Association for Behavior Analysis International

The Association for Behavior Analysis International® (ABAI) is a nonprofit membership organization with the mission to contribute to the well-being of society by developing, enhancing, and supporting the growth and vitality of the science of behavior analysis through research, education, and practice.

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Seventh International Conference; Merida, Mexico; 2013

Event Details


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Paper Session #67
Technology, Education and Behavior Analysis
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
11:00 AM–12:20 PM
Salon Merida (Fiesta Americana)
Area: EDC
Chair: Janet S. Twyman (UMass Medical School)
 

Improving Students' Spanish Reading Fluency: Research and Development of the Leamos para Avanzar Program

Domain: Service Delivery
JOHN C. BEGENY (North Carolina State University), Helen Herrera (North Carolina State University), Catalina Aguirre-Burneo (Universidad San Francisco de Quito)
 
Abstract:

In the U.S., far too many students struggle learning to read and never achieve adequate reading skills. For example, 33% of 4th grade students read below a Basic level, 66% read below a Proficient level, and 40% are considered non-fluent readers. In 2010 the Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies (HELPS) reading fluency program became publically available as an approach to assist struggling English readers. More than eight different studies have validated the effectiveness of HELPS for English readers since 2005 and it is currently being implemented in more than 10,000 schools nationally and internationally. However, because reading failure is a global problem, there is an imperative for researchers and educational practitioners to develop and examine effective reading interventions that can be delivered in languages other than English. For this reason, the HELPS Program was adapted and developed for Spanish readers in a program called Leamos para Avanzar. The focus of this presentation will be on the research and development of Leamos para Avanzar. During this presentation, attendees will learn (a) about the importance of reading fluency in Spanish reading, (b) how fluency is conceptualized within a behavior analytic framework of instruction, (c) how and why Leamos para Avanzar integrates several behavior analytic principles within its instructional strategies, and (d) how all Leamos para Avanzar instructional and training materials can be accessed for free. Six years of research and development related to Leamos para Avanzar will also be summarized, including multiple studies showing that Leamos para Avanzar has the potential to improve many students' Spanish reading fluency. Finally, further directions for research and development will be discussed, and interested attendees will learn how they can potentially collaborate with the Leamos para Avanzar research and development team in an overall effort to improve the reading skills of struggling readers being educated in Spanish speaking countries.

 

Research Accelerator: An Online Platform For Dynamic Engagement of Autism Therapy Based in Applied Behavior Analysis

Domain: Service Delivery
DEBORAH LEE SAFKO (Infinite Personal Possibilities, Inc)
 
Abstract:

Leveraging technology to advance collaboration among parents, clinicians, teachers, physicians, and researchers would greatly benefit from standardized assessment and data collection principals for Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) as a means to increase achievement across environments. In a review of Fold.IT, scientists provided an online gaming platform in which users could “play” by folding proteins within a defined set of gaming parameters (aka physics). Participants included third graders with no concept of the fact that the game was set up to solve three dimensional puzzles for HIV, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and other disorders. Gamers began to play and after ten days, had successfully identified a three dimensional model of the HIV protease that eluded scientists for fifteen years. While studies have shown that teachers lack training that would lead to an 80% increase in frequency of target behaviors in classrooms, school districts lack funding or resources to do so. Using the same principles as Fold.IT, Autism-U developed an online collaborative model which introduces the principals of ABA to anyone by virtue of its simple implementation and activity calendar functions. Parents, clinicians, doctors, babysitters, students, professionals, and teachers may now follow a plan that outlines the therapy for everyone in the circle of care who securely report to the team with live feedback (with parent’s permission). A new collaborative model is necessary to help resolve the inefficiency associated with fragmented efforts in research, training, and researcher-practitioner partnerships. The Center for Disease Control reports exponential growth in the prevalence of developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), now 1 in 50 kids in U.S. schools. Educators are facing challenges that present an acute demand for trained professionals, and availing introduction of ABA plans to educators and parents who can provide live feedback would help promote research by crowdsourcing live depersonalized data.

 

Technologies of Teaching and Learning I: Technology of Tools

Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis
JANET S. TWYMAN (UMass Medical School), T. V. Joe Layng (Mimio)
 
Abstract:

In 1968 B. F. Skinner called for a technology of teaching. By this he meant that scientific discoveries made in the psychology laboratory should be extended to the classroom. He did not mean, although he did offer up his own teaching machine, that teaching should necessarily be done using machines. Instead, he was advocating that there could be a technology of teacher/learner interactions that could greatly improve the likelihood of learner success. Unfortunately, Skinners vision has not come to pass. Little of what has been learned in the behavioral and cognitive laboratories makes its way into educational practice. Today when we here the word technology, we do not think of teaching processes, or ways of learning, we think of hardware and software. This paper focuses on advances in hardware and software, what may be called a technology of tools, and the implications they have for designing and delivering instruction based on behavioral principles.

 

Technologies of Teaching and Learning II: Technology of Process

Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis
T. V. JOE LAYNG (Mimio), Janet S. Twyman (UMass Medical School)
 
Abstract:

In 1968 B. F. Skinner called for a technology of teaching. By this he meant that scientific discoveries made in the psychology laboratory should be extended to the classroom. He did not mean, although he did offer up his own teaching machine, that teaching should necessarily be done using machines. Instead, he was advocating that there could be a technology of teacher/learner interactions that could greatly improve the likelihood of learner success. Unfortunately, Skinners vision has not come to pass. Little of what has been learned in the behavioral and cognitive laboratories makes its way into educational practice. Today when we here the word technology, we do not think of teaching processes, or ways of learning, we think of hardware and software. This paper returns to Skinner's original meaning of "technology" and focuses on what may be called a technology of process and the implications it has for designing and delivering instruction based on behavioral principles.

 
 

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