Basic Teaching Methods
Dr. Ng Lai Oon
Health Psychology Unit
Faculty of Allied Health Sciences
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Rationale
To increase awareness of teaching methods in
promoting adaptive behaviour skills learning
To set precedence for systematic teaching
methods in modules for sexual and
reproductive health in children with learning
disabilities
To encourage the use of precision teaching in
regulating outcomes of modules
Objectives
To provide basic understanding of basic
teaching methods
To improve awareness of basic teaching
methods within the trainers teaching
repertoire
To apply basic teaching methods in the
teaching of adaptive behaviour skills
To facilitate assessment and evaluation
strategies for the basic teaching methods
Teaching Methods
Methods used in teaching involve basic and
structured teaching methods:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Modelling
Incidental teaching
Discrete Trial Training
Shaping of behaviour
Chaining forward and backward
Adaptive Behaviour Skills
Communication Skills
Daily Living Skills
Socialisation Skills
Motor Skills
Communication Skills
Receptive language verbal and nonverbal,
language concepts
Expressive language verbal and nonverbal,
language concepts
(e.g. prepositions, adjectives, etc.)
(e.g. prepositions, adjectives, etc.)
Picture exchange language concepts,
initiating interaction
Written communication alphabet,
handwriting, spelling, reading
Daily Living Skills
Personal care
Domestic skills
e.g. house chores,
Community skills
e.g. body parts, dressing, feeding, cleaning
e.g. concept of time, money, danger/safety
Academic skills
e.g. reading, writing, spelling, counting,
arithmetic, etc.
Socialisation Skills
Interpersonal Relationships
Play and Leisure Time
Initiating
Making friends
Keeping friends
Initiating
Turn-taking
Generating own play
Coping Skills
Handling conflicts
Emotion management
Problem solving
Motor Skills
Gross motor balance, limb and trunk
movements
Fine motor finger manipulation
Modeling
What is modeling?
Teaching by showing and child responds by imitating
(see-do channel)
Most direct form of teaching
Types of modeling
Direct behavioural modeling see others-do
Self modeling see self-do
Covert modeling imagine-do
Symbolic modeling exposed to story-do
Application of Modeling
Teaching new skills with see-do method
Prompting steps of new skills in shaping a new
repertoire of behaviours
Skills that can be modeled directly include
communication skills (e.g. imitation of speech
sounds),
daily living skills (e.g. imitation of feeding),
socialization (e.g. imitation of greeting), and
motor skills (e.g. imitation of body movements).
Symbolic Modeling
Facilitating understanding by symbolic
modeling using stories as analogy to modeled
behaviour
o
E.g. Sang Kancil and the crocodiles in teaching of
creative coping skills
The learning of coping skills involving
reasoning and abstract concepts may do better
with symbolic modeling
o
E.g. Ultramans alarm blinks when he is in danger
and he takes action by getting help.
Incidental Teaching
Teaching a skill or fact when an opportunity
arise by providing a new and related
information within the given setting
Opportunities can be natural or facilitated
Teaching can be carried out by:
Modelling: Showing / guiding the skills
Stating the fact
Asking a leading question that facilitates discovery
Application of Incidental Teaching
Reinforcing learning when open-ended questions are
posed to student in situations such as:
Problem-solving: Suggesting ideas, guiding means-to-end
Listing out observations
Generating ideas
Communication Skills: Promotion of speech and
language by adding model and vocabulary
Daily Living Skills: Modelling of self-care, domestic
and community skills
Social Skills: Modelling of socially appropriate
behaviours and play
Motor Skills: Modelling of gross and fine motor skills
Facilitating Learning from
Incidental Teaching
Reward demonstration of learning
Provide opportunity for learning to take place
E.g. asking leading questions, providing the
circumstances
Discrete Trial Training?
DTT is the application of modelling and
reinforcements in teaching a new skill
Based on ABC sequence analysis
DTT is only PART of a childs total program
A Trial consists of:
An instruction (Antecedent)
Waiting for behaviour response
Behaviour response
Reinforce / Redirect / Prompt / Ignore Outcome
(Consequence)
Behaviour Sequences
ABC revisited:
Antecedents
Consequences
Behaviour runs in a sequence of consequence
chains
DTT has many trials
Discrete means each trial contains ABC as a
separate unit Rationale: Learning is easier and faster when
trial commences and ends the same way
The Discrete Trial
Step 1: Give instruction
Step 2: Wait few seconds for response
Step 3: When child responds or not, give
appropriate consequence
Each ABC unit is called a trial.
Trials are usually given in short sets of 10
repetitions.
Sets are called drills
DTT Example: Sitting Down
A
Instructor
Child
Instructor
Sit down
Child sits
Good sitting!
Sit down
Child doesnt move
Looks away, then
sets up next trial
Sit down +
physical prompt
Child sits
Good sitting!
Sit down
Child bends
Almost there. Lets
try again
DTT Example: Give Me [Colour]
A
Instructor
Child
Instructor
Give me blue
Child gives red
Takes card, looks
away. Sets up next
trial
Give me blue +
Child gives blue
prompt e.g. pointing
to blue
Correct!
Give me blue
Good boy!
Child gives blue
DTT Example: Speech response
A
Instructor
Child
Instructor
Tell me about the
picture
Cat
Mm..hmm
Tell me more
House
Yes, theres a house
and a cat
What else can you
see?
Car
Yes, a house, a cat
and a car
Where is the cat?
Car
Correct. The cat is on
the car
Where is the car?
Front of house
Good! The car is in
front of the house
Antecedents
All antecedents are stimuli anything
perceivable (e.g. see, hear, taste, smell, feel)
Antecedents can be internal or external
Not all stimuli are antecedents they may be
neutral in meaning and ignored
Discriminative Stimulus (Sd) the antecedent
that is critical to ones behaviour response
DTT helps to turn neutral stimuli into Sd buy
associating it with some meaning
Types of Antecedents
Neutral no effects, not noticed
Discriminative Stimuli its presence
influences behaviour (e.g. see martial arts)
Prompts artificial signals or guide to behave
Physical guidance,
gestures,
modelling,
positioning/size (making obvious)
Setting stimulus control
Fading Prompts
Prompts are only aids to learning the Sd (e.g.
instructions) at the beginning
Prompts have to be faded as soon as possible
to avoid prompt-dependence
Over-prompting can also influence behaviour
to include the modelled prompt (e.g. hand
signals during behaviour)
Settings for DTT
Free from distractions
Create opportunities for wanted behaviour
(e.g. hunger for asking for food)
Reduce opportunities for unwanted behaviour
(e.g. looking at TV during trial)
DTT situation should have high likelihood of
behaviour occurring
Behaviour
Action, response, series of actions
Has a beginning and an end
Should be stated in measurable terms (operational
definition) e.g. frequency, duration, intensity,
products
Does not necessarily reflect thought/emotions but
a means-to-an-end (functional behaviour)
DTT helps to supplement and speed up the
development behaviour.
Therefore, DTT needs to measure behaviour
Consequences
Consequences are events that follow
immediately after a specific behaviour.
Influences likelihood of the behaviour
occurring again
Behaviour increase consequences are
reinforcing
Behaviour decrease consequences are
punishing or neutral
Reinforcers
Usually also termed rewards
Sensory hugs, pat, tickles
Social smiles, applause, cheers, praises
Tangibles Food, drinks, toys, books, stickers,
money
Activities play, singing, music,
entertainment, quiet time/personal time
Selecting Reinforcers
Watch and see what the child does
Assessing reinforcers
Put a variety of things in front of child
Let the child choose and pick
Let child play/consume for a few seconds
Rearrange items and repeat first step
Take item away from child and observe reaction
Test the item in increasing behaviour
Be aware of bliss point (supply & demand)
Punishments
Consequences that are aversive that weakens
behaviour
Examples are:
Verbal reprimands/scoldings
Removal of enjoyment/toy/TV/Time out
Overlearning cleaning up messes
Physical pain
Fines
Being sent away
Summary of DTT in ABC
A
Instructor
Child
Instructor
Setting events
Discriminative
stimuli
Prompts
Neutral Stimuli
Behaviour
Reinforcers
Neutral stimuli
Information
feedback
Corrective
procedures (e.g.
redirection, timeout, general
compliance)
Making Antecedents Work
Prepare teaching environment (e.g. instructions,
reinforcers, distractions)
Choose appropriate discriminative
stimulus/signal/instruction
Teach naturally occurring behaviour (I.e. daily
living skills
Sd given only when given attention
Sd must be clear, distinct and given once per
trial.
Sd must be given the same way every trial
Prompting
Minimal and most natural
Immediately after Sd/Instructions
Prompted response is reinforced less
Vary prompts
Fade as soon as correct response made
Delay prompts after few trials
If child is prompt-dependent, find other tactics
Delivering Reinforcers
Instant delivery (easy availability)
Must be desired by the child
Small and short duration
Varied
Combined with social reinforcers
Be dramatic and fun animated
Be aware of reinforcement schedules
Maintaining Gains
DTT done :
At different times
With different materials
In different places
With different people
Drills need to be interspersed with other drills
to keep interest
Practise drills at every opportunity in less
structured situations
Organising DTT
Preparation
Time
People
Room and materials
Operationalise Drills and Learning Criteria
Recording system
Prepare break area for play
Carrying Out DTT
Keep drills short
Vary drills
Have short breaks between sets of drills
Be in control of Antecedents and
Consequences
Keep child in DTT action or in play
Work in different settings
Work with different people
Show enthusiasm
Be Consistent!!
Recording Drills
It suggested that drills be done in a set of 10
easy to calculate %
Learning criteria is usually the ability to
perform at 100% rate 3 sets in a row.
Make provisions for recording successes,
prompted successes and failures.
Also record antecedents such as instructor,
place, etc
Make note of consequences given
Example Record
10
XP
XP
XP
P
XP
P X
P
X
P
XP
XP
XP
P
XP P
XP
XP
XP
Corrects
10
10
Day
10
SHAPING AND CHAINING
What is Shaping?
Teaching a new behaviour by rewarding any behaviour
that resembles the desired behaviour until the desired
behaviour is achieved.
Desired behaviour given the biggest reward.
E.g. Playing Hot & Cold
Why shaping?
Some behaviour are not within a childs repertoire and
are difficult to learn.
Shaping allows the child to grow into the new
behaviour or skill, thus encourages the behaviour by
promoting success and minimizing frustrations.
Application of Shaping in Teaching
Used to behaviours that are too difficult for the child
to learn.
Communication Skills: Rewarding approximations of
speech sounds closest to desired speech
Daily Living Skills: Rewarding approximations of
self-care, domestic, and community skills that are
closest to the target level of skill.
Socialisation Skills:
Motor Skills: Rewarding approximations of motor
movements closest to the desired pattern of
movement
Chaining
What is Chaining?
Teaching behaviours in a chain of steps where each
step becomes a cue for the next step.
Similar to shaping but with more structure.
A behavior chain is a series of related behaviors, each
of which provides the cue for the next and the last that
produces a reinforcer.
Almost everything we do can be considered part of a
behavior chain.
For example, when you are reciting the alphabet, you start
with A, then B, then C and so on until the task is
completed at Z.
Forward Chaining
Forward chaining is a chaining procedure that begins
with the first element in the chain and progresses to the
last element (A to Z).
Start with the first task in the chain (A).
Once the child can perform that element satisfactorily, you
have him perform the first and second elements (A & B) and
reinforce this effort.
Do not teach A, then teach B separately; A and B are
taught together.
When these are mastered, you can move to A, B and C.
Notice they are not taught in isolation; hence the term chain.
Backward Chaining
This is often a very effective way of developing
complex sequences of behavior.
In forward chaining, you are teaching A to Z;
in backward teaching, you are teaching Z to A.
Backward chaining is a chaining procedure that
begins with the last element in the chain and proceeds
to the first element.