Sunday, December 7, 2008

Principles


Section 2: Principles

The application of PT is directed by four standards. According to West and Young (1992) these principles are:
•Focus on Directly Observable Behavior
•Frequency as a Measure of Performance
•The Standard Celeration Chart
•The Learner Knows Best
The application of PT is contingent on directly observable behaviors. Precision teachers refer to these behaviors as movements. A movement designates a behavior as physical and apparent. An example of a movement would be the physical actions necessary to “turn on a computer.” These actions can be task analyzed and measured. Many traditional precision teachers would focus on the observable outcome of the behavior, like, “the computer is turned on.”
White (1986) defined a behavior frequency as, “the average number of responses during each minute of the assessment period.” (p. 523) Frequency recording is valued among precision teachers as a performance measure as opposed to the percentage of correct responses. Precision teachers refer to frequency as counts per minute. Task frequency is said to increase fluency and frequency data is useful in assisting decision making in education (Binder, 1996).
The standard celebration chart consists of a multiply scale y-axis to accommodate low and extremely high frequencies of behavior and an add scale x-axis to display behavior recordings over numerous sessions. These charts frequently employ aim lines to project hypothetical rates of student progress.
Precision teachers follow the rule that the learner knows best. If a student is advancing towards a specified goal then the instructional methods are suitable for the student. Conversely, if a student is failing to achieve an objective then there is an error in the programming that requires alteration. Precision teachers view student performance as the sole measure of program efficiency.

References


Binder, C. V . (1996) Behavioral Fluency: Evolution of a New Paradigm. The Behavior Analyst, 19(2) : 163-197


White, O.R. (1986). Precision teaching -- Precision Learning. Exceptional Children, 52, 522-534.

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