Abstract
One flashcard teaching method used to teach discrete academic skills is strategic incremental rehearsal (SIR). Although the evidence for SIR is strong, no studies have evaluated the effectiveness and efficiency of SIR when used in a small-group format. The current study used a combinatorial design using a multiple baseline with an embedded adapted alternating treatments design to comparatively evaluate the effects of SIR used in a small group (Group SIR) and individual context (Individual SIR). Researchers focused on teaching letter identification skills to three preschool children. The results indicated that although Group SIR was an effective procedure for all three participants, the Individual SIR procedure resulted in slightly more efficient learning. However, when taking into account the additional teacher time needed to conduct 1–1 instruction, the results suggest that when multiple students must be taught a skill, Group SIR may be more time efficient. The results of post-test probes demonstrated that the skills learned in SIR generalized to other behaviors (receptive identification), other people (teachers), and other stimuli (letters presented on a worksheet). Future researchers should systematically replicate these results with different populations and skills.
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We would like to thank Tricia and Kelly for their constant support throughout this project.
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TCE conducted the majority of the sessions and prepared the paper. AMB conducted sessions, collected all interobserver agreement and procedural fidelity, and helped with the paper conception and preparation. SPA helped develop the idea for the project, provided expert guidance on decision making, and edited previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Elliott, TC.C., Mercado Baez, A.N. & Ardoin, S.P. A Comparison of Individual and Group Strategic Incremental Rehearsal to Teach Letter Identification to Preschoolers. J Behav Educ (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-023-09518-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-023-09518-4