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Previous research has shown that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may struggle to engage in social play, which may impact their willingness to engage in contextually appropriate cooperative play (Koegel et al., 2014). Researchers suggest that activity schedules targeting cooperative play may increase appropriate play for children with ASD (Brodhead et al.,2014; Pellegrino, 2018). However, previous studies did not include opportunities for interactive choice responding or the implementation of generic picture cues during script training. We investigated the impact of a linked digital activity schedule on promoting cooperative thematic play in children with ASD. Six children with ASD engaged in cooperative thematic play scenarios with a peer while utilizing the linked digital activity schedule with time delay prompts. Results indicate that the implementation of the linked digital activity schedule with time delay prompts facilitated appropriate thematic play responding for all participants. However, the intervention did not produce significant evidence of increased novel vocal responses, higher affect, or consistent generalization of contextually appropriate cooperative play to the home setting. Overall, caregivers expressed support for the linked digital activity schedule teaching procedures. These findings suggest that linked digital activity schedules may be an effective approach to promoting cooperative thematic play in children with ASD. However, further research is needed to explore strategies for enhancing the efficacy of this approach for broader developmental outcomes.

Information on assessment of citizenship achievement is presented in this report which compares 1970 first assessment results for the two sexes, four regions of the country, and four community sizes. Age groups assessed were 9, 13, 17, and 26 through 35 age group; geographical regions were Northeastern, Central, Western, and Southeastern; and community sizes were large cities, urban fringes medium size cities, and smaller towns. Achievements were assessed for nine major citizenship goals. Results are presented as percentages of the respondents who gave the desired response on each item. Findings show that boys and girls achieved about equally at age 9, with a male advantage of about 1% beginning at age 17 and increasing at the adult level. The Northeastern, Central, and Western regions achieved at similar levels, while the Southeast performance usually fell below. Among community sizes, average differences for citizenship results as a whole were small and fairly consistent across age. Appendices include group definitions, citizenship objectives, results for released and unreleased exercises, and procedures for estimating reliability of differences. Related documents are ED 049 111, ED 049 113 and ED 051 246. (Author/SJM) Primary type of information provided by report: Results (Subgroup).

The aim of this project was to develop effective techniques for identifying educational needs and formulating them into well-defined problems. The critical incident technique was used to identify need symptoms perceived by educators selected from a representative sample of West Coast school districts. Criteria for evaluating the adequacy of the problem-formulation product were developed, including outcomes desired, values underlying outcomes, kinds of evidence for outcomes, present conditions, solution possibilities, and immediate action alternatives. Three group problem-defining techniques were compared experimentally, each differing on two dimensions: (1) Whether or not the formulation was structured to obtain the elements listed above, and (2) whether or not the inquiry was directed by an experienced outside formulator. Eighteen three-member groups of educators were used in all. The problem definition produced by each group was evaluated independently by two other educators from the same district. Results indicated that directed groups tended to produce superior problem definitions, and suggest the need for carefully designed problem-formulation training for educators. (Author/JH)

PLAN Social studies curriculum attempts to assure that each student achieves educational objectives appropriate to his individual needs and interests. The guiding framework is presented in the form of a list of over one hundred long-range objectives (LRO's). The major objective areas are: inquiry, problem-solving and planning, affective objectives, social skills, quantitative skills, and knowledge objectives. Chapter 3 describes the curriculum for each level roughly corresponding to grades one through twelve, emphasizing the content and settings to which major objectives are applied. Chapter 4 presents a series of charts in which the explicit instructional objectives of the existing curriculum are identified both by level and by the (LRO) they serve. The order in which the content areas are presented is not dictated by the structure of the objectives; the instructional sequence can be shaped largely by the personal interests of the students and the availability of instructional materials. The key concepts, principles and facts of each knowledge objective are appended: social problems, history, cultures, sociology, anthropology, religions, American ethnic groups, American institutions, sociology, anthropology, religions, American ethnic groups, American institutions, social psychology, individual behavior, political science, American civics, basic economics, personal economics, geography and ecology. (SBE)

AS PART OF A PROJECT TO IMPROVE PROGRAMED INSTRUCTION BY GIVING THE STUDENT MORE FREEDOM OF CHOICE AND RESPONSBILITY FOR LEARNING, THIS FIELD-TYPE EXPERIMENT EXPOSED 178 STUDENTS IN 7 GRADE 5 AND 6 CLASSES TO LINEAR (L), AND SELF-DIRECTED (SD) PROGRAMS, AND NO-PROGRAM (NP) INSTRUCTION IN GEOGRAPHY. (SELF-DIRECTION ALLOWS THE STUDENT MAXIMUM FREEDOM IN SEQUENCE, EXTENT, AND METHOD OF STUDY.) ALSO VARIED IN THE DESIGN WAS A LIST OF PREMOTIVATING QUESTIONS GIVEN 2 CLASSES BEFORE THEY BEGAN THE PROGRAMS. STUDENTS IN BOTH L AND SD GROUPS REPORTED LITTLE DIFFERENCE IN ACTUAL STUDY PROCEDURES, THUS EXPLAINING A RESULT OF NO DIFFERENCES IN EFFECTIVENESS OF THE 2 PROGRAMS ON THE CRITERION ACHIEVEMENT TEST, AND IN MEAN STUDY TIME. THE PREMOTIVATING QUESTIONS HAD A NEGATIVE EFFECT, AND TEACHERS REPORTED A NEED FOR MORE VARIETY IN STUDY ACTIVITY, IN REFERENCE TO THE NP GROUP. THE AUTHORS POINT OUT THAT GIVING STUDENTS FREEDOM TO USE PROGRAMED MATERIALS IN ANY WAY THEY PLEASED DID NOT DETRACT FROM LEARNING. (LH)

THIS THEORETICAL PAPER COMBINES FAMILIAR PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES IN A NEW SYSTEM DESIGNED MAINLY FOR PARSIMONY. PRINCIPAL CONSTRUCTS ARE REPRESENTATION, (R) A UNIT OF COGNITIVE ACTIVITY, AND M-VALUE, (M) A MOTIVATIONAL OR HEDONIC DIMENSION, OR THE PLEASANTNESS OF THE ACTIVITY OF AN R. A PROBABILITY-DECISION MODEL RELATES R'S AND THEIR AVERAGE M-VALUES. THE THEORY IMPLIES THAT MANY REPEATED ENCOUNTERS WITH ABOUT THE SAME SITUATION ALLOW R'S TO BE MORE PREDICTABLE, WITH DEVELOPMENT OF SMOOTH BEHAVIOR SEQUENCES. ALSO INFERRABLE ARE THE LAW OF EFFECT, GENERALIZATION, SATIATION, AND CURIOSITY. THIS FLEXIBLE THEORY CAN BE USED IN CLOSE COALITION WITH COMMON SENSE, EMPATHY, AND INTROSPECTION. DIFFERENCES AMONG REALISTIC LEARNING SITUATIONS ARE DISCUSSED IN TERMS OF DEGREE OF ASSOCIATION SOUGHT, SPECIFICITY AND SYMBOLIC CONTROL OF R'S, AND HIERARCHICAL RELATIONS AMONG R'S. TRYING AND MEANINGFULNESS, DEFINED IN R-M TERMS, ARE SUGGESTED AS 2 FACTORS MOST FAVORABLE TO ANY TYPE OF LEARNING. FINALLY, GENERAL IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL STRATEGY, SUCH AS DEGREE OF LEARNER CONTROL OF THE LEARNING SITUATION, ARE NOTED. (LH)

THE HYPOTHESIS OF THIS EXPERIMENT WAS THAT SELF-DIRECTION WOULD BE MORE EFFECTIVE WITH STUDENTS OF HIGH RATHER THAN LOW ABILITY AND INTEREST PROVIDED THEY HAD HAD COACHED PRACTICE IN SELF-DIRECTED USE OF PROGRAMED MATERIALS. SUBJECTS WERE 34 GRADE 9 ALGEBRA STUDENTS. THEY COMPLETED PRE-EXPERIMENTAL ABILITY TESTS AND INTEREST QUESTIONNAIRES. HALF WERE PAID FOR PRE-TRAINING SESSIONS DURING WHICH THEY WERE EXPOSED TO LINEAR (L) AND SELF-DIRECTED (SD) PROGRAMS ON PERMUTATIONS. KEY FEATURE OF THE SD PROGRAM WAS COMPLETE FREEDOM AS TO EXTENT, SEQUENCE, AND METHOD OF STUDY. THEN THE VARIABLES PROGRAM TYPE AND PRE-TRAINING WERE TESTED WITH PROGRAMS ON SET THEORY. ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE ON GAIN SCORES AND POST-TEST QUESTIONNAIRES SUPPORTED THE HYPOTHESIS AND SUGGESTED THAT SD TECHNIQUES ARE MORE POPULAR WITH HIGH ABILITY STUDENTS AND ARE MORE EFFECTIVE AFTER PRACTICE AND DISCUSSION OF SELF-DIRECTION. THE SD GROUP SHOWED MARKED SUPERIORITY ON THE PRE-TRAINING TOPIC ITSELF. (LH)

THIS DOCUMENT TRACES RESULTS OF EXPLORATORY STUDIES IN SELF-DIRECTED (SD) LEARNING OF 5 TYPICAL LEARNING TASKS. GOAL WAS TO ASCERTAIN KINDS OF LEARNING SITUATIONS FOR WHICH PROGRAMED INSTRUCTION COULD BE IMPROVED VIA SELF-DIRECTION, I.E. MAXIMUM STUDENT FREEDOM TO CONTROL THE LEARNING PROCESS. RATIONALE FOR THE RESEARCH CAME FROM A COGNITIVE-PREDICTIVE-THEORETICAL MODEL. 2 FACTORS IMPORTANT TO LEARNING RATE AND VIEWED IN TERMS OF SELF-DIRECTION WERE--MEANINGFULNESS TO THE STUDENT OF THE LEARNING TASK AT ANY MOMENT AND MOTIVATION. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS SHOWED THAT THE MOST PROMISING LEARNING OBJECTIVES FOR SD ARE THOSE IN WHICH PROBLEM SOLVING AND TRANSFER OF TRAINING ARE REQUIRED. UNCOACHED SD APPEARED TO MAGNIFY EFFECTS OF MOTIVATION AND ABILITY OF LEARNING. THE MOST PROMISING SINGLE RESULT WAS THE BENEFICIAL EFFECT OF A WEEK OF SD PRACTICE DURING WHICH CRITICAL SELF-APPRAISAL OF STUDY TACTICS WAS ENCOURAGED. THIS SUGGESTED THAT TO MAKE SD SUCCESSFUL, REMOVAL OF STUDENTS' STRONG HABIT OF PASSIVE ACQUIESCENCE IS NECESSARY. (LH)