THE USE OF UNRELATED INSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK WHEN TEACHING IN A SMALL-GROUP INSTRUCTIONAL ARRANGEMENT

A heterogeneous group of students were taught math facts during small group time in the regular education classroom. In addition to the syst ematic instruction of math facts, unrelated instructive feedback (i.e. , sight words) was presented within the consequent event (i.e., after students responded to the math problem). A same task-different stimuli format was used. Each student had the same task of calculating math f acts but each student had different stimuli (i.e., each student learne d different math facts). In addition, each student had different sight words included in the consequent event (i.e., unrelated stimuli). A m ultiple probe design was used. The data showed that (a) all students l earned their targeted stimuli (i.e., math facts), (b) all students lea rned some of their unrelated stimuli (i.e., sight words), and (c) obse rvational learning occurred when all students learned some of their pe ers' targeted stimuli (i.e., math facts) as well as their peers' unrel ated stimuli (i.e., sight words). Data also indicated that some of the related and unrelated stimuli generalized to the natural environment. Discussion focuses on the logical efficiency of these types of group instructional arrangements that teach both related and unrelated infor mation together in classrooms where collaborative services are provide d.