The first part of module 4, about the behavior support for intensive intervention of teachers in education, aims to describe strategies in consequence behavior and explain why reinforcement is essential. To begin with, the lecturer provides listeners with the distinction of reinforcement, aiming the increase some behavior occurrence, and punishment, targeting the decrease the likelihood of some cases repeating (National Center on Intensive Intervention, 2020). Thus, to reinforce the appropriate behavior of students, the teacher needs to acknowledge them, giving them something that they desire to benefit them from behaving in a specific way.
Moreover, reinforcement cannot harm the personal motivation of pupils. In the first video, it is claimed that there is no evidence that external reinforcement from the teachers’ side will decrease the intrinsic motivation of students, either young or older (National Center on Intensive Intervention, 2020). This is an essential notion because some teachers may ask questions concerning the necessity of reinforcement in education because they fear that students will lose their motivation.
Finally, the video provides viewers with advice concerning effecting and appropriate reinforcement in education. The lecturer states that teachers should reward the behavior, not specific students who experience it (National Center on Intensive Intervention, 2020). Moreover, there was a recommendation about the types of rewards (activities, benefits, privileges) and the need to ask students about what motivates them.
The second part of the module provides an overview of the foundations to establish a continuum of strategies to be aware of proper behavior. For instance, the lecturer talks about the necessity to use contingent praises, which may increase students’ correct responses, work accuracy, positive self-referent statements, attention, etc. (National Center on Intensive Intervention, 2020). Indeed, teachers’ contingent praises positively affect the class discussion and encourage pupils to behave in appropriate ways.
Moreover, the second video of the module provides the distinction between contingent praises and sarcasm. For instance, the words “thank you for raising your hands” are contingent praise, which is a beneficial reinforcement. (National Center on Intensive Intervention, 2020). At the same time, sarcastic comments “thank you for listening” when a student says something wrong may decrease students’ engagement in education (National Center on Intensive Intervention, 2020). Thus, the need to use appropriate praise is another crucial notion of this video.
Finally, in the video, the lecturer identifies distinctive features of contingent praises. To begin with, a teacher needs to use verbal statements, which are specific words and phrases, not looks or gestures, that the audience might not understand (National Center on Intensive Intervention, 2020). Then, there is an emphasis on the necessity to use such contingent praises immediately after the desired behavior, which is especially important for young students or people with disabilities (National Center on Intensive Intervention, 2020). Therefore, contingent praises are an essential part of reinforcing desired behavior that needs to be used properly.
In the third part, the video continues the discussion started in the second video and introduces other strategies to maintain appropriate behavior. The first strategy of reinforcement discussed in the video is a group contingency, which requires monitoring of an individual as well as group performance (National Center on Intensive Intervention, 2020). These group contingencies may be of three types: interdependent (all group members should perform at a pre-determined level), dependent (individual results affecting group performance), and independent (the same goal for all) (National Center on Intensive Intervention, 2020).
The second important takeaway from this video lies in the introduction of the second strategy on reinforcement, which is a behavior contract. According to the lecturer, this strategy represents a written document that manages the codes of conduct of the whole studying class (National Center on Intensive Intervention, 2020). Behavior includes a definition of desired behavior, a description of its reinforcement, outcomes of failure in meeting the requirements, and bonuses that can be achieved by following them (National Center on Intensive Intervention, 2020). This strategy is also highly efficient while reinforcing specific codes of conduct in education.
The last discussed strategy is the usage of token economy, which is a way to reward students for a particular behavior or studying outcomes. The token economy as a strategy needs to identify tokens and rules that will regulate the token delivering system (National Center on Intensive Intervention, 2020). For instance, students may be rewarded with some tokens, which they will exchange in the school canteen or other stores.
Finally, in the concluding part of the module, the lecturer states when teachers should adjust the usage of reinforcement in the classroom. The first takeaway from video 4 lies in the possible usage of reinforcement after some trials, one, two, or more answers from a student (National Center on Intensive Intervention, 2020). The second crucial notion is that teachers praise students after a fixed period, meaning each lesson or part of the class (National Center on Intensive Intervention, 2020). The third essential notion of the video is that reinforcement may be imposed after a variable time duration, for instance, each couple of minutes of the silent reading (National Center on Intensive Intervention, 2020). Thus, a teacher should be flexible and adapt its reinforcement strategies to the type of tasks and the common performance of the class.
References
National Center on Intensive Intervention. (2020). Behavior Course: Module 4 Part 1 [Video]. YouTube. Web.
National Center on Intensive Intervention. (2020). Behavior Course: Module 4 Part 2 [Video]. YouTube. Web.
National Center on Intensive Intervention. (2020). Behavior Course: Module 4 Part 3 [Video]. YouTube. Web.
National Center on Intensive Intervention. (2020). Behavior Course: Module 4 Part 4 [Video]. YouTube. Web.