Behavior Analysis for Effective Teaching

Please re-enter recipient e-mail address es. You may send this item to up to five recipients. The name field is required. Please enter your name. The E-mail message field is required. Please enter the message. Please verify that you are not a robot. Would you also like to submit a review for this item? You already recently rated this item. Your rating has been recorded. Write a review Rate this item: Preview this item Preview this item. Behavior Analysis for Effective Teaching. Julie S Vargas Publisher: Taylor and Francis, This book shows teachers and other human service professionals working in school settings how to employ non-aversive, behavior analysis principles in classrooms and other school settings.

Marked by its clear writing and multitude of real-classroom examples, this book is appropriate for undergraduate and graduate courses in teacher education, special education, school psychology, and school counseling. Allow this favorite library to be seen by others Keep this favorite library private. Practitioners across a variety of settings sometimes struggle with explaining behavioral principles without resorting to jargon or technical explanations.

Using Vargas' text as a model, practitioners can hone their public relations skills by imitating the author's style of presenting complex topics in an approachable and positive style. Unlike Alberto and Troutman , who have written a highly commendable book about applying behavior analysis to education, Vargas has written a book in which education is applied to behavior analysis. In other words, Vargas has taken her considerable experience as a teacher and written a book that shows how educational issues can be addressed via the science of human behavior.

Therefore, her agenda appears not so much to teach every basic behavior analytic principle with educational examples, but rather to focus upon the most important behavior analytic principles needed to address the most pressing educational problems. Therefore, extensive explanations of some principles and procedures e. On the one hand, we see this not as a limitation, but rather as a difference in focus that will allow educators to concentrate on the concepts and skills most relevant to them.

On the other hand, some of these topics are important to school-based practice, in addition to being commonly used in educational settings. Therefore, a more comprehensive review of some topics could strengthen the usefulness of the book.

Julie S. Vargas, Ph.D.

For example, functional behavior assessments have become more common in schools, particularly with regard to meeting the mandates of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act IDEA. Although it is unlikely that teachers would be called upon to conduct such assessments independently, they might well be involved in the process Moore et al.

Further, a sound understanding of the benefits of functional assessment prior to intervention, along with some practical strategies for conducting such assessments, would likely be helpful to teachers who must routinely devise strategies for dealing with challenging behaviors in their classrooms. Although Vargas addresses these issues, the book could be strengthened by a more comprehensive review of the rationale and strategies associated with functional behavior assessments. Another area that might benefit from additional coverage is self-management.

Behavior Analysis for Effective Teaching: 2nd Edition (Paperback) - Routledge

These questions often can be at least partially answered by addressing the issues of fading and schedule thinning. Unfortunately, Vargas discusses fading only within the context of programmed instruction. The importance of thinning is presented in Vargas' coverage of reinforcement schedules, but a more pointed discussion would perhaps better demonstrate the importance of this essential feature of intervention implementation and maintenance.

Throughout the book and particularly in Chapter 11, Vargas makes clear her stance that punishment should be avoided and that educators should place more focus on positive procedures. Most people who have worked in schools or indeed, have been to school have seen how aversive some classrooms can be. Shouting at students, threatening or embarrassing them, and removing privileges are tactics that we personally have seen used in many of the classrooms in which we have worked.

Therefore, we agree wholeheartedly that students need less aversive contingencies and more positive ones. However, it is impossible to ignore the empirical evidence demonstrating that punishment procedures can sometimes enhance the effectiveness of other procedures, especially if problem behaviors are severe e.

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Given that it is unlikely that schools will or should abandon punishment altogether, it would be helpful to provide some guidelines for situations that might warrant punishment, as well as specific guidelines for its ethical use. A notable feature of the book was the inclusion of a range of topics that might not typically appear in an introductory behavior analysis text, including precision teaching, teaching by acoustical guidance TAG , equivalence relations, and verbal behavior, just to name a few. These topics are clearly relevant to educational improvement, and Vargas should be lauded for tackling them.

As we indicated before, those knowledgeable about behavior analysis but new to both its established and cutting edge applications to educational issues, would do well to read this book. However, with regard to those new to behavior analysis, which appear to be the book's target audience, we wondered whether inclusion of some of the more complex topics might have affected the book's value as a practical teaching and learning tool for these readers.

Some chapters presented such a wealth of information that one might become overwhelmed rather than enlightened, particularly because it was not always immediately clear how certain topics fit with the overall objectives of the chapter. One challenge Vargas must have faced when writing the book is balancing her expansive knowledge of the experimental analysis of behavior with her equally impressive repertoire of applying behavior analysis in the classroom. Further, it is understandable that Vargas would want to show the link between experimental and applied analyses, as this is a very important link.

However, explanations of Skinner's work with animals sometimes slowed the book's momentum and detracted from its overall tone of action and practicality. Given the intended audience, Vargas is at her best when providing real world examples and linking these back to behavioral principles and everyday practice. In addition to her conversational and engaging writing style, one factor that contributed to the ongoing flow of the book was the exclusion of APA-style citations. Rather, Vargas opted for end-notes for each chapter. Though not the typical format of behavior analytic texts, this approach to referencing is more likely to be viewed as user-friendly to pre-service teachers and practicing educators.

Behavior Analysis for Effective Teaching

These need not be references from the text, but rather good, straightforward examples of research supporting the principles and procedures covered in each chapter. Another helpful feature of the book was the inclusion of a comprehensive glossary of terms. As is the main text of the book, the glossary is written in easily understandable language and often includes examples to augment the definitions. Glossaries do not always appear in behavior analysis textbooks, but in our experience, students find them very useful.

In addition, Vargas' glossary provides even more exemplars for explaining behavior analytic concepts in easily accessible terms.

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At times, Behavior Analysis for Effective Teaching appears less like a textbook and more like a social commentary impelled to improve the instructional methods delivered within our educational systems. In a time when teachers may feel their behaviors are largely controlled by federal legislation and school policy, Vargas reminds them that they still wield an enormous amount of power to change students' lives. As a former elementary school teacher and university professor, Vargas knows that the majority of reinforcement for teaching is derived from observing one's students progress and succeed.

Unfortunately, many teachers are unlikely to access these reinforcers because of their lack of understanding of human behavior and their reliance on faulty instructional strategies. However, using Vargas' book as a guide, educators will undoubtedly begin operating on denser schedules of reinforcement. The authors wish to thank Simon Dymond for his helpful comments on the manuscript. Jennifer L Austin, University of Glamorgan. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U.

Journal List Behav Anal Pract v. Published online Fall Jennifer L Austin , Ph.

Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Jennifer L Austin, University of Glamorgan;. Abstract Elevated academic standards and expectations, along with competing contingencies outside the classroom, have given the teaching profession new and demanding challenges with which to contend.

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• Behavior Analysis for Effective Teaching : Julie S. Vargas - Book2look.

Open in a separate window. Overview of Book Organized into four parts Science and the Art of Teaching , Planning for Improvement , The Design of Instruction , and Ethical Practices and Ultimate Goals , Vargas' book provides learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter with summaries and concept checks provided at each chapter's completion.

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5. Behavior Analysis for Effective Teaching 2nd Edition - Julie S. Vargas, Ph.D.?

Planning for Improvement The second section of the textbook introduces the reader to more technical aspects of applied behavior analysis. Who Should Read This Book? Modern teachers increasingly encounter students who enter their classroom with low motivation, learning problems, or disruptive behavior. The mission of this book is to provide teachers and other human service professionals specific tools they can use to teach more effectively without using the punitive methods that are too often part of educational practices. At the same time, the book explains the behavioral science on which behavioral practices are based.

This text is intended for undergraduate and graduate students in teacher education, special education, physical education, and educational psychology as well as for practicing teachers who would like to know what behavior analysis has to offer. The book is also appropriate for students in school psychology, school counseling, school social work and other human service areas. A course using this book as its basic text would qualify as one of the five courses required to sit for the credentialling exams given by the Behavior Analysis Certification Board.

Classroom Focus — The book seamlessly integrates behaviour management with effective instruction within a classroom context.