Nature of the Proposed Research Design
This study asked the general question, "What teaching strategies will be effective in enabling me to minimize non-verbal, autistic students' exhibition of aggression?" The proposed research utilizes action research in the form of a time-series design to implement Stanley Greenspan's (1998) notion of "floor time" as a general method of reducing aggression in children with autism. Floor Time includes several interactive teaching strategies, all of which are child directed, in a low stimulus environment, ranging from two to five hours a day.
According to Greenspan (1998), floor time methods not only operate to reduce aggressiveness in non-verbal autistic children but they also increase their degree of verbal behavior. Floor time methods involve the use of several teaching strategies, only some of which may be directly applicable to reducing aggressive behavior. The proposed research will determine which of these teaching strategies are the most effective for reducing aggression.
The research design used in the study will be the time-series design consisting of a pretest, a posttest, and then a second posttest of aggression plus the collection of teacher feedback on maximally effective aggression reduction teaching strategies during the two posttest periods. This design can be graphically depicted as follows:
Outcome A....Pretest, Intervention, Posttest1, Posttest 2
Outcome B....Pretest, Intervention, Posttest1, Posttest 2
In order to fully understand the proposed research and its basic design, it is first necessary to define and briefly discuss the nature of action research. In this regard, Stringer (1999) defines action research as a three step spiral process of (1) planning which involves reconnaissance; (2) taking actions; and (3) fact-finding about the results of the action. The process alternates between action and critical reflection and which, in various stages, continu...