Stimulus and Response Equation

One key concept of behaviorism is the'stimulus and response equation'. This comes down to reinforcement and punishment. Any kind of measurable change in the environment could fall under those two terms. An object, fact, event or situation could have in impact on someone's behaviour.

During an experiment researcher Ivan Pavlov showed that learning can be stimulated through positive reinforcement. He showed this by training his dog.

Influencing student's behaviour

A student's behaviour could therefore be influenced be a change in environment. For example some kind of positive reinforcement - let's say a nice comment by a teacher, or a good grade - could help with staying motivated. On the other hand negative reinforcement, or even punishment, could then also have an impact on a student's behaviour. 

Source: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism/