Kathleen Whittier Plattsburgh State University Educational Studies and Services Education, Health, and Human Services Division "Cultivating the Scholar, Teacher, and Colleague Within"
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Assignments

A. Paper Requirements* - DUE DATE: December 5, 2005

The paper should describe a plan for teaching a specific skill or skills to a particular child or adult. As described in more detail below, you should provide background information about the child, rationales for what you want to teach, and assessment information. The goal of the paper will be to demonstrate your ability to understand PDD, implement interventions from the research literature and to identify behavioral principles that you will be using. 

IMPORTANT: Each of the numbered steps must be mentioned in order for your paper to be acceptable. 

LENGTH OF PAPER
A good paper should be 10-12 pages (double-spaced) long (Times New Roman 12).

PAPER OUTLINE
BACKGROUND RESEARCH (minimum of 1 page)
Select a research study (not a chapter or a section in a book) from either the ones discussed in class or from one you select from the literature. This study should relate to the teaching plan you will be describing (e.g., research study on augmentative and alternative communication). Describe the study in your own words and critique it in the following manner.

1. Identify the dependent variable.
2. Identify the independent variable.
3. Identify response measure and recording interval.
4. Identify the type of design used (e.g., multiple baseline, ABAB, etc.)
5. Identify baseline and interventions.
6. Identify threats to internal validity.
7. Determine if functional relations have been established/demonstrated.

DESCRIPTION OF THE CHILD (maximum of 1-2 pages)
You should include detailed information about the child. You should include detailed information about the child. This would include description of past and current abilities and any other information that might impact on the goals and methods of treatment. For example you should include, 
o information about possible genetic influences (e.g., any family history of PDD or related disorders?) 
o past medical history (especially if it might impact on teaching such as chronic ear infections that could influence how you would prompt)
o current strengths and abilities (e.g., language, social skills, unusual abilities, etc...) 
o current needs. 
To protect confidentiality, do not include the child's full name. 

A description of past and current abilities and any other information that might 
impact on the goals and methods of treatment. For example you should include, 
1. current strengths and abilities (e.g., language, social skills, unusual abilities, etc...)
2. current needs. 

TEACHING GOALS AND RATIONALES (maximum of 2-3 paragraphs)
Describe the behavior or behaviors you want to focus on in this paper and why 
you picked these goals. Here you might want to include a discussion of some 
"future planning" and how the goals you picked would fit with the child's needs 
in the future. For example, if the child is engaging in frequent aggressive 
behavior, discuss how this might be important to change not just for the current 
classroom or home environment, but also for future goals (e.g., living 
arrangements, friendships, etc...).

TEACHING PLAN
In as much detail as possible describe what and how you are going to teach the 
child. Include information on, 
1. the type of setting where teaching will be conducted (e.g., home versus 
school, separate setting versus "natural setting") and 
2. why you picked that setting.
3. the type of teaching techniques to be used (e.g., backwards chaining, 
physical, verbal or gestural prompts).
4. the reinforcers used to motivate the child and how you selected them (e.g., 
watched to see what the child liked when he played).
5. any type of prompt fading or instruction aimed at generalizing the results.

Also identify instances of the following in your plan,
1. consequence
2. antecedent
3. reinforcement (include a description of the schedule of reinforcement to be 
used - for example, VR 5)
4. stimulus control
5. generalization
6. maintenance

Describe how you will insure that,
1. behaviors that you will teach will "contact natural contingencies"

EVALUATION PLAN
Describe how you will evaluate progress. Will you count the frequency of 
behaviors each day, the duration during one hour probes, etc...? Specifically, 
mention how you will use one or more of the following in measuring your 
outcomes,
1. Rate (sometimes referred to as frequency) - the number of responses per unit of time.
2. Duration - the elapsed time between the onset and the cessation of a single response.
3. Latency - the elapsed time between the onset of a specific stimulus and the onset of a response.

Include,
1. A sample data sheet you will use to monitor progress
Also include some, 
1. "social validity" questions that will help you determine if your teaching has 
made a meaningful impact on the child (e.g., is the child's aggression improved 
such that other children are more comfortable being near him?).

REFERENCES
1. Include the APA reference or references that you used to prepare the paper. See 
example below.

Charlop-Christy, M.H., Le L., & Freeman K.A. (2000). A comparison of video modeling with in vivo modeling for teaching children with autism. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 30 (6), 537 - 552.

*This assignment has been use with permission. of Mark Durand

ASSIGNMENT B. Case Studies Due Dates: 11/25/2003; 12/02/2003; 12/09/2003
You will be assigned three cases it is your responsibility to answer the questions at the end of each case. The questions will require you to research beyond the simple boundaries of this course. As teachers you will be faced with children and their problem behavior that will require the same types of effort in order to know you are providing them with a quality education. You may find the internet extremely helpful. I expect a detailed, well researched response to the questions asked you at the end of each case. 


ASSIGNMENT C: Book 

ASSIGNMENT D: 10/07/2003; 10/21/2003; 11/04/2003; 
You are to read: 
 three  articles that deal with research related directly to treatment strategies related to Pervasive Developmental Disorders (three different PDDs) (DO NOT USE ARTICLES FROM ANY SOURCE OTHER THAN REFEREED JOURNALS). Briefly summarize article then analysis content. Do not tell me it was easy or enjoyable to read. I want you to really examine the efficacy and validity of the research done. Include the following:
1. Identify the dependent variable.
2. Identify the independent variable.
3. Identify response measure and recording interval.
4. Identify the type of design used (e.g., multiple baseline, ABAB, etc.)
5. Identify baseline and interventions.
6. Identify threats to internal validity.
7. Determine if functional relations have been established/demonstrated.

This page was last updated 13 July 2004
This site managed by Kathleen Whittier.