IRIS Case Study.
REPORT: IRIS Case Study – Encouraging Appropriate Behavior.
Case Study Level A, Case 1 – Sam
Specific Praise
Specific praise is an essential tool because it increases students’ academic and social performance. When praise is specific to a student’s behavior, it becomes more powerful and effective. Behavior-specific praise incorporates verbal or written feedback from a teacher, recognizing desirable behavior (“Behavior-Specific Praise in the Classroom”, 2016). The strategy is descriptive, positive, and lets students know precisely what they are doing right. To implement specific praise, a teacher must figure out expected classroom behavior that will improve academic performance and social behavior, then write these down.
The list is then used in noticing and praising good conduct. A teacher must take time to assess if the praises are working to determine whether there is a need for adjustment. This strategy might be used to help Sam in achieving the goal towards increasing the number of independent assignments completed because every time the teacher praises his efforts, Sam will be encouraged to do better. Whenever his educator is specific in behavior praise, Sam will be motivated towards focused behavior during tasks, increasing instructional time, and excellent academic responses.
Criterion-Specific Rewards
Criterion-specific rewards are used to manage student characters and behaviors in class. The rewards are given as soon as the teacher recognizes an occurrence of listed target behaviors, are affordable, realistic, and non-disruptive of the curriculum. They include tangible incentives such as edibles, fun activities, and privileges like the removal of an unpleasant activity. Other rewards are giving extra computer time, student-preferred seating, and gifts such as stationery and cookies. Before doing any of the above, the teacher should check with the school and district policies (Curran & the IRIS Center, 2003). It is also essential to verify specific student needs in terms of health by considering factors like food allergies. This strategy will help Sam earn 80 per cent or higher on all completed assignments. The teacher must reward him when he scores higher than the usual 65 per cent because every time, Sam will be determined to behave better academically.
Choice-Making
The choice-making strategy is used by educators to allow students to choose from a list of available options. This method is used to prevent misconduct and disobedience while promoting other behaviors. Implementation involves finding out leaners’ interests, preferences, likes, and dislikes. This is to assist in the provision of personalized options for different students. Afterwards, a list of options is created. Items added are such as preferential subjects, seating and grouping alternatives, methods of information gathering, and finally, preferred methods of knowledge demonstration such as through writing or oral presentation. After options are provided, students are allowed to choose, and evaluation follows. This strategy might be helpful in Sam’s scenario in that, given a list of options in perhaps information gathering, he will do his assignments better rather than rushing through because he gets the choice to select methods like internet research rather than reading books.
Case Study Level A, Case 2 – Heather (p. 3)
Effective Rules
Classroom rules are straightforward guidelines to be abided by all learners to ensure the environment is safe and effective. The statements highlight what teachers expect of their students hence promoting self-regulated behavior. Effective rules are reasonable, enforceable, clear, and consistent. Experts in Education advice teachers to establish three to five broad classroom guidelines which accommodate as many situations as possible, and never exceeding eight (Curran & the IRIS Center, 2003). It is important that teachers engage their students to get suggestions for potential rules. Effective rules might be used to help Heather behave by raising her hand and waiting to be called rather than calling out answers. Similarly, the teacher should monitor reinforcement and remind Heather of the rules now and then when she misbehaves.
Contingent Instructions
Contingent instructions are strict reprimands given individually to a student to cease bad behavior and adopt a better alternative. For instructions to be effective, reprimanding should be done privately and quietly rather than in front of the entire class. Similarly, instructions should be brief, and eye contact maintained to encourage compliance. Contingent instructions address two things, these being inappropriate behaviors that break classroom rules and procedures, as well as the desirable alternative behavior expected (Oliver & Reschly, 2007). Experts recommend that it is best when teachers avoid reprimands that direct learners to correct many behaviors at once. Implementation of contingent instructions is best when it is immediate and in a positive way. A teacher should regularly assess his/her use of these instructions by analyzing effectiveness. Heather’s teacher might use these instructions because it reprimands her interruptive behaviors in class while promoting a better alternative which is waiting for others to finish before giving her insight.
Group Contingency
Group contingency is a strategy meant to boost class groups. It makes use of the influence that peers have on each other by setting goals and targets for groups and executing a group consequence for character. This method serves the primary purpose of decreasing behavioral issues (Curran & the IRIS Center, 2003). Group contingencies fall under three categories. The first is dependent whereby a student or a small group is awarded privileges or rewards for good behavior. The second is independent, and here, learners earn reinforcement such as a homework pass when they meet targets laid out for the group.
The third type is interdependent. Here, a class or a group of students in class are rewarded when all of them meet an established goal. A good example is giving the whole class ten bonus points in a test when everyone attends class on time for a whole week and is seated before the teacher enters. Independent group contingency might be used to encourage Heather to complete her independent work quietly because she will be motivated towards earning reinforcement upon achieving a goal laid out by the teacher.
References
Behavior-Specific Praise in the Classroom. Vkc.mc.vanderbilt.edu. (2016). Retrieved from https://vkc.mc.vanderbilt.edu/assets/files/resources/psibehaviorspecpraise.pdf.
Curran, C., & the IRIS Center. (2003). Encouraging appropriate behavior. Retrieved from http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdf_case_studies/ics_encappbeh. pdf
Oliver, R., & Reschly, D. (2007). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED543769.pdf. Files.eric.ed.gov. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED543769.pdf.