Association for Behavior Analysis International

Critical, or higher-order thinking, is the hallmark of higher education. It is important to go beyond training in education, and develop a more complex behavioral repertoire. In this symposium, the presenters will be discussing their work on the use of interteaching, and combining interteaching with equivalence based instruction (EBI). It will be argued that either of these approaches alone produce better teaching outcomes, and that some topics lend themselves to additional methods such as using EBI to teach more complex topics. These approaches are efficient, and can be modified for use in face-to-face, and online, courses. Finally, using either or both in combination with programmed instruction will be discussed.

Any student, professor, or individuals who train professionals.

Interteaching is an active learning strategy based upon Personalized System of Instruction. Pairs or groups discuss a series of questions based upon the readings and other course materials. While there is a rich body of literature supporting interteaching, only two articles are available that look at the implementation of interteaching in an online environment. Given that online courses are often asynchronous, many discussions occur without the instructor present to provide feedback. The current study will examine whether the presence of an instructor during online synchronous meetings of small groups affects the participation and quality of discussion in these groups. Two 8-week online courses were examined. For 4/8 synchronous sessions scheduled, the instructor will log in and provide approximately 20 minutes of guidance and feedback to the students. Percentage of intervals on task, as defined as discussing the interteaching assignment or related topics (i.e., excluding other assignments, personal discussion, instructor requirements, or general course information) will be measured for each student.