proposal
hsj
adresscomments.pdf
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING THROUGH PEER MODELS 3
Observational Learning through Peer Models
Hibah Alharbi
Formatted: Font: Bold
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING THROUGH PEER MODELS 4
Observational Learning through Peer Models
Introduction
Children with and without special needs have been seen to have the abilities to learn new
skills in different ways. For instance, children can learn through explicit instruction, prompting, as
well as reinforcement (Charlop et al., 2018). Learning can be divided into two categories. These
are instructive feedback and observational learning. In instructive feedback, children gain
knowledge of new information that is not directly taught tor reinforced into them (Henderson et
al., 2018). On the other hand, observational learning involves learning skills by observing other
people, usually their peers (Grenner et al., 2019). This proposal aims to evaluate ways in which
pre-school children with special needs can learn in an inclusive classroom and achieve their
potential. This can be achieved through observational learning (Spriggs, 2016).
Children with such developmental disabilities as autism have more trouble learning in
classrooms compared to their peers. As such, it is necessary to encourage and support them with
proper learning environments. More specifically, tailoring a classroom to be inclusive of them
goes a long way in supporting their educational endeavors. This support can be offered in three
different ways (Lanter & Singer-Dudek, 2020). One, the children should be able to interact with
their peers, friends, as well as adults in their community. Two, their environments should be
constructed in a manner that the impact of their impairment or disability is effectively reduced.
This means that buildings and other facilities in the learning environment include accommodations
for these children with special needs (Foti et al., 2018). Third, these children need to be taught by
teachers and parents who help them gain new skills. Fourth, they should be able to meet other
people with similar special needs to learn from and act as role models. All these are aspects of
observational learning (Byers, 2016; Stone et al., 2018).
Formatted: Font: Bold
Deleted: s
Deleted: must be able to be
Deleted: ive of
Commented [MD1]: Who have higher-level skills
Deleted: ,
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING THROUGH PEER MODELS 5
Werts et al. (2010) assert that observational learning is a major prerequisite for inclusive
learning. Students with peer models, or classmates that have no disabilities, can observe what these
peer models do so as to replicate these skills. Most of the studies regarding observational learning
have been done in highly controlled environments. The students have been seen to acquire the
expressive language used by their peers albeit not comprehensively. Egel et al. (year) established
that students with autism can learn from models and were seen to imitate discrete responses. The
discrete responses that were studied included naming pictures, giving answers to questions, and
reading words. Students were made to observe a different stimulus for each of them and then
prompted to respond correctly as per the required stimulus. The studies found one interesting
aspect. Most of the skills that were gained by the students involved response chains. Response
chains refer to patterns of behavior that occur in a sequence to make up a complex skill.
This study, therefore, aims to establish whether students with disabilities can learn response
chains in a normal environment (that is, away from a controlled environment; in a normal
classroom setup) by observing students who complete the prerequisite steps in a realistic situation.
Another aim of this research is to evaluate how students with disabilities would react to social
interaction after they have successfully gone through a peer modeling session. Previous studies
have failed to assess how students interact with others in subsequent activities that involving peer
modeling. This study, therefore, underscores the focus of inclusive classrooms, which is essentially
the social benefits that students with disabilities acquire in a learning environment together with
students without these disabilities. Given the above information, we have the following research
questions:
i. Can students with disabilities learn response chains in a typical classroom
environment by observing a peer model?
Deleted: and try
Deleted: carried
Deleted: ,
Deleted: at
Deleted: ing
Deleted: the Deleted: based in terms of
Deleted: This is due to the fact p
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING THROUGH PEER MODELS 6
ii. How do students with disabilities socially interact with other students after peer
modelling sessions? How do they participate in these interactions?
Methods
Setting
The study will be carried out in a pre-school classroom. The selected students will be
enrolled in different classrooms that follow a similar schedule. They will participate in group
activities, both small and large, snack and free play sessions. During the free-play sessions, the
students will participate in such activities as art, drama as well as such motor activities as motor
activities as swings.
An assistant teacher, with specialized expertise, was accorded to each of the students’ class
and will be responsible in ensuring proper carrying out of the interventions carried out in the study.
As such, each of the two teachers that are required to participate in the study were required to have
at least a bachelor’s degree in early-childhood special education.
Participants
Four students will be chosen to participate in the study. There will be three boys and girl.
The participant ages are 4-6 years old and they are diagnosed with developmental delays as well
as communication delays, or intellectual disabilities.
All the four participants will be assigned into two classrooms and allocated four peer
models each. The sessions for the four children will take place on the floor or on the desks, round
table or at the corner of the class depending on what the sessions involved.
Type of Single Subject Design
The study will use a multiple probe design based on response chains that is similar for all
the students to evaluate the impact of peer modeling on the students. At first, the students with
Commented [MD2]: Research questions should be in single subject format (see notes from class 2): Research questions should have three elements: participants, independent variable, and dependent measures. All research questions should have these three elements, but the order in which they are included can vary. –For example, the same research question could take the following forms: –(a), Does “X” independent variable influence “Y” dependent variable for “Z” participants? –(b) For “Z” participants, does “X” independent variable influence “Y” dependent variable? Or –(c) Is “Y” dependent variable of Z participants influenced by using “X” independent variable Example single subject research question: Is there a functional relation between Peer Assisted Learning Strategies used in mathematics curriculum for 45 minutes per day and increases in numerical mathematical problem solving for fifth graders with mathematical learning disabilities?
Formatted: Indent: First line: 0" Deleted: As such, it will follow the typical structure of a preschool classroom structure.
Commented [MD3]: Keep your verb tenses consistent...will be
Formatted: Indent: First line: 0"
Deleted: have been Deleted: are
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING THROUGH PEER MODELS 7
disabilities will be assessed to determine the response chains that they could not perform. Then,
they will be assigned three different response chains. At least one of the response chains assigned
to a given student will be assigned to another student.
In the first probe condition, the students with disabilities will be evaluated in all their three
selected response chains. The first two response chains will be evaluated on three different
occasions while the last response on two different occasions. The peer model will then be taught
how to carry out the response chain in a stepwise fashion. After this, the instructional intervention
condition will then be introduced. The instruction will carried out in three distinct phases. Phase
one will involve probing the student with disabilities on the response chain in question. Phase two
will involve calling the peer model to the area of instruction and to model the response chain
through the required steps, all the time explaining what he/ she was doing in each step. Phase three
will involve probing the student with disabilities on the response chain. After all these activities
are carried out, an investigator will record the social interactions between the students with
disabilities as well as how they participated in the social interactions. When a student with
disabilities has successfully managed to correctly respond to the first two of the three response
chains, a probe condition will be reinstated and as the student is assessed on the three response
chains.
Experimental Control
Experimental control will be achieved by ensuring that each student is prompted to carry
out a response chain that was carried out by at least one of the other three students. In addition, the
students will be assessed beforehand to ascertain if they can perform the response chains before to
ensure that they were probed for those reaction chains that they had no prior ability to perform.
The children will also be taken through a three tier baseline design.
Commented [MD4]: Baseline?
Deleted: on
Deleted: was
Deleted: were
Formatted: Indent: First line: 0"
Deleted: was
Commented [MD5]: How does your design for data collection offer the opportunity for at least three demonstrations of the effect at three different points in time?
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING THROUGH PEER MODELS 8
Baseline Phase
When carrying out the study, a multiple baseline design will be used for the participants
in the classes. All the interventions were started for the four students at the same time. The
interventions do not necessarily need to start at the same time. However, making sure that they
start together enhances evaluation of the utility of the intervention.
The students will be assessed in small groups, consisting of the four provided peer models.
Second were free play sessions where the students with disabilities will be involved in activities
with every other classmate and in the same setting/ classroom as they had in the small group.
Intervention Phase
The intervention phase will involve probing the student with disabilities on the response
chain in question. Phase two involved calling the peer model to the area of instruction and to model
the response chain through the required steps, all the time explaining what he/ she was doing in
each step.
Maintenance Phase
The maintenance phase will involve probing the student on the response chain as has
been presented by the peer model. As such, the student with disabilities is expected to carry out
the steps as he/she has observed the peer model perform.
Dependent Variable
The dependent variables are the response chains chosen by the instructor for a student.
The response chains that will be chosen are those that the student in question was initially unable
to perform. As such, they depend on prior ability of the student to complete them.
Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.5"
Deleted: that were used
Commented [MD6]: With. Multiple probe design, you stagger the start of intervention for each participant.
Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.5"
Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.5"
Formatted: Left, Indent: Left: 0"
Deleted: carry them out
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING THROUGH PEER MODELS 9
Independent Variable
The independent variables are the intervention Each student has their own disability, not
necessarily unique to him/her. However, the participants in the study ought to have been diagnosed
with a developmental delay to be involved in the study. The disabilities that a given participant
has informed his/her performance on the response chains.
General Instructional Procedures
The instructional procedures involve probing. More specifically, the instructor will first
probe the student on the response chain that is about to be provided as an intervention. Next, the
instructor will teach the peer model on how to carry out a given response chain on a step-by-step
basis. Next, the peer model will move to the instructional area and perform all response chain as
taught by the teacher as the student with disabilities watches. After this, the student with disabilities
will be probed by the instructor to perform the response chain as he/she has seen the peer model
do.
Fidelity of Implementation
All sessions will be individually audio-recorded. An independent person, a graduate
student, will compare the marked copies of the researcher against the audio to define any
discrepancies. The inter-observer agreement is then calculated using the formula, Agreements/
(agreements + disagreements). Inter-observer is conducted on at least 98% of all assessments
with a total agreement of 100%.
Social Validity
The social validity of the research is the fact that the instructors involved appreciated the
fact that students with disabilities are in a better position to learn when they are in a classroom
setting with students without disabilities. As such, they view this study as a chance to give the four
Formatted: Left, Indent: Left: 0"
Deleted: s
Deleted: students’ disabilities.
Deleted: -
Deleted: ,
Deleted: the
Deleted: individually
Deleted: affirm
Deleted: administrations
Deleted: the median
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING THROUGH PEER MODELS 10
selected students a chance to interact and learn from other students who do not have disabilities.
In addition, it is seen as an opportunity to evaluate the impact that of peer modeling in enhancing
learning outcomes for students with disabilities and a chance to provide an inclusive classroom.
Results
It is expected that the students with disabilities will be able to perform some of the response
chains that were presented to them. It should be noted that these response chains that they were
expected to perform after peer modeling are ones that they could not perform before. Since there
is no prior numerical data on similar studies, the students are expected to be able to correctly
respond to the response chains in an average of 40 minutes spread through the study period of 30
days.
It was expected that some modifications are needed in order to enable the students to carry
out the prompted response chains. For instance, a student could experience difficulties when say,
correctly punching the buttons of a computer. In addition, when using a calculator, the students
may have difficulties inputting the proper sequence of numbers as required. In addition, the
students could also have trouble complying with the instructions provided.
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING THROUGH PEER MODELS 11
It was not easy to estimate the performance of the four students based since there was no
previous numerical data to use. However, we estimate the students would fare as follows:
The social interaction and participation among the students was expected to range from
0%- 15% and participation was expected to be around 0%-7%.
Percentage of Overlapping Data
The percentage of overlapping data is expected to be 5%.
Data Variability
The variability of the data collected within a given phase is expected to be close in range.
This is mainly because the students exhibit similar disabilities and are expected to have similar
learning difficulties. As such, it is expected that the amount of time that they took to successfully
complete a given phase was similar.
Functional Relationship
There is expected to be a correlation between the peer modeling and the students’
abilities to imitate their peer models.
0
5
10
15
20
25
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Ax is
T itl
e
Predcted Chart student1 student2 student3 student4
Commented [MD7]: A lot of overlapping data.
Formatted: Left, Indent: First line: 0"
Commented [MD8]: Your APA level headers are not in their typical spot.
Formatted: Left, Indent: First line: 0"
Commented [MD9]: This is not part of the functional relationship definition.
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING THROUGH PEER MODELS 12
Discussion
The results are expected to show that students show some level of learning when they are
exposed to peer models. This is because prior studies have shown that students with disabilities
can acquire knowledge through observing other people. In addition, the level of interaction is
expected to increase albeit dismally since students with disabilities are likely to interact less with
their peers.
Limitations of the Study
There are high chances of absenteeism expected for the participants which could
negatively impact the study. There are also limitations on the generalizability of the study as it
was based on students with autism and chromosomal disorder.
Future Research
Based on this research, studies could be done on other forms of disabilities to establish
whether observational learning would still be effective as a tool for specific disabilities.
Formatted: Left, Indent: First line: 0"
Commented [MD10]: The small sample size could be a limitation. Autism, alone, for example, would not be a limitation; in my opinion. These students are part of the general student population too.
Formatted: Left, Indent: First line: 0"
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING THROUGH PEER MODELS 13
References
Byers, E. M. (2016). An analysis of the relation between preschool children’s attention to peers
and the presence of the behavioral developmental cusp for learning by
observation (Doctoral dissertation, Teachers College). Retrieved from
https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D8ZP464D
Charlop, M. H., Lang, R., &Rispoli, M. (2018). Lights, camera, action! Teaching play and social
skills to children with autism spectrum disorder through video modeling. In Play and
social skills for children with autism spectrum disorder (pp. 71-94). Springer, Cham.
Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-72500-0_5
Foti, F., Menghini, D., Alfieri, P., Costanzo, F., Mandolesi, L., Petrosini, L., &Vicari, S. (2018).
Learning by observation and learning by doing in Down and Williams
syndromes. Developmental science, 21(5), e12642. Retrieved from
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/desc.12642
Grenner, E., Åkerlund, V., Asker-Árnason, L., van de Weijer, J., Johansson, V., &Sahlén, B.
(2018). Improving narrative writing skills through observational learning: a study of
Swedish 5th-grade students. Educational Review <volume number>, 1-20. Retrieved
from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00131911.2018.1536035
Lanter, A., & Singer-Dudek, J. (2020). The effects of an observational conditioning-by-denial
intervention on the establishment of three observational learning cusps. European
Journal of Behavior Analysis <volume number>, 1-24. Retrieved
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15021149.2020.1724001
Odluyurt, S., Aldemir, Ö.,& Kapan, A. (2016). An investigation on the effects of PECS and
observational learning in initiating and maintenance of communication among children
Commented [MD11]: What is this?
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING THROUGH PEER MODELS 14
with autism. International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education, 8(2), 151-164.
Retrieved from https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/intjecse/issue/27040/284658
Rydzewska, E., Hughes-McCormack, L. A., Gillberg, C., Henderson, A., MacIntyre, C., Rintoul,
J., & Cooper, S. A. (2019). Prevalence of sensory impairments, physical and intellectual
disabilities, and mental health in children and young people with self/proxy-reported
autism: Observational study of a whole country population. Autism, 23(5), 1201-1209.
Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1362361318791279
Spriggs, A. D., Gast, D. L., & Knight, V. F. (2016). Video modeling and observational learning
to teach gaming access to students with ASD. Journal of autism and developmental
disorders, 46(9), 2845-2858. Retrieved from
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-016-2824-3
Stone, A. L., Bruehl, S., Smith, C. A., Garber, J., & Walker, L. S. (2018). Social learning
pathways in the relation between parental chronic pain and daily pain severity and
functional impairment in adolescents with functional abdominal pain. Pain, 159(2), 298.
Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5889361/
Werts, M. G., Caldwell, N. K., &Wolery, M. (2010). Peer modeling of response chains:
Observational learning by students with disabilities. Journal of Applied Behavior
Analysis, 29(1), 53-66. Retrieved from
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1901/jaba.1996.29-53
