A practical reinforcement hierarchy for classroom behavior modification

A practical reinforcement hierarchy was proposed for classroom-based behavior modification programs. The seven-level hierarchy ranged from primitive consequences (Le., Infantile Physical Contact and Food) through the more abstract consequences (i.e., Praise and Internal Self-Reinforcement). Suggestions were made for using the hierarchy in teacher consultation and behavior modification planning.     

A special fermionic generalization of lineal gravity

INTRODUCTION The models of lineal gravity (the gravity theory in (1 1)-dimensions) are Liouville theory (Jackiw, 1985), a simplest non-trivial theory based on the sca- lar curvature R and additional scalar field, and so-called ‘string-inspired’ model (Cangemi and Jackiw, 1992; 1993), where scalar (dilaton) field arises from the string theory. Both models can also be obtained by dimensional reduction from (2 1)-di- mensions (Achúcarro, 1993; Cangemi, 1992; Grig- nani and Nardelli, 19…     

The influence of classroom aggression and classroom climate on aggressive-disruptive behavior

Research suggests that early classroom experiences influence the socialization of aggression. Tracking changes in the aggressive behavior of 4,179 children from kindergarten to second-grade (ages 5-8), this study examined the impact of 2 important features of the classroom context--aggregate peer aggression and climates characterized by supportive teacher-student interactions. The aggregate aggression scores of children assigned to first-grade classrooms predicted the level of classroom aggression (assessed by teacher ratings) and quality of classroom climate (assessed by observers) that emerged by the end of Grade 1. Hierarchical linear model analyses revealed that first-grade classroom aggression and quality of classroom climate made independent contributions to changes in student aggression, as students moved from kindergarten to second grade. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

Self-regulation of timeout duration in the modification of disruptive classroom behavior

The effects of self-determination vs. teacher-determination of timeout duration on disruptive behavior were investigated in a group of 15 students in a special classroom who had learning disabilities and/or behavior problems. There were five phases to the study: In a repeated measures design each subject received timeout for 5 minutes, no timeout, 5 minutes timeout, selfdetermined timeout duration, and student = teacher-determined timeout duration. The overall effect of timeout was to reduce significantly the rate of disruptive behavior. The effects of various timeout conditions did not differ, indicating self-management of timeout duration was just as effective as when the teacher set the timeout duration.     

The effects of token reinforcement on delinquents' classroom behavior

The effects of a token reinforcement program on the classroom behavior of 19 delinquent boys in a correctional institution were investigated. Appropriate classroom behavior was defined in terms of four component categories: on-time/in-seat, on-task, social interaction, and assignment completion. A measure of total appropriate classroom behavior was calculated by summing the frequency of target response occurrence for each component behavior. Withdrawal and reinstatement of token reinforcement procedures demonstrated experimental control of total appropriate classroom behavior; however, considerable variability of component behaviors was observed. Token reinforcement control was most clearly demonstrated with on-time/in-seat behavior; assignment behavior was similarly influenced but showed greater variability; on-task behavior was noticeably affected but exhibited an ascending trend during the reversal phase; and social interaction behavior showed fluctuations which appeared unrelated to reinforcement contingencies. These findings suggest that the use of global, composite measures may mask program effects on important component behaviors.     

The Japanese education system with special emphasis on higher education

The purpose of this article is to provide a brief analysis of the Japanese educational system and to give a somewhat detailed discussion of Japanese higher education. Its main conclusions are: although the bulk of higher education is catered for privately, the prestige institutions tend to be public ones; the character of the system as a whole seems to reflect Japanese society very clearly indeed since it supports high growth industries, reinforces the traditionally accepted distinction between the sexes, and determines both the structure of wages and salaries in general and its sex variance in particular; and that there are very serious problems currently confronting Japanese educationalists - these relate to the official inspection of textbooks, the emergence of anti-teacher violence within schools and the reduction in the size of the public subsidy to private education.The authors are extremely grateful for helpful comments and suggestions from Margaret B. Sutherland, Professor of Education, University of Leeds and Dr. Penny Francks, specialist on modern Japanese history at the Department of Chinese Studies, University of Leeds. However, the usual disclaimer applies.Ali M. El-Agraa is a Senior Lecturer in Economics, School of Economic Studies, University of Leeds, England and is the Visiting Professor in charge of International Economics and Middle Eastern Studies, Graduate School of International Relations, International University of Japan, Niigata for the period September 1984–August 1985. Akira Ichii is Professor of Economics, University of Chuo in Tokyo and is currently (April 1982–March 1984) a Visiting Fellow in the School of Economic Studies, University of Leeds.     

The principal game: A group consequence procedure to increase classroom in-task behavior

The effect of principal attention contingent upon team on-task performance was examined in an unruly fourth-grade class. In the first condition, principal attention was delivered through a game-like group consequence procedure referred to as the Princial Game. During the second experimental condition, principal attention was delivered to individual subjects contingent upon each individual's behavior. Principal attention was found to be a strong reinforcer in both experimental conditions, but ercentage of on-task behavior during team consequences was higher than during individual consequences.     

The daily report card: A simplified and flexible package for classroom behavior management

There is a growing need for rapid low cost, and proven behavior management techniques for classroom teachers. Often, an uncomplicated system of feedback to pupils at frequent intervals, backed by reinforcers delivered at home by cooperating parents, is sufficient to decrease problem behavior and accelerate homework and classwork completion. The present paper presents a system consisting of report cards, instructions for students, parents, and teachers, which is designed to accomplish these objectives. One application of the daily report card in a regular fourth-grade classroom will be presented. In this case, a behavior problem (talkouts), and homework assignment completion were targeted and recorded during a baseline period, and then sequentially remediated using a multiple baseline design. The results indicated rapid improvement with a minimum of teacher time and effort. The use of the card with various problem behaviors in classrooms is discussed as a valuable consultation tool for school intervention.     

课堂教学行为的价值干预性探析

中小学课堂教学过程中存在着学生、教师和教育目的导向的价值观.这三种价值观相互区别且彼此联系,教师要合理处理三种价值关系,在建构主义和人本主义的指导下.提高教师的素质和课堂教学行为的价值自觉,收集和分析学生现有的价值观信息,尊重和接纳学生原有的价值观,承认价值取向多元化,功能干预与内容干预相结合,促进学生积极健康价值观的形成和发展,促进学生个性发展与完善.     

The use of peers in classroom behavior change

The development of research in the use of children to control the behavior of other children in classroom settings is discussed. Several studies utilizing peers are shown to be effective and scientifically sound. In addition, ethical problems which may arise when using peers to change the behavior of other children, such as possible detrimental effects on the pupil contingency manager, are discussed. Suggestions are made for future research using peers as agents of behavior change in the classroom.     

Direct observation of classroom behavior

Summary In this paper we have examined the uses to which direct observation has been put in the study of classroom processes, and taken note of several observation systems possessing a variety of distinct attributes. Problems encountered in the use of observation, chiefly those of obtaining accurate and stable measures, were explored.Future developments in direct observation procedures seem likely to center around several foci. Knowledge about classroom behavior, its correlates, and its effects requires replication and comparison among studies. Inventing new systems prohibits these comparisons. Therefore, users of direct observation are likely to become more interested in the basic dimensions underlying their observational data. This should facilitate the development of sound, behaviorally based instructional theories.Basic instructional dimensions can also be used to generate new observation systems, which are syntheses of the major components of existing systems and which therefore will allow comparisons to these systems. However, these dimensions will be delimited only if researchers take the trouble to investigate and report them.Finally, the use of observation in research and evaluation should increase particularly to measure process variables intervening between the application of a treatment or a new program and outcome variables. As more educators become aware of the potential information available from observation, and as our knowledge of observation system variables increases, observation seems likely to become a standard procedure in classroom evaluation studies and field research.

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Die Direkte Beobachtung von Klassenverhalten

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Observation directe du comportement en classe

     

贵州省特殊教育学校教师课堂教学情绪研究

论文旨在探究特殊教育教师课堂教学情绪现状及影响因素,以贵州省特殊教育学校的教师作为研究对象,发放问卷并进行数据分析.结论:贵州省特殊教育学校教师课堂教学情绪以积极情绪为主;特殊教育学校教师课堂情绪与教师自身因素 、 学校管理因素 、 社会支持因素具有较强的相关性,并提出特殊教育教师的课堂教学情绪的调节策略.     

The effect of time of day on problem solving and classroom behavior

This study describes fluctuations in problem solving and classroom behaviors during the school day for nonmedicated pupils who had attention deficits with hyperkinesis. The 43 participating pupils were observed with Stonybrook Observation Code, and tested with Stroop Color-Word Test, Matching Familiar Figures, Porteus Mazes, and Digit Span. Test data were collected in counterbalanced morning and afternoon sessions. Twenty-one pupils were administered the tests in the morning and in the afternoon; the remainder were tested in the afternoon and in the following morning. Equivalent test forms were used. Direct observations were completed for four minutes in the morning and for four minutes in the afternoon once each week over a four-week period. Repeated measures Multivariate ANOVAs were followed by univariate and correlational analyses. On problem-solving tasks except Digit Span, pupils performed beer in the morning. In classroom behavior, all pupils exhibited more interference, off-task, noncompliance, and minor motor movement in the afternoon. The results are discussed in terms of scheduling problem-solving tasks in the morning and less structured activities in the afternoon.     

The effects of cognitive style and course content on classroom social behavior

This study of the effects of course content and cognitive style on students' classroom social behavior utilized 29 boys experiencing academic difficulties. After completing the Embedded Figures Test, each subject was assigned to either field-dependent (FD) or field-independent (FI) groups. Systematic observations of the two groups' classroom behaviors in French and mathematics classes were compared using ANOVA techniques. Results showed that the social behavior profiles of the two groups were the same on 18 behavioral categories. However, consistent with previous findings, FI subjects were more disruptive than FD subjects. Variance in social behavior was due principally to course content. The interactive effects of cognitive and task characteristics on social behavior are discussed within a cognitive-behavioral perspective.     

The work of classroom assistants in special and mainstream education in Finland

The contribution of teaching assistants, learning support assistants or classroom assistants is becoming increasingly important in inclusive and specialist classrooms. In this article, Marjatta Takala, professor in special education at the University of Helsinki, describes her research into the work of 14 classroom assistants working in a mix of mainstream and special schools in Helsinki, Finland. The results reveal that the tasks undertaken by assistants are different in mainstream and specialist settings and vary also according to the ages of the children involved. The assistants spent more of their time, for example, working directly with children if they worked in mainstream schools. Assistants in special schools, by comparison, spent more time assisting the teacher. Further, assistants working among older children spent more time waiting or simply listening to the lesson than those working with younger children, who seemed to be more actively involved with supporting learning. Marjatta Takala analyses her results by the full range of tasks encountered; according to three broad types of work; and in terms of the planning and co-operation undertaken by assistants and teachers at the class level. Her discussion will be of interest to anyone concerned with the development of support in the classroom and the education of both teachers and teaching assistants.     

Sources of invalidity in measuring classroom behavior

The concepts of teacher effectiveness and teacher evaluation are growing in importance. Attempts to identify the classroom behavior of more and less effective teachers and evaluate the extent to which they reach pre-determined criteria of effectiveness have led to a heterogeneous array of statistical tools and measurement paradigms, many of which contain sources of invalidity. This paper (a) critically reviews past attempts to identify the behavioral correlates of effective teaching; (b) poses a systematic measurement framework for more effectively studying classroom behavior, and (c) identifies specific sources of invalidity in measuring the behaviors within this framework.