The effects of an online strategy training on educators' development of a functional behavior assessment (FBA) plan for students with disabilities
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Jung, Sojung
- Graduate Program:
- Special Education
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 27, 2021
- Committee Members:
- Krista Wilkinson, Outside Unit & Field Member
David Mcnaughton, Co-Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Pamela Wolfe, Co-Chair & Dissertation Advisor
David Lee, Major Field Member
Pamela Wolfe, Program Head/Chair - Keywords:
- functional behavior assessment
online learning
explicit instruction
behavior management
teacher training - Abstract:
- Functional behavior assessment (FBA) can be used to identify the function of inappropriate behaviors and support educators in managing students’ behavior in educational settings. The skills to conduct an FBA and use the data to create behavior intervention plans are critical for educators. The current study investigated the effects of an online instructional module on the development and use of FBA to manage student behavior, as well as the social validity of the online FBA instructional module. A quasi-experimental pre/post-test group design with switching replications was used to evaluate the effects of online training. A total of 22 educators participated in the online training. Participants were randomly assigned to the two groups (Group A and Group B) and received the online training at different times. The effectiveness of the training was measured by participant performance on case-scenarios designed to represent the four functions served by inappropriate behavior (i.e., escaping a task, gaining attention, accessing a tangible item, or engaging in sensory stimulation). Results indicate that the online training in the use of a six-step strategy (i.e., the DIRECT strategy) to conduct an FBA improved educators’ ability to develop behavior support plans. Furthermore, a majority of the educators described the online training as a good use of their time, and reported that they would recommend the training to their colleagues. In order to support educators in the development of the skills needed to make use of FBA, future research is necessary, including investigations to evaluate the effects of online instruction for larger groups of educators, and the ability of educators to generalize the learned skills to natural environments (i.e., educational settings).