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Types of Peer Mediated Intervention
Cooperative Learning
Cooperative learning groups are usually composed of 3-6 students organized
by the teacher. The students learn and work together within the group
and are usually assigned roles for getting the group work done. Social
skills are emphasized and reinforced within the group as the students
must depend upon each other for achieving their academic goal.
Team work is frequently rewarded with incentives, inter-group tournaments,
and points. Setting up competition between groups could present students
with opportunities to bully, or want the student with ASD on their
team. Also, a role must be built into the group that the child with
ASD can succeed at (recorder of data, researcher, etc.), otherwise
it could be a negative experience.
Two basic types of cooperative learning are:
- team cooperative learning–students remain
in their group for the entire lesson or unit
- groups in which students remain for only part of the lesson and
work in another group or with the teacher for the rest of the time
Regardless of whether the groups remain intact
or are reconfigured, researchers have found that when students work
together towards a common
goal, the result is a positive social effect with greater cooperation
and support among students (McMaster & Fuchs, 2002; Tateyama-Sniezek,
1990).
Dyads
Dyads are pairs of students organized by the teacher. One student
is the tutor and the other is the student (or tutee or learner).
Three types of dyads are used in peer-mediated intervention:
- reverse-role tutoring
- class-wide peer tutoring
- cross-age tutoring
In reverse-role tutoring, an older student with
special needs tutors a younger, typically developing student. Frequently,
the one-on-one
interaction is organized by a teacher or parent to take place outside
the classroom setting. These sessions are beneficial to both students
by increasing self-esteem, positive social interactions, and the opportunity
to practice and master academic tasks (Top & Osguthorpe, 1987).
Class-wide peer tutoring (CWPT) is a form of peer
mediation in which every student in the class has the benefit of
being a tutor half of
the time and a tutee the other half of the time. Each dyad is organized
by the classroom teacher and the students are taught how to tutor one
another. During the lesson, students switch roles half-way through
so that both are receive and provide instruction. Points are earned
and posted, and the students are motivated and rewarded as a pair (Johnson & Johnson,
2000).
Cross-age tutoring is frequently set up by parents or teachers to
take place outside the classroom. In this form of peer mediation, both
students
have special needs, with older students teach younger children. Both
students benefit socially as well as academically (Maher, 1984).
Types of peer mediation include:
- Cooperative learning (team or regrouped)–students
share knowledge within a group
- Dyads (reverse-role, class-wide, cross-age)–students
are paired by an adult and play the tutor and/or tutee role
Key points:
Types of peer mediation include:
- Cooperative learning (team or regrouped)–students
share knowledge within a group
- Dyads (reverse-role, class-wide, cross-age)–students
are paired by an adult and play the tutor and/or tutee role
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