A Positive Version of the Good Behavior Game in a Self-Contained Classroom for EBD: Effects on Individual Student Behavior

A within-participant withdrawal design was used to examine the effects of a positive version of the Good Behavior Game (GBG) for three students in an elementary special education classroom for students with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD). Results indicated immediate improvements in disruptive behavior and academic engagement for all three students when the GBG was implemented which was generally replicated in the second intervention phase for academic engagement. Tau- U effect sizes ranged from .76 to .95 indicating large and very large effects for both behaviors for two students and academic engagement for the third student, but Tau- U for the third student’s disruptive behavior was .32 (considered not effective). Two students exhibited slight decreasing trends in academic engagement behavior and increasing trends in disruptive behavior near the end of intervention phases. A preliminary within-session analysis also suggested students’ behavior was generally better in intervention phases both during and not during the GBG when compared with their baseline levels of behavior. Social validity information suggested generally positive teacher and student perceptions about the GBG initially, with less positive student perceptions 10 weeks following the conclusion of the study. The teacher reported implementing the GBG 5 times over the 10 weeks following the conclusion of the study.

Technology enhanced learning environments in higher education: A cross-discipline study on teacher and student perceptions

Teacher and student perceptions of using technology enhanced learning (TEL) in higher education have received growing attention, particularly during COVID-19, however existing studies are mainly disciplinespecific. This study adopts a holistic cross-disciplinary approach. It compares teacher and student perceptions on defining TEL, promotors and barriers for its use, and solutions offered for better use of TEL in the future. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from an Australian university. A total of 75 teachers and 48 students completed an online survey, and of these participants, 24 teachers and 29 students participated in follow-up focus group interviews that included Kahoot! surveys. Quantitative results show that teacher and student perceptions on TEL were generally aligned except that self-reported technology savviness and confidence was rated higher than how students and staff rated each other. Qualitative analyses reveal that both teachers and students identified the main promoters for TEL as being: modern and expected in higher education, while being equalising, efficient, engaging, authentic, collaborative and flexible. The common barriers for using TEL were identified as fear, time, organisational culture, knowledge and technical/support issues, along with the perceived pitfalls of distraction, and superficial student learning. Solutions offered for TEL in the future from staff focused on the institution and a desire for strategic, pedagogical and holistic approaches, while students focussed on the accessibility, flexibility and collaborative potential of TEL. This cross-discipline pre-COVID-19 study of TEL perceptions offered by teachers and students has contributed to knowledge in this area by identifying barriers and solutions for TEL common to all disciplines that have the potential to be applied to whole of institution strategic approaches for the more effective use of TEL in teaching and learning in higher education. Student accessibility to TEL and the development of pedagogically sound digital learning resources bringing together educational developers and discipline experts are of particular relevance during and post-COVID-19.

Unriddling Academic Dishonesty through the Lens of Teacher and Student Perceptions

This study sought to explore contributory factors of academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty is being practiced yet little research has been conducted on the subject. Subsequently, this study employed the qualitative approach for in-depth exploration of the factors of academic dishonesty. In this study, focus group discussions were conducted with two groups of participants; university students (N=12) and university teachers (N=08) of The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Participants for this study were recruited through purposive sampling. Three research questions were asked to the participants: Q1) How is academic dishonesty described by students and teachers? Q2) What would be the possible types of academic dishonesty? and Q3) What are the pros and cons of academic dishonesty in the long run? Their responses were audio taped and the collected data were transcribed by following transcription steps provided by Humble (2015). For data analysis, NVivo (12) was utilized and factors were extracted. The prudent findings found that cheating, plagiarism, falsification and failure of system are identified as the most prominent factors. The findings of this study concluded that these factors significantly shape-up academic dishonesty in higher learning institutions. Findings of this study would help educationists to bring about reforms in the educational sector.