The research was conducted using a 2 x 2 between subjects design to compare the effectiveness of two methods of instructional training. The first factor was gender of the subjects. The second factor was presentation. A printed text presentation (control condition) was compared to a computer based multimedia presentation with redundant audio (experimental treatment). The experimental treatment was set up as a workbench to present guidelines to developers of computer equipment and software for the visually impaired. The guidelines were presented and then illustrated through pictures, sound, animation, and quicktime video. Each condition was measured for its effectiveness in increasing knowledge in the subject area and positively influencing attitudes toward the blind and disabled. The experiment was conducted as follows. To counter any possible gender/computer variables, forty subjects of similar knowledge, skills, and computer abilities were recruited. Subjects received three pretests in the order listed; an Attitude Toward Blindness (ABS) questionnaire, an Attitude Toward Disabled People (ATDP) questionnaire, and a pretest on the research material. Training subjects then completed either the printed text or the multimedia with redundant audio presentation. Following the presentation of the study material the subjects completed three posttests in the order listed; a posttest on the research material, an ATDP questionnaire, and an ABS questionnaire. It was hypothesized that subjects would spend a significantly longer time studying the multimedia material because of interest and motivation. It was also hypothesized that the multimedia condition would produce significantly higher results in the knowledge test and significantly improve attitudes toward the visually impaired and disabled. The knowledge scores and the study times were recorded, analysis of variance was used to analyze the results. The analysis showed that there were no significant effects for either gender or presentation for knowledge posttest scores, although the difference between pretest and posttest for all groups was significant, indicating effective training. Females took significantly less time to complete the second attitude pretest and two attitude posttest questionnaires. Subjects who were exposed to the multimedia presentation finished the posttest significantly faster. And multimedia subjects spent significantly longer studying the material and completing the experiment. The attitude questionnaires were scored, treated as nonparametric data, and analyzed using a Kruskal-Wallis test. No significant pretest to posttest changes in attitude resulted, although both groups of females (printed text and multimedia) held more favorable posttest attitudes toward the disabled in general than did males exposed to the printed text presentation. / Master of Science

Self-instructional training manuals and video modeling have been demonstrated to be effective for teaching university students and direct-care staff to conduct behavioral procedures, such as preference assessments and discrete-trials teaching with persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) and children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities – Revised (ABLA-R) is an assessment tool used by Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) service providers for determining the learning ability of clients with ID and children with ASD. In this study, I combined an ABLA-R self-instructional manual (DeWiele et al., 2014) with video modeling and evaluated the effectiveness of the training package for teaching ABA service providers to administer the ABLA-R to a child with ASD. I evaluated the training package using a single-subject, modified concurrent multiple baseline (MB) design across a pair of participants, replicated across three other pairs of participants, plus a modified nonconcurrent MB design across a pair of participants, replicated across one other pair. Participants demonstrated a significant increase in the accuracy with which they administered the ABLA-R to an experimenter from baseline to post-test, and conducted the ABLA-R with high accuracy in a generalization assessment with a child with ASD. An implication of this research is that the self- instructional training package is an effective tool for training ABA service providers to accurately administer the ABLA-R to children with ASD. / October 2016

A multi component training package (live training, video modeling, role playing, and feedback) was used to train teachers to assess and instruct students with profound multiple disabilities. Phase 1 of the study included training seven in-service teachers to conduct assessment in three areas: (a) preference assessment (i.e., potential reinforcing items), (b) controlled body movement assessment (i.e., gross and fin motor skills), and (c) access skill assessment (i.e., assessment of basic skills or prerequisite skills that are necessary for student to master before entering into further instruction). The assessment result yielded the following information for each student participant: (a) a list of three to four preferred items, (b) a list of body movements in which the study reliably uses to respond, and (c) a list of access skills that are mastered and not mastered. Four teacher/student pairs from Phase 1 participated in Phase 2, which consisted of using the multi component training package (same components as Phase 1) to train teachers to instruct students on non mastered access skills. Teachers were trained to use one of the following instructional strategies to teach non mastered access skills: least-to-most prompting, most-to-least prompting, time delay, or graduate guidance. A multiple baseline design across four teacher participants was used to determine if the instructional training was effective in increasing the percentage of correctly implemented instructional steps. Data from Phase 1 suggested that the multi component training package was effective in increasing teachers' skills in assessing students with profound multiple disabilities, as the percentage of correctly implemented assessment steps increased for all seven teacher participants from pre training to post training. Additionally, data from Phase 2 indicated that the training was effective in increasing the percentage of correctly implemented instructional steps from baseline to post training sessions, across multiple access skills. Data from student participants showed that overall, students were responsive to teachers' instruction, as the percentage of independently performed student responses also increased from baseline to post training sessions.