This study is making use of the laws of effect and exercise. In the law of exercise, the response to a situation may be strongly connected with the situation depending on the number of times it has been so connected and to the average strength and duration of the connection. The meaning of exercise is practice. Thorndike claimed that practice in itself did not make perfect but practice in circumstances that allowed the learner to be informed or given comments about his progress could be valuable in strengthening the Stimulus-Response (S-R) Links.
Gandhi (2010) explained the law of exercise. The law means that drill or practice helps in increasing efficiency and durability of learning. In Thorndike S-R Bond theory, the connections are strengthened with practice and the connections are weakened when practice is discontinued. Practice leads to maturity. Practice is the main feature of trial and errors committed by the student teachers in learning how to teach. To Thorndike, learning is developed from the organism doing something. Student teachers cannot teach until they practice how to teach.
According to Maheshwari (2012), the more the practice of behaviour, the more it is strengthened. Things that are most often repeated are the best learned. The mind rarely retains new practices after only one exposure. Learners learn by applying what they have been taught. Thorndike had the cats observed other animals escaping from the boxes. In the same vein, student teachers observe their mentors, imitate them and copy their characteristics especially in teaching professional ethics. As Thorndike bound the research with time, microteaching practicum is bound with time. The student teacher is expected to teach a reduced content for 5-10 minutes instead of 40 minutes in the normal class. There is also reduction in the class size to 5-10 pupils instead of 50 pupils in the class.
The cats that could not perform the action wandered restlessly and meow to get where the food was but could not escape except when the cats stepped on the switch on the floor accidentally and the door open. In the same vein, student teachers that have too many mistakes go for re-teach cycle until perfection is established. Every time they practice, their learning continues. The practices are used in microteaching especially in feedback and teach re-teach cycle which enhances effective teaching practice. Maheshwari (2012) opined that the more the practice of a behaviour, the more it is strengthened. Things that are most often repeated are the best learned. The mind hardly retains new practices after only one exposure. Learners learn by applying what they have been taught. Every time they practice, learning continues.
Furthermore, Skinner is regarded as the father of Operant Conditioning. His work was based on Thorndike’s. According to Saxena and Khajanchee (2012), Microteaching is based on Skinner’s theory of operant condition. The theory is the very basis of feedback session. Skinner’s theory of shaping successive approximations can be applied to explain the acquisition of new patterns of behaviour in teach, feedback and reteach pattern in microteaching. Dunn (2000) claimed that Skinner propounded the Operant Conditioning Theory of Learning where there is reinforcement of the behaviour by a reward or a punishment. The theory describes learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened. This depends on its positive or negative consequences. The theory is based on reinforcement. The theory is required for a great deal of practice like microteaching. The law states that if the occurrence of an operant is followed by the presentation of a reinforcing stimulus, the strength and probability is increased.
Skinner used an apparatus called the Skinner box to demonstrate operant conditioning in animals. He showed how positive reinforcement worked by placing a hungry rat in his Skinner box.
A hungry rat is allowed to explore the box when the rat spontaneously presses a small lever; the experimenter drops a pellet of food from an aperture into a tray for the animal to eat.
Repeatedly, the rat acquired the habit of pressing the lever presentation of food. The rats learnt quickly to go to the lever after a few times of being put in the box. Getting food after pressing the lever made the rats to repeat the action again and again. The rats learned to repeat that behavior because food followed the particular behavior. The main influence on human behavior is learning from the environment.
Furthermore, Darby (2003) enumerated the three principles for teachers’ enhancement of effective learning. They are: learner should be given information in small bits, learners should learn at their paces and learners should be given rapid feedback to indicate the accuracy of their learning. Skinner’s operant conditioning is relevant to microteaching practice using the above three principles. In microteaching practicum, 31 student teachers acquire one skill at a time using small number of students (5-10) and spending small number of time (5-10 minutes). According to Skinner, a desired behavior will be repeated by learners if positively reinforced with rewards which can be in form of certificate. Since Microteaching practicum is the prerequisite to Teaching Practice, student teachers put in their best during practicum. Where they do not perform to expectations, they engage in re-teach cycle until perfection is established. This is because success in microteaching is the gateway to teaching practice and without success in teaching practice, student teachers cannot be certified.
Furthermore, Bandura propounded Social Cognitive Theory. To Bandura, every form of behavior is learnt. Every human behavior such as disposition, actions and interest is element of what people see, interact with and acquire in their daily encounters. Any social behavior is learnt primarily by observing and imitating the actions of others.
According to Denier et al (2013), Bandura like Thorndike and Skinner has the assumption that learning occurs through observation but learners have ability to influence their own behaviors and the environment. This could be achieved through self-reflection and self-regulatory processes. In addition, Bandura believed that learning can occur without an immediate change in behavior because learning and the demonstration of what has been learned are distinct processes. Bandura (2001) claimed that learning is not limited to acquisition of new behaviors but also of cognitive skills, concepts, values, habits, rules, abstract and knowledge.
