and receive immediate feedback (Mishra, 2002) will assist the alternative student in building rapport with their cohorts. While behaviorism ignored the existence of mind, cognitive learning theories such as constructivism fully embraces the minds existence. Using web-based tools promotes the construction of new knowledge in a way that is both acceptable and easily adjustable for the student. Socially constructing the new knowledge based on others experiences and the students own experiences then integrating it into a new perspective promotes the social aspect that is absent in many traditional schools.

The social development theory proposed by Lev Vygotsky brings community and cultures, whether "place based" or not, into learning. Vygotsky believed "that biological and cultural development do not occur in isolation" (Driscoll, 1994 as cited in Riddle, 1999). Vygotsky also theorized that students/children needed higher order thinking skills and interaction with challenging situations in order to keep learning through the years (Ormrod, 2004). Interacting with others socially, including an "adult" or teacher who knows more about the subject, leads to and "promote(s) cognitive development" (Ormrod, p. 152). Incorporating the society of students who have similar situations into an online community and adding course design that supports socially active learning, higher order thinking skills, and a facilitator who has subject knowledge provides a well-rounded and theoretically based stable environment of learning. Giving the students an active role in their learning and allowing them to "socialize" with others who have had similar educational experiences gives credence to the learning process and allows the students to become responsible for their own educations.

In the past few years, researchers have combined Bruner's theory of constructivism and Vygotsky's theory of social development to form social constructivism theory. With traditional schools, there is a set "knowledge base" and the teacher is responsible for total transference of this knowledge (Roehler & Cantlon, 1996). Alternative students, as stated earlier, struggle with traditional knowledge acquisition as it is in their nature to question the content and they may need interaction with others to retain that information (Castle, Deniz, & Tortora, 2005). Social constructivism provides this opportunity as the most favorable learning environment exists when there is self-motivated interaction between instructors, learners, and course objectives (Beaumie, 2001). This provides an opportunity for learners to create their own meaning of the subject dependent upon the interaction with those in the social group where the knowledge is presented and their previous understanding of the subject.

Research has concluded that the "ability grouping" classroom that most schools have been implementing for the past 20 years "has shown clear evidence of its negative side effects, particularly on low-achieving and minority students" (Segro, 1995; Peterson, 1989; Lake, 1988; Oakes, 1985; & Slavin, 1990, as cited in Castle, Deniz, & Tortora, 2005). "Ability grouping" classrooms can be described as those that put students in classes based on their current abilities, passing or failing grades/test scores, or in most cases, ages (Robison, 1998; Kinsey, 2001; WikEd, 2006). In a five-year study of flexible learning groups (groups of students based on learning needs instead of age) in a high-need, urban school district, Castle, Deniz, & Tortora found improvement not only in student test scores, but "also in students' comprehension of learning tasks and in student confidence" (2005, p. 147). Relating the result to that of online learning groups provides substantiated proof that alternative students may perform better in small, social group settings than in traditional class settings where the individual is not emphasized.

Online learning situations are built upon constant input from students, instantaneous (or semi-instantaneous) feedback, and social interaction from all participants. It is a collaborative learning environment, which promotes self-confidence, knowledge construction, and active participation between its users regardless of their culture, economic status, or previous educational status. Instructional design based on cognitive theories including constructivism and social development combined with behaviorist methods discussed earlier may very well provide a future for alternative students that was not looking so bright.

These alternative students have formed a negative view of education that may hinder further educational pursuits. They have been "jaded" by the system over the years; their motivation to learn hampered. With years of traditional classroom experience, their ability to transfer new knowledge into long-term memory may have been hindered by methods that was proven (through their own "failures") not to work. Due to these situations, the students have formed a schema, "a closely connected set of ideas ...that influences how they perceive and remember new situations" (Ormrod, 2004, p. ). In the online learning environment presented within this paper, "unlearning" the schema's alternative students will bring to the new environment is of extreme importance. Re-motivating them and "un-conditioning" current practices of knowledge retention (memory) is the next step in the process.

Motivation

In Piedmont Community College's faculty workshop for online learning, a paper was presented that lists the characteristics of successful online students. Among these key characteristics "are self-motivated and self-disciplined" (Piedmont Community College, 2000, p. ). Many will argue that alternative students do not have the motivation or discipline to succeed in an online learning environment. Current research is proving this untrue. Laura Webber (nd) presents several scenarios from public schools where the students have proven to be self-motivated and self-disciplined when the educational system allows them to be:

"If students weren't motivated, he [William Glasser, Johnson City Schools psychologist] waited patiently for them to become motivated. If students asked about their grades, Glasser bounced the question back, "What grade would you give your work?" The results were astonishing. Students finally began to care, but only, Glasser argues, once they were given the room to care." (Webber, p. 26)

Webber goes on to say, "Once they [students] learned to care about their work for themselves, and not just for their teachers, they became sincerely invested in their education" (n.d., p.27).

With so many negative situations occurring for alternative students throughout their previous educational lives, it is only natural that they lack the motivation to try something new. Getting them excited about learning is a direct instructional design challenge that is, bottom line, the most important aspect of the framework. Without motivation, no matter what theories are applied, the student will not succeed. The students must clearly see their goals, their beliefs, and their interests (Ormrod, 2004) presented to them within the online learning environment before they can internally process any other factors. Their expectations must be taken into account, along with the reasons as to why they are willing to give education another chance in what they may perceive as an endless road to nowhere.

These alternative students have all ready shown that they are capable of motivation. Often the reason that traditional classrooms do not work for these students is because they are intrinsically motivated and traditionally schools use rewards that are more extrinsic in nature. They possess a strong sense of what they want to know, the ability to work and think "outside the box", and they do not like to be regulated in their pursuits of the knowledge they want to gain. Traditional school systems often do not support this line of thinking. On the opposite side, some of these students are lacking in metacognitive skills and do not understand how to set personal goals (Semmar, 2006), thus falling short of the expectations of the traditional school, and yet they are still motivated to succeed. Constant failure has quenched their search for more knowledge. At this point, giving up and walking away is easier than constantly setting themselves up for failure.

Building the trust back up and breaking down the wall that traditional school has built around the alternative learners' motivation is a challenge. Giving the student a hand in their knowledge creation (flexible learning groups, open-ended syllabi, non-restrictive due dates) and providing a supportive community (Ormrod, 2004) are two ways to motivate the students. Allowing time to contemplate the subject and question it will give the students a reason to get "excited" about their learning. Relating the subject to what influences the student outside of the "classroom", letting them self-construct their lessons may motivate the students in a way that was not available to them before.

As most of today's schools are focused upon performance goals, the online learning environment for alternative students must shift this focus to mastery goals as much as possible (Ormrod, p. 394). Designing not only for mastery of the subject but meeting other goals at the same time would enhance the students motivation, challenging them while allowing individual goals to be reached. Ormrod (2004) presents the following as an example of how "classroom activities are more effective when they enable students to meet several goals at once":

Students might work toward mastery goals by learning and practicing new skills within the context of group projects (thus meeting their social goals) and with evaluation criteria that allow for risk taking and mistakes (thus also meeting their performance goals). Students are unlikely to strive for mastery goals when they must compete with one another for resources or high test scores... (p. 395)

Motivation must be present for these students to best retain the subject, as engagement with the knowledge being presented promotes "more effective cognitive processing and learning over the long run" (Ormrod, 2004, p. 395).

When building motivation in order for alternative students to succeed in the online classroom, an emphasis on modeling should be looked at. A teacher/facilitator leading the online class should also show their motivation to want the student to learn. Active participation in discussions while allowing freedom of conversation to the students is important. Engaging the students in debates on the subject, challenging them to come up with a different perspective, and leading by example will not only provide full community interaction, but it will model motivation, supporting by example what is expected of the students. Once motivation is engaged, memory of the knowledge being studied will be retained.

Memory

Once the online instructional designer has applied the theories discussed and found ways to incorporate motivation into the course design, the greatest challenge of all presents itself, placing the knowledge constructed into the alternative students' long-term memory bank for easy retrieval when necessary. When speaking about cognitive processes, the subject of relating material to something already constructed in the students life as an important factor. When approaching processes of memory, this subject comes up again, only relating not necessarily to experiences but to all ready retained information.

The process of relating "new to old" is referred to by Ormrod (2004) as "meaningful learning". When approaching retainment of new knowledge "meaningful learning appears to facilitate both storage and retrieval" (p. 244). When the alternative student is given a new concept, the ability to relate it immediately to something that they have all ready learned is tantamount to them remembering this later on. Presenting the new information in a way that not only relates to old knowledge, but also to the student's personal life doubles the impact of learning and retention (p. 245). When preparing the online classroom, the designer must focus on the backgrounds of the students in order to be able to present the new information in a way that crosses over into long-term memory.

Once the information has been related to previous stored experiences, the student can then move on to reviewing the information. As alternative students have all ready shown that traditional methods of rote-memorization and traditional classroom assessment of memory do not work well for them, a new approach is taken in the online classroom. Utilizing the discussion boards was a main idea in constructing new knowledge, now using the discussion boards for storing knowledge could be approached. "Asking students to write about what they are learning...enables them to pull their thoughts together and perhaps to identify and resolve gaps and inconsistencies in their understanding" (Prawat, 1989 as cited in Ormrod, 2004). Engaging the community of learners to repeat what they have learned gives them the opportunity to store the information in their long-term memory banks (the brain). It also provides a stage for evolving ideas and for others to interact with each student's perceptions.

When approaching new knowledge to put into the memory bank, students may allow their previous beliefs to affect the new information (Ormrod, 2004). By giving them the room to see how others perceive the same new knowledge, they have a chance to analyze the new information and perhaps come to different conclusions than they originally contemplated. Designing the instruction to allow for guidance from the teacher/facilitator while this process is happening, is significant to the success of "good" knowledge being retained. The online teacher must be able to contribute his or her own expertise, as a guide to what is "right" or "wrong", and using constructive feedback and real-life examples when feasible. Once this process has been "hashed" out and discussed, the alternative student may once again reprocess the information, aligning the new ideas with previous knowledge within their minds for future retrieval. While this process sounds simple as it is presented, there are several factors that instructional designers must consider when formatting the objectives for the content.

In relating new information to old, students may have some issues that hinder the processing of the new. "Research in classrooms indicates that students of all ages often hold quite stubbornly to their misconceptions" (Author, year, p. 307). With experiences that did not always bode well, alternative students may often fight the acquisition of the new information if it does not correlate to what they have all ready experienced. To help alleviate this, teachers/facilitators must seek out the misconceptions early on in the course, perhaps using an introductory unit to discuss what the student might feel they know about the subject (Ormrod, 2004). Using gentle questioning methods along with presenting substantive proof, the teacher can steer the student toward the course objectives and at the same time present the correct information in "a meaningful way rather than a rote fashion" (p. 311).

Another important aspect of memory is the retrieval process. As alternative students store knowledge, they must also "re-learn" ways to access that information at a later date. Designing instruction so that it is related to relevant information, storing it with other bits of information, allows the student to retrieve it through association (Ormrod, 2004, p. 335). In addition, being able to place information in context with other relevant sources gives the student the opportunity to find it when needed. Applying the information to real-life situations when it is being taught will also help the student relate to it when presented with a situation where the information may be required (p. 336). Instructional designers in the online classroom should concentrate again on the backgrounds of the students, focusing on the demographics, experiences, and cultural aspects in order to give stated objectives relativity.

Conclusion

Using the community aspect of the online classroom, building on the experiences (good and bad) of the alternative students, getting to know the students' preconceived notions, and presenting guiding and constructive questioning will transform the new knowledge being presented into an easily accessible memory. Allowing for the learning theories discussed herein and giving appropriate respect to the alternative student will motivate and stimulate their learning capabilities. Most importantly, designing appropriate online instruction can be the deciding factor in whether alternative students survive in an educational world that in the past has left them behind.

References:

Aron, L. Y. (2006). An overview of alternative education. The Urban Institute. Retrieved August 1, 2006 from http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411283_alternative_education.pdf

Beaumie, K. (2001). Social constructivism. In M. Orey (Ed.). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved August 18, 2006 from http://www.coe.uga.edu/epitt/SocialConstructivsm.htm

Behaviorism. Retrieved July 31, 2006 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism

Behaviorism and Educational Technology. Retrieved July 31, 2006 from http://hagar.up.ac.za/catts/learner/leonb/behaviorism.htm

Carr-Chellman, A., & Duchastel, P. (2001). The ideal online course. Library Trends, 50(1), 145. Retrieved July 31, 2006 from the MasterFILE Premier database.

Kinsey, S. (2001). Multiage grouping and academic achievement. Retrieved August 22, 2006 from ERIC database.

Kohn, A. (2004). Challenging students...and how to have more of them. Retrieved July 31, 2006 from http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/challenging.htm

Nevin, J. A., Davison, M., & Shahan, T. A. (2005, Sept). A theory of attending and reinforcement in conditional discriminations. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 84, p. 281-303. Retrieved August 5, 2006 from Expanded Academic ASAP via Thomson Gale.

Ormrod, J. (2004). Learning theory and the educational process (customized edition). Pearson: Boston

Palloff, R. & Pratt, K. (1999). Building learning communities in cyberspace: Effective strategies for the online classroom. Jossey Bass: San Francisco.
Riddle, E. (1999). Lev Vygotsky's social development theory. Retrieved August 27, 2006 from http://chd.gse.gmu.edu/immersion/knowledgebase/theorists/constructivism/vygotsky.htm

Robison, M. (1998). One size fits all? Age based tracking versus grouping in elementary school mathematics. Michigan State University faculty research. Retrieved August 31, 2006 from http://msu.edu/user/robiso12/Grouping.htm

Stanford University (2006). Retrieved on July 16, 2006 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism

State of Michigan (2006). 2006/2007 Graduation requirements. Retrieved July 16, 2006 from http://www.michigan.gov/cis/0,1607,7-154-29939-147284--,00.html

Swann, W. B., Jr., & Seyle, C. (2005). Personality Psychology's comeback and its emerging symbiosis with social psychology. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31(2), 155-165. Retrieved July 30, 2006 from Psychology: A SAGE Full-Text Collection database.