Date of Award

Summer 8-2016

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Daniel Tingstrom

Committee Chair Department

Psychology

Committee Member 2

Christopher Barry

Committee Member 2 Department

Psychology

Committee Member 3

Keith Radley

Committee Member 3 Department

Psychology

Committee Member 4

Evan Dart

Committee Member 4 Department

Psychology

Abstract

The current study was designed to replicate and extend the literature on the effectiveness of a classroom intervention known as Tootling (Skinner, Skinner, & Cashwell, 1998) to include an interactive technological component, ClassDojo, to decrease disruptive classroom behavior as well as increase academically engaged behavior. Tootling is a peer-monitoring intervention that encourages students to report instances of appropriate behaviors they have seen their peers perform. Thus far, studies utilizing direct observation data to measure disruptive behavior during Tootling (Cihak, Kirk, & Boon, 2009; Lambert, 2014, Lambert el al., 2015, Lum et al., 2015; McHugh et al., 2014) have shown reductions in disruptive behavior when Tootling is in place. To extend the research on Tootling, direct observation data of disruptive and academically engaged behaviors were collected on three classes of upper elementary school students (i.e., fifth grade) and instructors in two elementary schools in a Southeastern state. Tootling was recorded through the ClassDojo website and publically projected to the classroom, which differed from previous studies that employed note cards, hand-counted tootles and inconsistent behavioral feedback. Reinforcement for tootling could be achieved through a classroom interdependent group contingency. An ABAB withdrawal design was used in three classrooms, with a multiple baseline element across two classrooms, to determine the effectiveness of the intervention for decreasing classwide disruptive behavior and increasing academically engaged behaviors during intervention phases. Results indicated decreases in classwide disruptive behaviors and increases in academically engaged behaviors during intervention phases as compared to baseline and withdrawal phases across all three classrooms. Limitations of the present study and directions for future research are discussed.

Masters thesis: http://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/67/

ORCID ID

0000-0002-6654-5877

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