IU SBC Fellows: Good Practices

Good Practice from Theresa Ochoa, IU Bloomington

Title	Multimedia Training Module on Behavior Disorders for Pre-Service Teachers
Course or Project	K305 & K343 Development of an Interactive Multidisciplinary, Problem-based Learning (DIMPL) CD ROM
Audience	Beginning undergraduates
Active	Spring 2002, still active
Background Information	Undergraduate students in education courses were targeted to use the interactive problem-based learning Disabilities and School Discipline module. Although the CD ROM could be a stand-alone module, the problem-based learning (PBL) approach changes the role of the instructor; it does not eliminate it. Therefore, the DIMPL project proposed to use the CD ROM module as an adjunct, not a substitute for a professor or book, in education courses. Thus, the instructor served as an information broker using scaffolding teaching techniques as suggested in reciprocal teaching approaches (Palincsar & Klenk, 1992). Since the PBL approach to teaching and learning is new to many students (and instructors), students were introduced to the approach before they used the CD ROM. Following the PBL lecture instructions within the CD ROM provided students with sufficient step-by-step procedures to access content information necessary to complete all activities within the module.
Teaching Challenge	Few problems in public education have proved less tractable than those of trying to match appropriate classroom instructional practice to the educational needs of students with behavior disorders. If teacher-preparation programs are to succeed in training teachers to include and provide instruction to students with behavior disorders in general education classrooms, they need new thinking and new methods for ensuring that the knowledge available from different disciplines is readily available for pre-service teachers to learn and practice during teacher induction.
Good Practice	The DIMPL project proposed to develop an interactive, multimedia, and multi-disciplinary training module focusing on behavior disorders to serve as a teaching tool to increase knowledge of behavior disorders among pre-service teachers. In developing the timeline, 8 major steps were identified and carried out. Mentorship from Lewis Polsgrove, a tenured professor in her department was critical. Faculty mentoring took place on a weekly basis via e-mail, and on a bi-monthly basis in person to exchange ideas about the DIMPL project and to assess progress on each of the additional 7 project activities. I recruited, trained, and directed a research team consisting of 2 graduate students and one undergraduate student (Activity 2). I also worked with the Teaching and Learning Technologies Center at IUB to make use of existing resources. In Activity 3, the DIMPL project recruited professionals and family members involved with students with behavior disorders for interviewing. Interviews served to add a video component to text-based information. After the interviews were conducted, each video interview was viewed and discussed by research team members to select footage to use in the module (Activity 5). In Activity 6, all interviews were transcribed from video and audio into text format. The multimedia component of the CD ROM module also makes information available to students with disabilities. Activity 7 is the final stage of creating the module. Student researchers were trained to use Web-page software (e.g., Dreamweaver, Page Mill) and equipment to digitize (e.g., I-Movie). Activity 8 ensured the dissemination of the project’s results at conferences. The Midwest Symposium for Leadership in Behavior Disorders was the best outlet to disseminate information.
Impact	The DIMPL project expected positive student outcomes associated with the PBL approach to teaching and learning such as those indicated in the literature (e.g., Bridges & Hallinger, 1995; Gerber, English, Singer, 1999) and documented in a recent application study conducted by Ochoa, Gerber, Leafsteadt, Hough, Kyle, Rogers-Adkinson, Kumar (in press). In the Ochoa, et al., study students’ responses on the referral process included memorization of educational facts and showed that pre-service teachers were involved in critical thinking about the complexities of working within a multidisciplinary group of professional roles. Because the DIMPL project employed similar development and application techniques, Ochoa expected that the outcomes for students who used the CD ROM would promote long-term maintenance and spread the effects beyond pre-service programs in knowledge acquisition and critical thinking skills necessary for effectively teaching students who display disruptive classroom behavior. While it is premature to assess the transfer of skills acquired through the CD ROM, informal interviews with students suggest that this will in fact be the possible.
Assessment	The purpose of the study was to investigate user satisfaction and time on task of one phase of a multimedia problem-based learning module developed for pre-service teachers to learn about disciplining students with disabilities. User satisfaction of the Disabilities & School Discipline Problem interface was assessed using a modified version of a questionnaire for user interface satisfaction (QUIS) developed by Chin, Diehl, & Norman (1988). The survey consists of 10 questions rated on a seven-point, Likert-type scale ranging from -3 to +3 with zero (0) indicating neutral to rate overall user reaction to software. Among 29 participants, the mean satisfaction score was 2.46. Satisfaction average scores were consistently higher, but not statistically significant, among text-audio (2.62)>audio-only (2.55)>, respectively, compared to the text-only condition (2.26). Participants in the text-only group took less time to complete the task (161 sec/question) than the other two groups (227 sec/question for audio-only group and 193 sec/question for both text-and-audio group). The mean time per question was 194 seconds. Qualitative responses from two open-end questions showed that students indicated a need for more information about the problem.
Keywords	Problem-based learning, simulations, interactivity
Technical Format	CD-ROM, customized Web site, streaming audio, streaming video
Relevant URLs	http://www.indiana.edu/~k305to/intro.html

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