SPC ED 527: Class #7

Julia Scherba de Valenzuela, Ph.D.

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October 7, 2008 (week #7)
Topic: Observations & Behavioral Recording

Class outline:

4:20-4:30	Quick questions and quandaries. Announcements: Your second classroom-based assessment is due next week. In your small groups tonight, don't forget to divide up the readings for next week. Questions or comments? Come to office hours and/or e-mail us with questions.
4:30-4:45	Mini-presentation on "objective" and "subjective"
4:45-5:05	Small group activity: group leaders pass out the envelopes which your instructor provides. Sort the contents into two piles: (a) objective and (b) subjective. DO NOT WRITE ON THESE -- you will need to turn them in for use with other classes.
5:05-5:35	Report out: (1) How did you sort your piles and (2) did you encounter any difficulties with this activity?
5:35-5:45	Break
5:45-6:45	Interactive presentation: observations & behavioral recording
6:45-6:50	Minute paper

Overheads:

PowerPoint file

Handouts:

none today

Assigned Readings:

Cohen, L. G., & Spenciner, L. J. (1998). Assessment of children and youth. New York: Longman. (chapter 5)

Taylor, R. L. (2003). Assessment of exceptional students: Educational and psychological procedures (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

McConnell, M. E. (1999). Self-monitoring, cueing, recording, and managing: Teaching students to manage their own behavior. Teaching Exceptional Children, 32(2), 14-21.

Reading Questions:
Cohen & Spenciner

1.) What are some of the reasons that you might conduct observations of students? How could you use the information gathered during observations?

2.) Observations of students & their environments provide useful information at many different stages of the assessment & instructional process. How does the use of observation change across these stages (e.g., from screening to program planning to evaluations)?

3.) There are several different types of observational assessments. How might you go about deciding which type of recording method to use (e.g., latency vs. duration; interval vs. event)??

4.) Now that you've read this chapter:

...what seem to be some important concepts underlying the expanded standards?

...what are some new terms for you?

...what new questions do you have?

.
Taylor

1.) Why is it important to assess the learning environment in addition to the student’s behavior?

2.) Why should words such as “aggressive,” “distractible,” and “slow” be avoided when identifying target behaviors? How could you change those words to be more appropriate?

3.) Now that you've read this chapter:

...what seem to be some important concepts underlying the expanded standards?

...what are some new terms for you?

...what new questions do you have?

Additional Resources:

See the behavioral recording sheets developed by Kay Osburn on the home page for this course.
Also, see the materials in "Show me the data!" a recommended text for this course.
Look at the resources provided by Dr. Copeland for SPCD 519, for information about functional behavior analysis

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Last updated: August 24, 2008

1.)	What are some of the reasons that you might conduct observations of students? How could you use the information gathered during observations?
2.)	Observations of students & their environments provide useful information at many different stages of the assessment & instructional process. How does the use of observation change across these stages (e.g., from screening to program planning to evaluations)?
3.)	There are several different types of observational assessments. How might you go about deciding which type of recording method to use (e.g., latency vs. duration; interval vs. event)??
4.)	Now that you've read this chapter: ...what seem to be some important concepts underlying the expanded standards? ...what are some new terms for you? ...what new questions do you have?

1.)	Why is it important to assess the learning environment in addition to the student’s behavior?
2.)	Why should words such as “aggressive,” “distractible,” and “slow” be avoided when identifying target behaviors? How could you change those words to be more appropriate?
3.)	Now that you've read this chapter: ...what seem to be some important concepts underlying the expanded standards? ...what are some new terms for you? ...what new questions do you have?