Association for Behavior Analysis International

The Morningside Model of Generative Instruction (MMGI) is a research based protocol for teaching learners of all ages and grades. Over 125 schools in the US and Canada have successfully implemented MMGI with both typically developing students who struggle in school, and children with disabilities. In this symposium, presenters will highlight successful innovations in implementing MMGI with middle school, high school and college students. In the first presentation, Brien McGuire will describe a procedure for going beyond standard fluency building procedures to design individualized, targeted fluency practice for students in a pre-algebra class. In the second presentation, Nicole Erickson will present procedures for teaching learners themselves to use MMGIs teacher led delayed prompting procedures to coach each other in applying written composition and conceptual mathematics methods to new assignments beyond those presented during instruction. In the third presentation, Scott Beckett will describe how MMGI design, diagnosis, precision teaching, and explicit instruction procedures have been adapted to remediate algebra deficiencies in students at Jacksonville State University. In the fourth presentation, Shiloh Isbell will describe her design of a web-based application to teach reinforce, and build the fluency of organizational skills of adolescents who struggle in high school.

Developmental algebra presents a huge hurdle for 50% of college students nationwide, preventing many from graduating. Students exhaust financial aid and lose earning potential, and schools lose tuition dollars. At Jacksonville State University, Board Certified Behavior Analysts in Learning Skills have designed an accelerated developmental algebra course that blends online, adaptive instruction (provided by EdReady) with in-class, evidence-based teaching practices adapted from the Morningside Model of Generative Instruction. Over the past four semesters, students with an average age of 19 have increased passing rates from below 50% to above 75%, ACT composite scores from 17-19. Roughly equal percentages of females and males, and African-Americans and Caucasians achieved substantial improvements. Two on-site Board Certified Behavior Analysts train and supervise four psychology graduate students as teaching assistants, resulting in a four to one student to teacher ratio. The graduate students commit to two years and earn 1500 supervision hours at no cost as partial payment for their teaching. They learn and apply MMGIs component-composite analysis, diagnosis and remediation, precision teaching, and explicit instruction components. They have also created flashcards and practice sheets aligned with the online developmental math curriculum.

Students struggling in school with organization deficits need to be taught skills such as homework organization, time management, self-advocacy, and project management. Once these skills are fluent, students notice improvement in their grades, work quality, and stress level. Unfortunately, these reinforcers are often too far removed to maintain pro-student behaviors. This presentation discusses the creation of a computer application, Learning Lab Assistant, to promote organization skills in students with executive functioning problems, as well as data collection and analysis to determine app effectiveness. The main focus of the presentation is how to increase app interaction utilizing principles of gamification as viewed within a behavior analytic framework. Gamification as a concept will be explained, including critical and variable features, as well as a discussion of player and reinforcement types. The effectiveness of changes in app design to include gamified aspects is shown using student engagement data collected by the Learning Lab Assistant app.