Generalization Programming and Performance Feedback: A Writing Intervention with Third-Grade Students

<p>Despite the importance of explicitly programming generalization in the context of intervention studies (Stokes & Osnes, 1989), the research base is limited, especially with respect to academic interventions. Given that writing is a particular area of concern in the United States (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012), this is an important area to target. As such, the purpose of this study was to examine the benefit of incorporating explicit generalization programming tactics into a performance feedback intervention that has received support for increasing students’ writing fluency (Hier & Eckert, 2014). Toward this aim, 52 third-grade students were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (a) performance feedback, or (b) performance feedback with generalization programming. Four generalization assessments were administered during pre- and post-assessment phases. It was hypothesized that students receiving performance feedback with generalization programming tactics would outperform a condition receiving performance feedback alone across the generalization assessments. This hypothesis was not supported for any of the generalization assessments. Rather, students in both conditions demonstrated similar improvements in their post-assessment writing performance. As such, in the context of this study, there was not a significant benefit added to the performance feedback intervention by including generalization programming tactics.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year

2017

Author dc:creator

• Malandrino, Rigby Dawn

Contributors dc:contributor

• Tanya L. Eckert

• academic intervention
• generalization programming
• randomized trial
• writing
• Social and Behavioral Sciences

Repository record dc:identifier

https://surface.syr.edu/etd/834

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:surface.syr.edu:etd-1835