Students with disabilities use tactile cued self-monitoring to improve academic productivity during independent tasks

• Published in: Journal of instructional psychology Vol. 39; no. 2; p. 119
• Main Authors: McDougall, Dennis, Morrison, Catherine, Awana, Blaine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Mobile George Uhlig Publisher 01-06-2012; Journal of Instructional Psychology
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Algebra; At Risk Students; Attention deficit disorder; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Autism; Behavior; Classroom Environment; Classroom management; Cues; Educational Change; Elementary School Mathematics; Emotional Disturbances; Equipment and supplies; General Education; Hyperactive children; Independent study; Mathematics education; Mathematics Instruction; Mathematics Skills; Mathematics teachers; Methods; Motivation in education; Productivity; Self-regulated learning; Special Education Teachers; Stimuli; Student Behavior; Students with Disabilities; Studies; Teaching; Teaching Methods; Training; Worksheets; Writing Instruction; United States
• ISSN: 0094-1956

In these two studies, students with disabilities improved their academic productivity during independent practice activities, after their teachers trained them to use a tactile cued self-monitoring device called the MotivAider. While students worked, the MotivAider, placed in the students' pocket, vibrated periodically, thereby cueing students to ask themselves if they were doing their work. Then students checked yes or no on a self-recording form and immediately resumed their work. In Study 1, a 10th-grader with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder tripled the number of responses he wrote when solving linear equations in a general education Algebra class. In Study 2, a 7th-grader with emotional disturbance reduced, by two-thirds, the time he took to complete vocabulary word-of-the-day task, in a self-contained special education program, during English class. This article includes training procedures, practical tips, and resources for teachers who would like to help their students self-monitor academic performance or social behaviors. Both studies illustrate how to apply practically the principle of reactivity, derived from cognitive-behavioral theory, whereby raising ones own awareness of behavior can prompt improvements in an individual's performance. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]