The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of trained hearing peer
tutors on the physical activity levels of deaf students in integrated elementary
physical education classes. This study utilized a single subject multiple
baseline design across subjects.
Eight deaf 4th and 5th grade students and eight hearing 4th and 5th grade
peer tutors participated in the study. The students were observed during their
physical education class and data were analyzed on physical activity levels and
peer tutor behavior. The deaf students and peer tutors were first observed
during a baseline period of 4-6 classes with no intervention. The peer tutors
were trained toward the latter part of the baseline period. The peer tutor
intervention lasted from 11-13 classes. During the intervention, the peer tutor
and deaf student participated in pairs for the fitness portion of the class. The
results of the intervention demonstrated that the implementation of trained
hearing peer tutors improved the physical activity levels of both the deaf
students and peer tutors.
The training of the peer tutors consisted of signs pertaining to: instruction,
physical fitness, and teaching techniques in the areas of: cueing, feedback and
reinforcement. The cueing approach followed the system of least prompts and
included verbal cueing, modeling, and physical assistance. Feedback
consisted of positive general and positive specific reinforcement. Peer tutors
were trained over four to five 30 minutes sessions. Pre-established criteria
required the peer tutors to implement the teaching behaviors with the
researcher a minimum of 4 out of 5 times, and receive a score of 90% or better
on the peer tutor quiz. All peers were successful at meeting this criteria. Data
were collected on the peer tutors tutoring behavior throughout the study by
systematic observation. The results of the peer tutor data revealed that the tutors
were able to implement the tutor training program.
The results of this study demonstrate that elementary aged deaf students and
their hearing peers can improve their physical activity levels upon intervention
of trained hearing peer tutors. It was also shown that elementary aged peer
tutors can be trained to provide assistance to deaf students in integrated
physical education classes. Recommendations for future research are provided
based on the results of the study. / Graduation date: 1996
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/34570 |
| Date | 14 August 1995 |
| Creators | Lieberman, Lauren J., 1965- |
| Contributors | Dunn, John M. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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