Abstract
Technological innovations offer promise for improving intervention implementation in secondary, inclusive classrooms. A withdrawal design was employed with two high-school students in order to assess the effectiveness of a technologically delivered, self-monitoring intervention in improving on-task behavior in a science classroom. Two students ages 14 and 15 with diagnoses of specific learning disability (Student 1) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; Student 2) were selected by case manager referral due to difficulties with on-task behavior despite long-term administration of psychostimulant medication. After baseline data were collected, both students were trained in the use of a self-monitoring application (I-Connect) delivered via a handheld tablet. On-task prompts were delivered at 5-min intervals in an ABAB withdrawal design. The intervention resulted in positive, stable improvements in the primary dependent variable of on-task behavior for both students and less clear improvement in the generalization variable of disruptive behavior.
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The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by Grants from the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences (R324B100004) and the Office of Special Education Programs (H327A100082). The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily reflective of the positions of the U.S. Department of Education.
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Wills, H.P., Mason, B.A. Implementation of a Self-monitoring Application to Improve On-Task Behavior: A High-School Pilot Study. J Behav Educ 23, 421–434 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-014-9204-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-014-9204-x