Parent-child interactions help set the foundation for a child's development. It is therefore important to investigate the relative efficiency and efficacy of procedures used to train them. One procedure that researchers continue to explore is video modeling. The current study evaluated the effect of a video model that displayed favorable parent-child interactions and a modified model with embedded instructions to determine if the introduction of either of these models would alter parent-child interactions. Both models were presented alone without supplemental guidance. Three families were involved in the study. The results showed no systematic change across families or conditions as a result of video viewing and are discussed within context of the needs of the parent, adequate stimulus control, community to support behavior change, measurement sensitivity, and influence of methodology. This study provided a great baseline for future studies to explore the necessary components to create an effective video model.

Discrete trial instruction (DTI) and naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBIs) are often incorporated into early intensive behavioral interventions for young children with autism. Recent advances in staff training methods have demonstrated that self-instructional manuals, video models, and computer-based training are effective and efficient ways to improve staff implementation of these teaching strategies however research in this area is limited. The current evaluation assessed the effects of a computer-based training package including self-instructional manuals with embedded video models on direct-care staff’s implementation of DTI and an NDBI. All participants’ DTI teaching fidelity increased during role-plays with an adult and with a child with autism and all participants increased teaching fidelity across untrained instructional programs. In addition, moderate improvement was demonstrated following NDBI training on the use of correct prompts, environmental arrangements, and response interaction. Together, these results indicate that therapists are able to acquire a large number of skills using two teaching techniques, DTI and NDBI, following brief computer-based training.

Young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face unique social skills challenges as they transition into independent living environments and seek fulfilling relationships within their communities. Research has focused on social education and interventions for children with autism, while transitioning young adults with ASD have received insufficient attention. The purpose of this multisite case study was to explore perceptions of school personnel related to the use of visual support system (VSS) technology and enhancement of social skillsets for young adults with ASD. Information processing theory and social learning theory provided the research framework. Research questions addressed perceptions related to the utility of VSS technology and social skills teaching strategies. Interviews were conducted with 11 special education administrators, teachers, and intervention specialists from 3 different programs in the United States. Data from interviews and field notes were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding; themes such as social skills, video-modeling, learning strategies, use of visual technology, and cognition emerged. Participants indicated that exploring cognitive learning strategies underpinned with VSS technology provided alternative methods to teach social skills in classroom settings. They identified the need for more funding for VSS technologies for all learners. Implications for social change include that social skills and critical thinking skills can be enhanced by learning through the use of VSS technology. Empowering young adults with ASD to participate with greater confidence in learning situations and in social situations will support their efforts to be more comfortable and to interact more appropriately in work and community interactions.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display deficits in communication and social interaction that can impact their ability to function in daily environments. To remediate these deficits, it is critical for professionals to use effective interventions. While there are many evidence-based practices (EBPs) identified for ASD (e.g., video modeling), the adoption of these EBPs may not occur automatically. Existing research suggests professionals have a generally favorable impression of video modeling. However, little research has examined opinions and applied use of video modeling, which was the purpose of the present study. Using survey methodology, data were collected from 510 professionals in various disciplines (e.g., special educators, speech-language pathologists [SLPs], and behavior analysts [BCBAs]). Data were analyzed primarily via factor analysis and multiple regression. Factor analysis was used to examine the underlying structure of the instrument, revealing two predominant factors: (1) interest in and (2) perceived accessibility of video modeling. Multiple regression was used to examine which demographic characteristics (e.g., age and years of experience) were associated with each factor. Results indicated that BCBAs and SLPs perceived video modeling as more accessible. In terms of interest, professionals who worked with preschool-aged students, who worked in a suburban location, and who had an extended family member with ASD showed higher interest in video modeling. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Many researchers feel that teacher preparation programs are not doing enough to prepare teachers to effectively use technology. The result is a plethora of teachers who may know the basic functions of different programs, but who are unprepared to integrate these skills into their teaching. One method used by a few preservice programs, including BYU's, is the use of modeling sessions, otherwise referred to as live modeling. In these modeling sessions, the instructor models for the preservice teachers how a K-12 teacher could teach with technology, while the preservice teachers participate as if they were K-12 students. This thesis is a qualitative investigation of how this method of live modeling has impacted students, according to the perceptions of a sample of former students of the course. This project also has a practical focus of identifying strategies for improving modeling, and pitfalls that may indicate when modeling is not as effective. Overall, this study found that modeling was perceived by most students to be effective at teaching technology skills and ideas for integrating technology as teachers. However, there were some students who struggled to abstract principles from the modeling that could help them as teachers. In other words, they struggled to cognitively transfer the learning from the context of the modeling session to their own teaching contexts. In this research I identify five main contextual breakdowns that often occurred among students in the course. These were breakdowns, or differences, between the modeled context and the students' actual contexts that were sufficiently large enough to disrupt the students' abilities to cognitively transfer the learning. By adapting the live modeling method to more specifically address unique students' needs and contexts, then the cognitive transfer of learning should be easier and the method could be a strong tool for training preservice teachers to use technology in their own teaching.

Over the last decade, the inclusion of students with disabilities (SWD) in the general education classroom has increased. Currently, 60% of SWD spend 80% or more of their school day in the general education classroom (U.S. Department of Education, 2013). This includes students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), a developmental disability characterized by impairments in behavior, language, and social skills (American Psychological Association, 2013). Many of these SWD struggle with mathematics in the elementary grades; fewer than 20% of SWD are proficient in mathematics when they begin middle school, compared to 45% of their peers without disabilities. Furthermore, 83% of SWD are performing at the basic or below basic level in mathematics in the fourth grade (U.S. Department of Education, 2013). As the rate of ASD continues to increase (Centers for Disease Control, 2013), the number of students with this disability who are included in the general education classroom also continues to rise. These SWD and students with ASD are expected to meet the same rigorous mathematics standards as their peers without disabilities. This study was an attempt to address the unique needs of SWD and students with ASD by combining practices rooted in the literature, strategy instruction and video modeling. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of an intervention on the ability of students with and without disabilities in inclusive fourth and fifth grade classrooms to solve word problems in mathematics. The intervention package was comprised of a graphic organizer, the K-N-W-S, video models of the researcher teaching the strategy to a student avatar from a virtual simulated classroom, TeachLivE, and daily word problems for students to practice the strategy. The researcher used a quasi-experimental group design with a treatment and a control group to determine the impact of the intervention. Students were assessed on their performance via a pretest and posttest. Analyses of data were conducted on individual test items to assess patterns in performance by mathematical word problem type. The effects of the intervention on SWD, students with ASD, and students without disabilities varied widely between groups as well as amongst individual students, indicating a need for further studies on the effects of mathematics strategy instruction on students with varying needs and abilities.

This research examined the effects of self-regulated strategy development (SRSD), a cognitive strategy instructional method, on opinion writing by third grade students with learning disabilities. A video self-modeling (VSM) component was added to the SRSD method. A multiple probe across participants, single-subject design was used to determine the effectiveness of the SRSD instructional strategy, (POW + TREE), in combination with video self-modeling. Data from various components of writing, including essay elements, length of responses, time spent writing, and overall writing quality, were collected and assessed to determine the effectiveness of the intervention. All students who received the intervention improved their overall writing performance on opinion essays as measured by the number of opinion essay elements, including topic sentence, reasons, examples, and ending. During the maintenance phase of the intervention, students who received a VSM booster session increased their total number of opinion essay elements back to mastery levels.

No description available.

No description available.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:46:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 6625.pdf: 4166870 bytes, checksum: be3e580d0e4836b2730b6d56fc4026ff (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-24 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / The Augmentative and Aumentative Communication (AAC) is an area of assistive technology that seeks to facilitate the participation of people in different communicative contexts. There is a variety of techniques and methods one of them Picture Exchange Communication (PECS) that proposes to develop communication skills within the social context. Associated with the implementation of PECS, some research has shown benefits of using Video Modeling (VM) that consists a teaching technique that search the development of academic, social, communication and daily leaving skills for individuals of various disabilities. The objective of this study was to apply and analyze the effects of PECS associated with the VM on the development of communication skills of children with Down syndrome. To this end, we selected three participants in a special school in one city in the state of São Paulo, aged between nine and 12 who were diagnosed as Down syndrome and complex communication needs. The following instruments were used in this study: Assessment of Communication Skills was used to evaluate functional communication skills the child; Protocol for Communication Skills Assessment in a school environment with the objective to identify the communication skills of the student in the school environment from the perception of teachers; Vocabulary selection spread sheet with the objective to identify reinforcing objects; Record Sheet that informed participants' performance during the intervention process; Vocabulary sheet monitored the vocabulary of the participants during the intervention; Chart Qualitative Performance was used as a field diary in order to record observations during the intervention process and the Social Validity of questionnaire with the objective to evaluate the perceptions of parents and teachers of the participants about the intervention. In order to verify the effects of the intervention it used Multiple Baseline Design cross subjects including three phases: baseline, intervention, and maintenance, in which the PECS associated with the VM was the independent variable and communication skills constituted the dependent variable. Data were analyzed considering some aspects such as the participant's performance, monitoring vocabulary, level of independence in the baseline, intervention and maintenance steps. The results showed that participants' performance was satisfactory both in respect of each phase and with respect to all the learning process intervention. The level of independence remained above average throughout the training for the three participants, in other words, they understood what they must do in each session of each phase without the aid of the communication partner or physical stimulator. There was an increase in the vocabulary of the three participants, although each of them with his own specificities and development of language, it is noted that the use of the pictures served as a support for the increase in this vocabulary words and phrases formulations through both figures as through speech. Thus, the present study showed a possibility of intervention that favored the participants with Down syndrome, demonstrating that the PECS associated with the VM promoted the development of communication skills, both in speech production as in the use of the figure as a form of communication. / A Comunicação Suplementar e Alternativa (CSA) é uma área da tecnologia assistiva que busca facilitar a participação das pessoas nos vários contextos comunicativos. Há uma variedade de técnicas e métodos em CSA uma delas é o Sistema de Comunicação por Troca de Figuras (PECS), que tem como propósito aumentar as habilidades de comunicação dentro do contexto social. Associado à aplicação do PECS, algumas pesquisas têm demonstrado benefícios do uso do Video Modeling (VM) que consiste em uma técnica de ensino voltada às habilidades de comunicação social, vida diária e desempenho acadêmico para indivíduos das mais variadas deficiências. A presente pesquisa teve por objetivo aplicar e analisar os efeitos do PECS associado ao VM em relação ao desenvolvimento das habilidades de comunicação em crianças com síndrome de Down. Para tanto, foram selecionados três participantes de uma escola especial de um município do interior paulista, com idades variando entre nove e 12 anos que apresentavam diagnóstico de síndrome de Down, além de necessidades complexas de comunicação. Para a coleta de dados foram utilizados os seguintes instrumentos: Avaliação das Habilidades de Comunicação que teve por finalidade avaliar as competências de comunicação funcional da criança; Protocolo para a Avaliação de Habilidades Comunicativas em ambiente escolar que objetivou identificar as habilidades comunicativas do aluno em ambiente escolar a partir da percepção dos professores; Planilha de seleção de vocabulário que objetivou identificar os itens reforçadores; Folha de Registro que informou o desempenho dos participantes durante o processo de intervenção; Folha de Vocabulário monitorou o vocabulário dos participantes durante a intervenção; Quadro Qualitativo do Desempenho foi utilizado como um diário de campo com a finalidade de registrar observações durante o processo de intervenção e o Questionário de Validade Social que teve por finalidade avaliar a percepção dos pais e professores dos participantes quanto à intervenção. Para tanto, empregou-se o delineamento experimental de linha de base múltipla cruzando com sujeitos (linha de base, intervenção e manutenção), sendo o PECS associado ao VM a variável independente e as habilidades de comunicação se constituíram na variável dependente. Os dados foram analisados considerando alguns aspectos como o desempenho dos participantes, monitoramento do vocabulário e nível de independência nas etapas de linha de base, intervenção e manutenção. Os resultados indicaram que o desempenho dos participantes foi satisfatório, tanto em relação a cada fase, como em relação à aprendizagem de todo o processo de intervenção. O nível de independência se manteve acima da média durante todo o treinamento para os três participantes, ou seja, conseguiram compreender o que precisavam fazer em cada sessão de cada fase sem o auxílio do parceiro de comunicação ou do estimulador físico. Observou-se um aumento no vocabulário dos três participantes, embora cada qual com suas especificidades e desenvolvimento de linguagem própria, foi possível perceber que o uso da figura serviu de apoio para o aumento de vocabulário presente nas formulações de palavras e frases tanto por meio das figuras como por meio da fala. Dessa forma, o presente estudo apresentou uma possibilidade de intervenção que favoreceu os participantes com síndrome de Down, demonstrando que o PECS associado ao VM promoveu o desenvolvimento das habilidades de comunicação, tanto na produção da fala como no uso da figura como forma de comunicação.