The Effectiveness of Video Modelling - Research Paper Example

The Effectiveness of Video Modelling Abstract The current proposal reviews and justifies the need to research the effects of video modelling on teaching and learning achievements for students with autism in Saudi Arabia. The topic, research statement, and rationale for the research are provided. The proposal provides a brief literature review and evaluates the limitations of the current research. An overview of available studies in the context of video modelling use for children with autism is provided. The proposal includes a brief review of methodology and discusses possible limitations and bias. The list of references is provided. RESEARCH PROPOSAL FOR THE DEGREE OF PhD IN EDUCATION AT FLINDERS UNIVERSITY The Effectiveness of Video Modelling as a Teaching Technique for Students with Autism in Saudi Arabia Introduction: Statement of the problem How to teach children with autism the basic living and learning skills has long been the subject of the hot scholarly debate. With the growing scholarly awareness about the effects which autism produces on children and their learning perspectives, education professionals were growing more concerned about developing effective learning techniques for autistic children. Rapid technological advancement provides education professionals with a multitude of resources and tools needed to enhance the quality of knowledge delivery for children with autistic disorders. Actually, technologies have already become a traditional instrument of knowledge in all groups of child and adult learners. Due to the fact that ASD children face significant learning and communication difficulties, they also require the development and implementation of educational strategies that meet their learning needs. Obviously, video modelling has a potential to add value to the existing learning strategies for ASD children. Video modelling has long been a valuable educational tool(LeBlanc Linda et al, 2003), but whether it is an effective technique for teaching all students with autism is unclear and is a subject of serious professional debate. A wealth of literature testifies to the ways in which video modelling enhances the education of some children with autism, but most research and most reports come from the West and do not take account of cultural differences in autistic children. As a result, there is a need to reconsider the effectiveness and consequences of using video modelling with autistic children in Saudi Arabia. Research questions and objectives The purpose of the proposed research is to evaluate the effectiveness of video modelling for teaching children with autism in Saudi Arabia. The basic research question is whether video modelling is an appropriate and effective approach to teaching children with autism in Saudi Arabia. The specific research questions to answer include: How effective is video modelling for teaching children with autism in Saudi Arabia? Does culture influence the effectiveness of video modelling techniques when used with children with autism? Are there any differences between video modelling in western countries compared with Saudi Arabia? Background and Rationale for the Study Recent years have been marked with increased scholarly attention toward the problem of teaching children with autism the basic learning and living skills. Scholars and education professionals display different views on autism and its effects on the quality of the learning process at schools, but that autism greatly impacts children’s abilities to meet their learning objectives cannot be denied. Children with autism display a variety of social, cognitive, and learning impairments, encounter difficulties with establishing reciprocal relationships with parents, teachers, and peers, lack verbal and nonverbal communication skills and fail to develop effective responsiveness to external stimuli (Maione & Mirenda, 2006). Although the ability to respond to peers varies greatly across children with autism, most children lack ability to react to social overtures (Maione & Mirenda, 2006). In the meantime, these very children have a unique strength to process visual stimuli (McCoy & Hermansen, 2007). For this reason, video modelling has a potential to help children with autism develop the learning and living skills they need to live a productive and independent life. This research is justified by the need to look deeper into the effects of video modelling on children with autism and explore the relevance of the video modelling use in ASD classrooms. Autism is regarded as a ‘global disorder’ (Al-Salehi & Ghaziuddin, 2009; Al-Salehi, Al-Hifthy & Ghaziuddin, 2009). Unfortunately, little is known about its incidence and prevalence in Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia (Al-Shammari, 2006). Given that most of the published information about autism and the teaching strategies for autistic children comes from the West, it is probable that this information may not be immediately applicable in other countries. For example, 90 percent of cases of autism in the industrialized world are believed to be attributable to genetic factors, but whether genetic factors are responsible for autism in Saudi Arabia has not yet been discerned (Al-Salehi & Ghaziuddin, 2009). Reports estimate that the number of children with autism in Saudi Arabia exceeds 42,500 (Al-Salehi & Ghaziuddin, 2009), and it would be of great benefit to know whether video modelling could be used effectively in that country to help students learn the basic skills and to meet the necessary learning and knowledge objectives.   Literature Review The current state of literature provides a wealth of information about autism, available learning strategies, and the use and effectiveness of video modelling in ASD classrooms. It would be fair to say that video modelling has already become one of the leading and most controversial topics in the scholarly autism research. Dozens of studies provide an insight into how video modelling works and affects various cognitive, learning, and living skills in children and what education professionals can do to improve the quality of their strategies with ASD children. How and whether video modelling is effective for teaching children with autism has long been debated by scholars. During the past 10 years, a variety of learning strategies were developed, to integrate the benefits of video modelling with the basic principles of teaching autistic children the basic learning and living skills. The need for such technological change was justified by the difficulties which autistic children face in learning, due to their health state. For example, Fittipaldi-Wert and Mowling (2009) wrote that children may lack or have no verbal communication skills, making conventional educational strategies virtually inapplicable in ASD classrooms. Charlop et al (2010) discussed and evaluated the problems which autistic children experience with developing effective social skills: socially expressive behaviours involve a verbal act and a wide range of subtle nonverbal behaviours and reactions, which children with autism fail to adopt. The complexity in acquiring socially expressive skills by children with autism is due to the fact that such children rarely or never display interest in other people, concentrate on solitary activities, display inadequacies in typical social expressions like intonations, tone, gestures, or verbal commenting, and require special learning approaches as they are learning to speak (Charlop et al, 2010). These difficulties, however, do not diminish but on the contrary, reinforce the role and importance of video modelling for children with autism. More importantly, researchers and scholars in education are almost unanimous in their recognition of the value of video modelling for autistic children. According to Rosenberg, Schwartz and Davis (2010), “video modelling is an instructional strategy in which a child watches a model perform a target skill on video and then practices the skill”. Video modelling is effective for children with autism for several reasons: first, individuals with autism process visual information more productively compared with auditory inputs (Fittipaldi-Wert & Mowling, 2009). Second, video modelling is an effective complementary element of observational learning, which provides autistic children with knowledge and conditions necessary to acquire skills naturally, through imitation and observation of others (Shipley-Benamou et al, 2002). Third, compared with other teaching models and strategies, video modelling displays a number of features which makes it effective and almost ideal for children with autism: video treatments are relatively unobtrusive, they can be effective in a wide range of environments, including schools, homes, and community settings, they are easily available at low cost and do not require sophisticated equipment, and children with autism display increased motivation and positive response to watch videotapes (Maione & Mirenda, 2006). The current state of research contains abundant information about how video modelling works for the benefit of children with autism, and what learning and living skills it may help to develop. Living skills and social skills are among the most popular objects of video modelling research and discussion in the context of autism. Only sometimes do researchers concentrate on the use of video modelling to teach autistic children various school subjects. Here, Fittipaldi-Wert and Mowling (2009) discussed and evaluated the utility of visual supports for children with autism in physical education. The need for such research was justified by the simple fact that physical education is one of the most changeable school environments and for autistic children such environment may seem completely chaotic (Fittipaldi-Wert & Mowling 2009). Visual support proved an effective element of supporting autistic children as they were struggling to meet their learning objectives (Fittipaldi-Wert & Mowling 2009). Visual supports worked to create a more organized and predictable environment, in which students had access to visual information they could easily observe and process (Fittipaldi-Wert & Mowling 2009). More often than not, however, researchers seek to evaluate the effectiveness of video modelling for teaching social and living skills autistic children need to live independent and productive lives. It seems that contemporary researchers are more concerned with how to teach autistic children to talk, observe, analyse, and process information, as well as to wash their hands and develop effective toilet habits than to develop their reading, math, and physical skills. Such emphasis on the social skills acquisition in children with autism is not accidental. Needless to say, improved social skills contribute to and improve all spheres of the autistic children’s performance and support them as they are striving to meet the basic learning objectives. Here, Tetreault and Lerman (2010) explored the relevance of point-of-view video modelling to teach social skills to children with autism. The use of video modelling proved effective in teaching autistic children to engage children in a conversation with a conversant (Tetreault & Lerman 2010). Charlop et al (2010) continued this line of research and analysed the effectiveness of video modelling for teaching children with autism socially expressive behaviours – after viewing the video three or four times, all research participants met the target criterion for all socially expressive behaviours, showing video modelling as an effective component of learning in ASD classrooms. Researchers show that video modelling often makes impossible things possible and helps to teach autistic children the skills and knowledge they could never dream to have. Namely, perspective talking was always believed to have nothing to do with autistic children (Charlop-Christy & Daneshvar 2003). However, Charlop-Christy and Daneshvar (2003) did not simply prove that perspective talking could be taught but they showed that video modelling could be successfully used to teach children with autism perspective-taking talks. In a similar fashion, video modelling can be successfully utilized to teach autistic children social language skills with their peers (Maione & Mirenda 2006). The only question is in whether different video modelling techniques produce different effects on autistic children’s learning achievements and what teachers can do to improve their learning and functioning in school and home environments. Most contemporary researchers concentrate on the analysis of one particular technique and its effects on autistic learners. Only a few articles provide a comparative analysis of the best video modelling techniques for children with autism. That model matters has long been established by scholars: Cihak and Schrader (2008) wrote that some autistic children displayed no response or improvement from learning social skills through self-modelling video instruction. Today, teachers can choose between self-modelling and point-of-view video modelling techniques, involve peers and adults in video modelling and video learning, and exercise mixed model approaches (McCoy & Hermansen 2007). What video modelling technique works the best will depend on the peculiar characteristics of the autistic children, the degree of cognitive and learning impairments they display, and their learning and living needs. Despite the well-documented advantages of video modelling for autistic children, teachers and education professionals face a number of obstacles in their way to incorporating video modelling solutions in their curriculums. One potential obstacle is the difficulties with the equipment and expertise; others include the difficulty with choosing the best video modelling approach to the curriculum (Rosenberg, Schwartz & Davis, 2010). Today, there is the growing need to look deeper into how video modelling affects autistic children’s successes in the classroom and what can be done to improve such children’s learning achievements. The current research displays a number of limitations which need to be addressed. First and foremost, researchers do not account for the cultural differences and variations in children with autism. Put simply, most contemporary studies originate from the West and make it difficult to integrate the proposed video solutions with the principal curriculum approaches in Saudi Arabia. Second, the information about autism in Saudi Arabia and its effects on the Saudi children is increasingly scarce. Finally, teachers in Saudi Arabia need additional and fresh information about the best video modelling techniques they can use in ASD classrooms. Methodology: Research design and data analysis The proposed research will use the benefits of the multiple baseline research design – the research design framework most frequently used for working with children with autism (Charlop et al, 2010; Tetreault & Lerman, 2010). It is proposed to recruit a number of students of similar age and development. To provide baseline data the children will initially be tested to identify their respective levels of social and communication skills, and they will then be divided into two groups, one of which will be taught a variety of pre-determined skills by way of video-modelling. The other group will be taught the same skills without the use of video. At the completion of the teaching program the levels of skills development will be assessed to ascertain the effects of the modelling as a method of teaching. Qualitative data-analysis techniques will be used to identify the benefits of the video modelling and to ascertain the possible effects that come from living in a different cultural environment. The research will involve the use of commercially available video modelling materials. The effects of cultural influences might best be evaluated based on the effectiveness and quality of social skills, and in particular the verbal communication with peers and with teachers. Finally, the results will be compared with similar studies conducted in other countries that have contrasting cultural settings, and it is expected that such a comparison might indicate the possible influence of cultural factors in the education of children with autism. Reliability and validity The use of several different research subjects will improve the validity and reliability of the research results. For the purpose of validity and reliability, children with similar skills and severity of cognitive and social impairments due to autism will be chosen. In this way, the researcher will reduce the threats to internal validity that can grow from the differences in the participants’ health and social history. Also, by involving several students in the proposed research, the researcher expects to reduce the threats to external validity that are generally associated with the lack of generalizability in the multiple baseline research design. In this way, the need for replicating one and the same test will be avoided, whereas the students participating in the research will provide better information about the efficiency of video modelling in ASD classrooms and the relevance of the cultural factors in the process of implementing video modelling solutions into ASD curriculums. Ethical issues Generally, the use of the multiple baseline research design is associated with minor ethical concerns (Barger-Anderson et al, 2004). However, special attention must be paid to the choice of the research subjects. Children with autism exemplify a highly sensitive group of students which require special approaches and treatment. To reduce ethical complexities, all parents of autistic children will need to provide a written agreement and fill out a written informed consent form prior to the study. Parents will be provided with the detailed review of the research purpose, design, and anticipated outcomes. Parents will be able to withdraw their children at any stage of the research. Preliminary and final results will be provided to parents for their evaluation and approval. Possible Limitations and Bias By its nature this study will involve only a few children with autism, and this will be one of its basic limitations. Since the genders are educated separately in Saudi Arabia this project will apply only to boys, and this, too, may be regarded as a limitation. The use of commercially available video modelling materials presents another issue, for based on previous findings, commercially available video models are not always appropriate for teaching children with autism. However, the researcher expects that the results of the study will be the beginning of a series of subsequent researches in Saudi Arabia. To reduce possible bias, and to raise the reliability and validity of the research findings, two outside observers will be asked to monitor the progress of the study – the technique recommended by Charlop et al (2010). The use of the multiple baseline research design is associated with a number of limitations. Cuvo (1999) wrote that in the multiple baseline research design, the performance of the research subjects is easily altered by repeated testing during the experiment, procedural distinctions between testing and training, and the lack of generalization with regard to the research procedures and results. As such, the proposed methodology will shed the light on the current state of video modelling and its effects on autistic children in Saudi Arabia but will require additional research with regard to the effectiveness of the proposed video modelling techniques and their design. Finally, that the research will involve the use of the commercially available video programs presents a serious limitation. Rosenberg, Schwartz and Davis (2010) did not find any positive effects of the commercial video modelling techniques on children with autism. Commercially available video models may lack the information and instructional strategies needed to support autistic children during the learning process. Also, teachers may find it difficult to integrate standard commercial videotapes with the unique curriculums and educational strategies for autistic children in Saudi Arabia. Obviously, the future research will need to involve the use of self-developed modelling techniques and analyse their effectiveness in ASD classrooms. Timeline Gathering research subjects and obtaining parents’ permission and informal consent – 2 weeks. Evaluating the level of cognitive and social skills and choosing the research subjects – 2 weeks. Choosing a commercial video modeling program – 1 week. Teaching students and evaluating their learning outcomes – 4-6 weeks. Analyzing the results – 4 weeks. Creating a written report – 2 weeks   References Al-Salehi, S.M. & Ghaziuddin, M. (2009). G6PD deficiency in autism. A case-series from Saudi Arabia. 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Teaching social skills to children with autism using  point-of-view video modeling. Education and Treatment of Children, 33 (3), 395-419.   Read More