Date of Graduation

1999

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

The study compared the Personalized System of Instruction to Direct Instruction in the training of direct-care staff from community residential facilities. There were a total of 51 direct-care staff participating in the study. The experimental design was a pretest-posttest design. Experimental Group I received PSI training, Experimental Group II received Direct Instruction, and Experimental Group III was a control group. Participants in Experimental Groups I and II received the same training content, with only the method of instruction varied. Phase one of the study was the pre-training observation phase during which participants pre-training use of the content areas was evaluated. Phase two of the study was the training phase. Phase three of the study was the post-training observation phase during which participants post-training use of the content areas was evaluated. The independent variable of this study was the type of instruction received by each group. The dependent variable was the mean difference between post-training and pre-training performance by participants in the use of social attention and planned ignoring. Data for the dependent variable were collected by observations of participants performing social attention and planned ignoring during naturally occurring staff-resident interactions in the residential facilities. Observations were collected by videotape by the researcher and then coded by three independent coders. The outcome measures to the dependent variable were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and t-tests. The results of the study indicated that: (a) training in the use of social attention and planned ignoring did make a difference in direct-care staff's performance of these skills during naturally occurring interactions with residents, and (b) there was no significant difference between the type of training received and direct-care staff's ability to perform the skills. Only the groups receiving instruction showed significant improvement in the use of the skills. There were six areas for future research recommended in relation to direct-care staff training based on the findings of the study.

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