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Participant Observation Report Essay

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The class attended for my Participant Observation Assignment was a yoga class at the Recreation Center at State University. Such a class is for one session and is forty-five minutes in length. During this class, we covered beginning yoga moves at a slow pace so everyone felt comfortable. The nature of the class consisted of simple yoga moves, serine atmosphere, and relaxing music. Learning theories that were address, applied, and by the instructor wanted us to use were Skinner’s Operant Conditioning, Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, and Observational Learning. The instructor also taught using the Direct Instruction Approach and wanted the students to use Lave’s Situated Learning Theory.
This particularly yoga class was taught by …show more content…

A third objective was to use our balance and coordination to hold yoga poses. This was fulfilled by the use of Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory and Observational Learning.
Through out the class we did about twenty different yoga positions. Some of the positions were done for each side of the body. All positions were repeated between 5 and 8 times each depending on the pose. A few of the common beginner yoga poses were the mountain pose, downward facing dog, child’s pose, and cobra. The level that the class was created for was beginner yoga. Therefore, the positions were not very difficult for the average college student. It consisted of a lot of stretching and strength training using the body as resistance. The class had a good atmosphere that was quiet and serene. The instructor played low music in the background that was very slow and soothing.
First, one learning theory that was used in this yoga class was B. F. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning. This theory involves the behavior of the student and what the teachers desired behaviors are for the students (Santrock 236). In operant conditioning, the teacher either gives a reinforcement or punishment. One gives reinforcement when they want the behavior to be repeated (Santrock 236). There are two kinds of reinforcement: positive and negative. An example of positive reinforcement is when the teacher gives praise to students when they have done

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