Social Learning Theory

Introduction:
In the classroom environment, it is easy to see that the instructors or teachers are leaders by example. Furthermore, the first thing the students are going to notice about an instructor is their dress attire. Is what their wearing respectable for shaping younger or older minds? In a more professional field, college instructors should wear formal or conservative attire. Instructor’s attire has an impact of how students learn and achieve goals in the classroom based on aspects of social learning theory. If the students do not find the professor credible, it’s hard for them to learn and reinforce classroom teachings if the source itself doesn’t seem legitimate.
Social Learning Theory:
Social Learning Theory can be used to explain many different kinds of human behaviors that are observational. In a college classroom, professor dress attire is a major role in the students learning process due to the lack of perceived credibility. Saul McLeod of Simply Phycology explains that social learning is a behavior that is learned from the surrounding environment though observational learning. McLeod also explains that this type of learning can have either a positive of negative effect. “Reinforcement can be positive of negative, but the important factor is that it will usually lead to a chance in a person’s behavior.” (McLeod, 2011) This is a perfect example of why instructors need to dress well in the classroom. If not, the students behavior; the credibility of the instructor, will change due to unprofessionalism in dress attire. However, those positive effects can lead to students’ perception of the instructor to be very credible and thus leading to increased morale, participation, and even achievement.
Studies on Instructor ...

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...ress and students' perception of instructor credibility. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(15) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/904521500?accountid=13158
McLeod, S.A. (2011). Albert Bandura: Social Learning Theory. Simply Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html
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Effects of attire on student perceptions of instructors in college classes. Communication Education, 45(2), 135-148. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=430a11ae-15f7-423c-822c-dd9dbac3c843%40sessionmgr14&vid=2&hid=19