Nathan the Gymnast
Nathan the Gymnast:
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Make sure you read the details and understand before answering the question. Use this scenario to analyze and discuss how the solution would be approached by a behaviorist, a constructivist, and 1 type of cognitivist. Make sure you Discuss in full which elements of the scenario would be considered important. Then discuss how they would be interpreted, and what steps the theorist might recommend to increase the learning. Ensure you Use peer-reviewed academic sources to support your analysis.
Nathan the Gymnast
As a toddler, Nathan loved to climb on things, balance on objects and tumble around on the floor. When Nathan was in third grade, he watched the Olympics and decided he wanted to be a gymnast. His parents enrolled him in gymnastics classes at a local gym. After about 6 months, his parents were approached by the coach and asked if they would be interested in letting Nathan join the gym’s competitive team. Since Nathan expressed great enthusiasm for this idea, his parents agreed.
As a member of the competitive team, Nathan attended gymnastics classes three times a week for two to three hours at a time. The team learned to do extensive warm-up exercises, and then spent equal amounts of time on each of the five competitive exercises. Nathan found he really liked the floor exercises and the vault which allowed him to jump, run, and tumble. He also liked working on the high bar. He was less fond of the parallel bars and the rings. But his least favorite of all was the pommel horse.
During the training sessions, the coaches would demonstrate the correct way for gymnasts to place their hands on each piece of equipment, and the correct way to hold their head and their legs while completing each exercise. Students watched films of experts on each piece. Then students were taught the basics of each exercise. Each piece of equipment had a specified routine that the student needed to master for the competitive meets. After three months of training, the first meets began.
The meets were organized according to skill level. Students who had not yet mastered some skills in the routines were allowed help from their coaches. Students were scored on the amount of the routine they were able to complete and how well they completed it. Participating in the meets was a motivation to improve. Seeing other students of the same age correctly completing the routines, and winning the medals, became a great motivator for Nathan to improve.
Back at the gym, in the regularly scheduled sessions, coaches began working with individual students on their strong points and their weak points. Nathan was strong in floor exercises, high bar, and rings. As the season progressed, with much practice, he also became very good at the vault. His weakest score at every meet was the pommel horse. To help him improve in this area, his parents (at the recommendation of the coach) purchased a mushroom for their home. The mushroom is an instrument used to practice movements for the pommel horse and strengthen gymnasts’ arms to be able to accomplish the exercises.
At home, Nathan prefers to practice the tumbling exercises used in the floor routine. He will practice these exercises almost anywhere he goes. He loves tumbling across the front lawn or anywhere that the surface is soft enough to cushion his movements. He practices his tumbling every day for at least half-hour, doing both his floor exercises and his vault. His work on the high bar, parallel bars and rings is limited to the gymnasium. Although he has access to the mushroom at home, the only time he uses it is if a parent or other adult is watching him and encouraging him. At the gymnasium, if Nathan is unwilling to participate in certain activities, the coaches send him to practice on the mushroom by himself.
In his first year of competition, Nathan does not win any medals at the meets. However, every student participating does get participation awards. Nathan’s parents track his individual scores on each apparatus throughout the season. After each meet they discuss with Nathan which scores have improved and by how much. At meets where his scores have improved, he is given a T-shirt representing that meet.
In his second year of competition, Nathan has improved: he earns at least one placement level medal at each meet. At the final meet of the year, Nathan receives a medal in all categories except pommel horse. Throughout the year, Nathan’s father has given Nathan a challenge to meet: a minimum score on the pommel horse to get a video game he has requested. Towards the end of the year Nathan gets close but does not achieve the final score.
Now beginning his third year of competition, Nathan’s parents and coaches are discussing new ways to motivate Nathan to improve on the pommel horse to allow him to advance to the next level of competition.
Nathan the Gymnast
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In regards to hypothetical gymnast by the name Nathan in the tale Nathan the Gymnast, three theories that include Cognitivist, Behaviorist and Constructivist have been put into practice. The author presents a brief overview of the story that includes the application of behaviorist theory and how it has helped Nathan using the negative and positive reinforcement……………………….
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