Increasing Social Interactions of Preschool Children With Autism Through Cooperative Outdoor Play

Unstructured activity periods are central components of early childhood education programs. Deficits in social communication and social interaction presented by children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) become apparent in these settings during unstructured activities, such as outdoor recess. Thirty-two preschool-aged children with and without ASD participated in the Buddy Game, a structured, cooperative play curriculum that focused on natural peer–peer modeling and imitation. The Buddy Game used familiar songs to promote peer proximity and discrete social bids between peers during outside time. A multiple baseline design across three classrooms was used to study curriculum effects on discrete social bids of children with ASD. Results demonstrated increased social bids from children with ASD to their peers with neurotypical development (NTD) across classrooms. In one classroom, effects maintained after intervention stopped and generalized to other times of the day. Implications for integrated educational settings and early childhood curricula are discussed.

Effects of the Internalization of Peer-Modeled Self-efficacy on Coping with L2 Communication Stress

This mixed-methods study explores the self-regulation of two Japanese university students in response to the stressful situation of feeling unable to communicate effectively in English with foreigners. Qualitative data from interviews are used to interpret the quantitative results of the two students, who were part of an online intercultural Japan-Canada university exchange in which half of the communication was in English. Due to the reality check of using English for communication with foreigners, both students realized that their English communication skills were weak. Self-efficacy and coping strategies modeled by peers were internalized by one student who could subsequently cope with the demands of interacting in English, and who developed a challenge orientation and set a new goal as a result. The other student became demotivated and withdrew over time. Theories related to stress and coping, self-efficacy, peer modeling, internalization, self-regulation, and possible selves are incorporated to provide a multi-dimensional view of the processes involved in the self-regulation of these students. By looking at the experiences of the two students at the individual level, insight may be gained into the reasons behind student engagement in and withdrawal from L2 learning processes. In particular, the importance of peer modeling to positive changes in student actual and ideal selves is examined.

Pedagogy to Disrupt the Echo Chamber

This article addresses the challenges of fake news and echo chambers in the digital age by exploring the possibility that susceptibility to misinformation derives not from an inevitable fault in the medium of digital publishing but, rather, from the slower development and adoption of pedagogies that leverage digital tools for reading. The authors examined student annotations and argue that focusing on reading using collaborative digital annotation can stimulate knowledge acquisition and personal belief formation and, further, can assist educators to evaluate the effectiveness of instruction and intervene where needed. Digital annotation tools promote affective and cognitive engagement with texts and enable both instructor-to-peer and peer-to-peer modeling of reading strategies.

Evaluation of the NFHS Online Captains Leadership Course: Student Athletes’ Views of Effectiveness

Sport is viewed as an arena for positive life skill development, including leadership development. In 2015, the NFHS launched an online Captain’s Leadership Training Course. The main purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the course in improving leadership knowledge and ability. An electronic survey was sent to a sample of athletes (n = 202, 129 female), ages 13–19 (M = 17.01, SD = 0.10) in eight United States states who had completed the NFHS course within the last 3–18 months. Most athletes (92.6%) completed the course based upon their coach’s recommendation. The course was viewed to be moderately to very useful (M = 2.49, SD = 1.00) in helping them in preparing to be a team captain. Participants believed the course to be very to extremely effective in building their knowledge on motivation (M = 1.96, SD = 0.89), communication (M = 1.90, SD = 0.80), decision making (M = 2.03, SD = 0.91), peer modeling (M = 1.91, SD = 0.86), team cohesion (M = 1.96, SD = 0.88) and problem solving strategies (M = 2.00, SD = 0.85). Canonical correlation analyses showed that athletes who felt they were more reflective tended to rate the effectiveness of the course lower than their peers. Additionally, analyses did not show any clear demographic characteristics that distinguished between perceptions of the effectiveness of the course, showing the value found in the course was high with all types of scholastic athletes. Athletes felt the course could be improved most in the area of learning how to manage conflict with their peers and coaches. Future research in scholastic leadership should seek to understand the impact of the course prospectively across a high school sport season.

Peningkatan Kemampuan Mengajar Berbasis Keterampilan Abad 21 Melalui Supervisi Akademik Metode Pemodelan Teman Sejawat Bagi Guru SD Gugus I Kecamatan Rappocini Kota Makassar

The main objective of this research is to improve the skills-based teaching skills of the 21st century through academic supervision of peer modeling methods for teachers of SD Gugus I, Rappocini District, Makassar City. In accordance with the objectives, in this school action research, 24 research subjects were selected who were intervened in the academic supervision of peer modeling methods in the form of action research. Based on the results of the data analysis above, it can be understood that both the ability to design lesson plans and the ability to carry out 21st-century skills-based learning activities from pre, cycle I, to cycle II have increased, namely the average score in making pre-cycle lesson plans is 2.171, cycle I increase to 3.02, and the second cycle 3,734. Whereas the ability to implement 21st-century skills-based learning the average score in the pre-cycle was 2.84, the first cycle increased to 3.30, and the second cycle was 3.53. If you look at the predetermined criteria, the average ability to design RPP is categorized as good. Likewise, the ability to carry out 21st-century skills-based learning is also categorized as good. Based on these data, it can be concluded that the teaching ability of 21st-century skills-based teachers in Cluster I, Rappocini District, Makassar City, especially for 24 people, has increased after the application of peer modeling-based academic supervision.

Literacy Lessons Gone Digital

Using quantitative methods aligned with teacher research, the authors of this chapter examined the impact of teacher modeling and peer modeling on the self-efficacy of preservice teachers in their literacy course as they designed and implemented small group literacy lessons. Findings indicate that preservice teachers use of technology was strongly influenced by the technology tools that they saw modeled by their instructors. As preservice teachers participated in the course and in each other's lessons, they became more comfortable with the use of digital tools, Zoom features, methods for online participation, online assessment methods, and literacy instruction resources. Focus group participants reported that their ease with using technology to facilitate the demonstration lessons increased throughout the semester as they participated in peers' demonstration lessons.

Peers as Culturally Relevant Change Agents

As the United States’ school-age population has become increasingly diverse, it is critical that the curricula, instruction, assessments, and interventions in schools are culturally relevant, reflecting the values and lived experiences of children and families. In this chapter, we posit that peer-mediated interventions are viable strategies that can be used to improve the cultural relevance of interventions in schools. After reviewing culturally relevant school-based service delivery, we offer four reasons supporting the use of peers as culturally relevant change agents: (a) communal orientation, (b) preference for racial/ethnic match, (c) overcoming cultural mismatches in schools, and (d) near peer modeling.

Peer Modeling Interventions

Peer modeling (PM) is a peer-mediated intervention that can be effective in teaching students’ appropriate social skills and classroom behaviors and has been shown to be effective in students with autism spectrum disorders, emotional behavioral disorders, and other developmental disabilities. To implement PM, a peer model is carefully selected and instructed display a desired behavior in close proximity of the targeted student, or learner, how to behave in a similar context. There are two variations of PM that can be utilized in a classroom setting including in vivo PM, which is when the targeted student is in close proximity to the peer model, and video PM (VPM), which utilizes video recordings rather than in person scenarios for the targeted student to watch an imitate. Recommendations for implementation, advantages, and diversity considerations in both PM and VPM are discussed in this chapter.