Using blended and guided technologies in a university course for scientist-practitioners: Teaching Applied Behaviour Analysis to autism professionals

Although the incidence of autism spectrum disorders is increasing worldwide, there is a shortage of professionals trained to provide effective interventions. The article describes an advanced university course in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) and autism tailored to meet the needs of Swedish profe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of intellectual disabilities 2009-06, Vol.13 (2), p.113-142
Main Authors: Roll-Pettersson, Lise, Ala'I-Rosales, Shahla
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied behavior analysis
Autism
Autistic Disorder - rehabilitation
Biological and medical sciences
Child clinical studies
Child, Preschool
Curriculum
Developmental disorders
Diffusion of Innovation
Education, Professional
Humans
Infantile autism
Intervention
Learning
Medical sciences
Models, Educational
Problem solving
Problem-Based Learning - methods
Professionals
Program Evaluation
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Sweden
Teaching - methods
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Although the incidence of autism spectrum disorders is increasing worldwide, there is a shortage of professionals trained to provide effective interventions. The article describes an advanced university course in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) and autism tailored to meet the needs of Swedish professionals from multiple disciplines. The course implemented both blended-learning technologies (web, telecommunication, and in vivo) and guided-design (problem-solving) exercises to promote the scientist-practitioner model. Overall, students advanced their skills related to identifying extant scientific literature, choosing appropriate single-subject design evaluation methods, and critically analysing the effects of attempted interventions. Students rated the course as having high social validity and predicted the course content would positively affect their professional practice. The relevance of the course and future directions are discussed in the context of meeting the global need for effective autism intervention professionals.
ISSN:1744-6295
1744-6309
DOI:10.1177/1744629509340179