MHS 4412 Research Methods and Ethical Issues in Applied Behavior Analysis Course Syllabus Spring 2017

MHS 4412 Research Methods and Ethical Issues in Applied Behavior Analysis Course Syllabus Spring 2017 Instructor: Teacher s Assistants: Spencer Gauert, M.A. Email: sgauert@mail.usf.edu Lizette Martinez Meghan McNaull Office Hours: Friday 12:00 PM 1:00 PM Email: Lizette: lmartinez1@mail.usf.edu Meghan: mmcnaull@mail.usf.edu Course Prerequisites: MHS 3204 or CLP 4414; MHS 4202 (all with a B- or better) Classroom: Class Times: MHA 126 E Tuesdays/Thursdays, 11:00am - 12:15pm First class: Monday, January 10 th Last class: Tuesday, April 25 th Last exam (non final): Thursday, April 6 th Optional Final Exam: Tuesday, May 2nd, 7:30am to 9:30am In the event of an emergency, it may be necessary for USF to suspend normal operations. During this time, USF may opt to continue delivery of instruction through methods that include but are not limited to: Canvas, Elluminate, Skype, and email messaging and/or an alternate schedule. It s the responsibility of the student to monitor Canvas site for each class for course specific communication, and the main USF, College, and department websites, emails, and GoBull messages for important general information. Course Description This 45-hour undergraduate course provides students with information in the form of lectures, demonstrations, activities, and practical exercises in ethical issues and research methods in the field of applied behavior analysis. This course is designed to prepare students to sit for the Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst certification exam. More information on this exam can be found at the Behavior Analyst Certification Board website (www.bacb.com) Course Objectives The objective of this course is to provide students with necessary experience for designing a behavior analysis oriented research question, collecting data, and experimentally evaluating relevant data. Students will receive this experience in the form of lectures, readings, and examples, as well as the ability to practice in the development of their own experimental design. Students who complete this course should be better prepared to meet the requirements of the the Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst certification exam. [Rev. 1/6/17] Page 1

Student Learning Outcomes As a result of participating in this course, students will be able to Identify ethical principles and practices in behavior analysis Define, measure, graph, and analyze behavioral and visual data Develop testable research questions Write literature reviews, research proposals, and applications for IRB Identify and describe various single subject research designs Identify and describe group designs and importance of statistics Textbooks Gast, D. L. (2010). Single-subject research methodology in behavioral sciences. New York, NY: Routledge. (Available for purchase at the USF bookstore or you can view/print from usf e-books for free via the USF library web site.) Bailey, H. S., & Burch, M. R. (2002). Research methods in applied behavior analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. (Available for purchase at the USF bookstore or you can view/print usf e-books for free via the USF library web site.) American Psychological Association. (2011). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. (You will be held responsible for meeting the requirements of APA style.) Research Articles Articles will be posted on Canvas as needed. Class Materials (needed for every class) Dry erase board, dry erase marker, and eraser Laptop Due to the interactive nature of this course, students who bring a laptop to class will benefit greatly during practical exercises, as they will be able to actively practice and participate the concepts that are being taught during a particular in class. Laptops may be provided in class, given available resources, for students who do not have access to a personal laptop. Please notify the instructor at least 2 business days before class, if a laptop is needed. Laptops may be used to take notes, although students are encouraged to take notes without the aid of laptops. Phone Phone use will not be permitted during class time. Students are not permitted to use their phones to take notes. In the case of an emergency text or phone call, students will be provided feedback. If this behavior persists, the instructor will provide reprimands, ask for a meeting with the student, and/or ask the student to leave the class. [Rev. 1/6/17] Page 2

Email Policy Please contact the instructor at the email address listed on Page 1. Please do not email through Canvas, as it has been unreliable in the past. Additionally: If for some reason the instructor does not receive an email for an assignment submission, if that student would like credit for the assignment the student may send a screen shot of the outbox of the email to the instructor as proof of turning the assignment in on time. Therefore, whenever students submit an assignment for class, it is recommended that they check the outbox folder of the email to ensure the email was sent and they have a receipt of submitting it on time (if needed). Emails during the week and during business hours (Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm), will be answered within 24 hours. Emails on the weekend will likely not be answered until Monday at 9am. Therefore it is recommended if the student has any questions regarding an assignment or a question pertaining to the exam, that he or she begin the assignment with sufficient time to email with questions (if needed) between Monday and Friday. Emails sent over Canvas will not be received, please use the addresses listed on Page 1. Class Format Prior to each class, a PowerPoint presentation will be posted on Canvas under the module for that particular class. Any other materials needed for a particular class day will be posted there as well. Every class will begin with a brief reading quiz covering assigned readings to prepare students for class discussions and activities. On days where there are no assigned readings, class will begin with a quiz on the content covered in the previous lecture. Following the reading quiz, the instructor will expand upon the assigned reading and highlight the key points through an interactive lecture, demonstrations, and/or class activities. On certain class days, students will engage in a practical exercise or participate in an article presentation. During practical exercises, each student will practice a technique covered in the lecture and receive feedback from the instructors. Certain days will include practical exercises that must be completed and turned in in class, while some days the practical exercises will be completed as homework and turned in on canvas. During a presentation, each student will participate in the proposal presentation by asking and/or writing down questions and/or comments [Rev. 1/6/17] Page 3

Grades Grades will be based upon the following categories: A. Daily quizzes (20%) B. Exams (40%) C. Practical exercises (10%) D. Literature review and research proposal (15%) E. Presentation (10%) F. Extra Credit A. Quizzes will be administered once per class meeting. Quiz completion will be collected in lieu of attendance. Quizzes will be held the first 10 minutes of class from 11:00-11:10 am on regular class days (there will be no quizzes on exam days). Student are responsible for arriving to class on time, and will only be allowed to take the quiz until the 11:10 AM cutoff. Students that arrive to class later than five minutes will not be permitted to take the quiz. Quizzes provided will consist of 10 true/false, multiple choice, short answer, or fill-in-the-blank questions covering the assigned reading for that day and/or the previous class lecture. The course schedule below indicates when quizzes will occur. Students must be present during these times to take the quizzes. On days with student presentations, the quizzes will occur at the normal time, and cover the articles the groups will be presenting on for that day. Missed quizzes cannot be made-up and your two lowest quiz scores will be dropped at the end of the semester. B. Five exams will be administered throughout the semester. Exams will consist of short answer questions and will cover information from assigned readings, practical exercises, and lectures (see Power Points). An optional cumulative final will be provided on May 2 nd (from 7:30am-9:30am). If students decide to take the optional final, the grade earned will replace the lowest grade earned on one of the other four exams. Exams cannot be made up; therefore this final can also serve to replace a missed exam. C. Practical exercises will occur throughout the course and are noted on the course schedule. All practical exercises will consist of an activity in which the student will practice a technique that was discussed in lecture and receive feedback from the instructor. Several practical exercises will require the student to complete graphs, online research training, writing components of the proposal, and a research application. As specified in the schedule, some practical exercises will be completed and checked off for points at the end of the class period, while some will be completed as homework and turned into Canvas by the Friday before the next class. Late work will not be accepted. Students must be present during class in order to engage in the practical exercise. Additionally, students must participate and engage in professional behavior as defined above in order to earn the points for in-class practical exercises. D. A research proposal will be created by each student over the course of the semester, which will include a literature review. The majority of the articles for the literature review must come from a behavioral journal (e.g. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Journal of Behavioral Health and Medicine, Behavior Therapy, Behavioral Interventions, etc.). The proposal is broken down into components where students will submit drafts of the components of the proposal to receive feedback they can include in their final paper. The first draft of the introduction for the research proposal is due on Canvas on 3/24/2017 by 11:59pm (on Canvas), the method section will be due on 4/9/2017 by 11:59pm (on canvas) and the results section will be due on 4/14/2017 by 11:59pm (on Canvas). All research proposals must be written in APA format. A rubric, describing criteria for the proposal, will be provided and reviewed during class on 2/14/2017. In addition, an example of a proposal will be posted on Canvas to serve as a model. Students are encouraged to attend office hours if they would like additional help with the proposal. Additionally, librarians [Rev. 1/6/17] Page 4

in the FMHI Research Library on the 1 st floor of the MHC building can be a great resource for finding articles for your introduction. E. Students will be assigned into groups and present research articles during the final three weeks of the semester. Each groups will break down a journal article and present it to the class covering relevant background information from the article s introduction, the method section with specific discussion of the research design used, the results of the study, and take-home points from the discussion section. Articles being presented on a given day will also serve as the assigned readings for that day. An updated version of the syllabus will be provided when these groups have been formed and their articles selected. The group presenting is expected to email the completed PowerPoint slides to the instructors one week prior to their presentation date. Student groups and articles will be assigned on 2/2/2017 and a presentation schedule will be posted on Canvas. In addition to the PowerPoint slides, the groups presenting will create a 5-question quiz on the article which will be the reading quiz for that day (also send it to the instructor one week prior to their presentation date). A rubric, describing criteria for the article presentation, will be provided and reviewed during class on 2/2/2017. In addition, an example of the PowerPoint for an article presentation will be posted on Canvas to serve as a model. Students are encouraged to attend office-hours if they would like additional help with the presentation. F. Extra credit will be offered in this course. Students may earn up to an additional 5% to be added to their overall grade. Only a total of 5% extra credit may be earned. Students may earn 5% by volunteering at least 10 hours as a research assistant on an USF ABA Master s Student research project. Students must submit a written letter from the advisor/graduate student on the project stating the name of the project, student s role, and how many hours the student completed. The letter must be turned in by the last day of class to receive the 5% extra credit. The percentage will not be pro-rated. Students must complete at least 10 hours for the 5%. Fewer than 10 hours will result in 0%. Letter grades will be assigned according to the following scale: 97-100% = A+ 93 96.99% = A 90 92.99% = A- 87 89.99% = B+ 83 86.99% = B 80 82.99% = B- 77 79.99% = C+ 73 76.99% = C 70 72.99% = C- 67 69.99% = D+ 63 66.99% = D 60 62.99% = D - 59.99% or lower = F [Rev. 1/6/17] Page 5

G = Gast text; B = Bailey text; PE = Practical Exercise Class Agenda Readings Quiz, Practical Exercises Jan. 10 Course and Syllabus Overview None Pre-Assessment; Background Bio Jan. 12 Why People Believe Weird Things Shermer Ch & Dawkins Ch Quiz 1 (Canvas) Jan. 13 DROP ADD ENDS - - Jan. 17 Introduction to Research in ABA G: Ch. 2; B 1 18 Quiz 2 Jan. 19 Ethics in Applied Behavior Analysis G: Ch. 3; B: 192 203 Quiz 3 Jan. 24 Ethics (cont.), PE: Ethics; Exam 1 Review BACB Research Ethics Quiz 4 Codes (Section 9); Linsheid et al. (1990) Jan. 26 Exam 1 No Readings Jan. 31 Literature Reviews G: 57 80; B: 21 61 Quiz 5 Feb. 2 **Bring Laptop** Research Proposals/Article Presentation Overview/IRB Process Selecting Research Questions Exercise None Quiz 6; IRB Training PE (Due 2/10 by 11:59 PM on Canvas) Feb. 7 Independent and Dependent Variables Measurement and replication B: 63-80 Quiz 7; Research Question PE (Due 2/10 by 11:59 on Canvas) Feb. 9 Measurement and Replication (cont.) Bijou et al. (1968) Quiz 8 Feb. 14 Treatment Integrity and Social Validity B: 81 87; Wolf (1978) Quiz 9 Creating Training Checklist and Surveys PE; Research Proposal Overview; Exam 2 Overview Feb. 16 Exam 2 No Readings Feb. 21 Graphing and Visual Analysis G: Ch. 8 Quiz 10; Online Graphing Tutorial PE Feb. 23 Graphing and Visual Analysis (cont.); Exam 3 review G: Ch. 9 Quiz 11; Graphs (Due 2/24 by 11:59 PM on Canvas) Feb. 28 Exam 3 No Readings Mar. 2 Overview of Single-Subject Research B: 141 154 (Stop at Quiz 12 Designs; PE: Selecting a Research Design Behavior Analysis Research Design); Sidman excerpt Mar. 7 Withdrawal and Reversal Designs B: 154 165; Engerman et Quiz 13 al. (1997) Mar. 9 PE: Components of a Method section; No Readings Quiz 14 Presentations work day Mar. 14 No Classes (Spring Break) - - Mar. 16 No Classes (Spring Break) - - Mar. 21 MBL Design; Multiple Probe Design; Non- B: 166 180; Fox et al. Quiz 15 Concurrent MBL Designs; Exam 4 Review (1987) Mar. 23 Exam 4 No Readings Intro (Due 3/24 by 11:59 PM on Canvas) Mar. 25 LAST DAY TO WITHDRAW - - Mar. 28 Comparative, Variation, and Combination B: 180 188; Hyusti et al. Quiz 16 Designs (2012) Mar. 30 Group Designs and Statistical Analysis B: 188 192; G: Ch. 14 Quiz 17; Method section (Due 4/9 at 11:59 PM on Canvas) Apr. 4 Implementing & Presenting Research; Friman (2014); B: 205 212, Quiz 18 Presentation Work Day; Exam 5 Review 25-240 Apr. 6 Exam 5 No Readings Apr. 11 Proposal Work Day No Readings Results section (Due 4/14 at 11:59 PM on Canvas) Apr. 13 Student Presentations TBD Quiz 19 Apr. 18 Student Presentations TBD Quiz 20 Apr. 20 Student Presentations TBD Quiz 21 Apr. 25 No Class You can have whatever you like Proposals (Due 4/26 at 11:59 PM on Canvas) May 2 OPTIONAL FINAL Time: 7:30 AM 9:30 AM [Rev. 1/6/17] Page 6

CLASS POLICIES Right to Change Syllabus If necessary, some components of this syllabus may change. However, any such changes will be announced to the students in class and posted on Canvas. The student is responsible for any such announced changes. Classroom Conduct Students seeking a letter of recommendation from the Instructor for future employment and/or graduate school should not only perform at the top of the class (A), but should engage in professional behavior throughout the entire course. Any unprofessional behavior in class that competes with participation and/or creates a negative classroom experience for others will not be tolerated. These behaviors include but are not limited to the following: Engaging in texting, making rude comments/facial expressions/gestures about other students and/or instructors or TAs, failure to complete work assignments, failure to complete check offs or in class activities, and falsifying check offs. Falsifying check offs will be considered academic misconduct and treated according to USF policy If such unacceptable behavior occurs in class, the instructor will provide immediate feedback and ask the student to stop engaging in the behavior during class. If the behavior persists, the instructor may ask for a meeting with the student, and/or ask the student to leave the class. If this occurs during a practical exercise, points for the practical exercise will be lost in addition to the attendance points. As a Behavior Analyst you are a working professional and will need to approach your day-to-day as such in order to be successful. Given this, professional behavior is expected of all students in our ABA courses. Course Attendance at First Class Meeting Students are required to attend the first class meeting of undergraduate courses for which they registered prior to the first day of the term. Names of students who register prior to the first day of the term are printed on the first class roll for each course section. The first class roll is used by professors to drop students who do not attend the first day of class. Students having extenuating circumstances beyond their control and who are unable to attend the first class meeting must notify the instructor to the department prior to the first class meeting to request waver of the first class attendance requirement. Students who add course or late-register during the first week of classes will not be on the first class roll and, therefore, will not be dropped for nonattendance by the instructor. To avoid fee liability and academic penalty, the student is responsible for ensuring that he/she had dropped or been dropped from all undesired courses by the end of the 5th day of classes. Class Notes Please be aware that students are not permitted to take notes in class for remuneration or for the purpose of sale to any person or entity. INSTITUTIONAL POLICIES The most recent version of the Institutional Policies information can be found on the Office of Academic and Student Affairs webpage at: http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/academicaffairs/ 1. Student Handbook: May be found at: http://www.sa.usf.edu/handbook/ [Rev. 1/6/17] Page 7

2. Student Conduct: USF Student Rights/Responsibilities: http://www.sa.usf.edu/srr/page.asp?id=81 USF Student Code of Conduct: http://www.sa.usf.edu/srr/page.asp?id=88 3. Academic Integrity: Disruption of the academic process and violations of the policies regarding academic integrity will not be tolerated. Review USF policies on Disruption of the Academic Process and the Academic Integrity of Students at: http://generalcounsel.usf.edu/regulations/pdfs/regulation-usf3.025.pdf 4. Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism: Plagiarism will not be tolerated and is grounds for failure. Review USF Academic Dishonesty and Disruption of Academic Process Policy at: http://www.grad.usf.edu/inc/linked-files/usf_grad_catalog_2010_2011.pdf#page=42 Plagiarism tutorial: http://www.cte.usf.edu/plagiarism/plag.html USF uses an automated plagiarism detection service that allows instructors and students to submit student assignments to be checked for plagiarism. See the policy on the system Turnitin: http://media.c21te.usf.edu/pdf/student/bbstud_subsafeassgn.pdf Plagiarism is defined as literary theft and consists of the unattributed quotation of the exact words of a published text, or the unattributed borrowing of original ideas by paraphrase from a published text. On written papers for which the student employs information gathered from books, articles, web sites, or oral sources, each direct quotation, as well as ideas and facts that are not generally known to the public at large, or the form, structure or style of a secondary source must be attributed to its author by means of the appropriate citation procedure. Only widely known facts and first-hand thoughts and observations original to the student do not require citations. Citations may be made in footnotes or within the body of the text. Plagiarism also consists of passing off as one s own segments or the total of another person s work. If you are not sure please bring the material to the instructor for guidance. The student who submitted the subject paper, lab report, etc. shall receive an F with a numerical value of zero on the item submitted, and the F shall be used to determine the final course grade. It is the option of the instructor to assign the student a grade of F or FF (the latter indicating dishonesty) in the course. 5. Cheating USF expects students to maintain academic honesty in all courses. By virtue of being registered in this course, students agree to refrain from cheating. If cheating in any form (academic dishonesty) is detected, appropriate action will be taken. (Refer to USF Academic Dishonesty Policy) Any form of cheating on examinations or plagiarism on assigned papers constitutes unacceptable deceit and dishonesty. Disruption of the classroom or teaching environment is also unacceptable. The University of South Florida has very specific policies and procedures regarding academic dishonesty or disruption of academic process. Cheating is the (a) the unauthorized granting or receiving of aid during the prescribed period of a course-graded exercise; students may not consult written materials such as notes or books, may not look at the paper of another student, nor consult orally with any other student taking the same test; (b) asking another person to take an examination in his/her place; (c) taking an examination for or in place of another student; (d) stealing visual concepts, such as drawings, sketches, diagrams, musical programs or scores, graphs, maps, etc., and presenting them as one s own; (e) stealing, borrowing, buying, or disseminating tests, answer keys or other examination material except as officially authorized, research papers, creative papers, speeches, other graded assignments, etc.; (f) stealing or copying of computer programs and presenting them as one s own. Such stealing includes the use of another student s program, as obtained from the magnetic media or interactive terminals or from cards, print-out papers, etc. Punishment will be based on the University guidelines for academic dishonesty. [Rev. 1/6/17] Page 8

If you have any questions, please refer to the University s Undergraduate Academic Dishonesty policy. Procedures for Alleged Academic Dishonesty or Disruption: http://www.ugs.usf.edu/catalogs/1213/pdf/academicintegrityofstudents.pdf http://www.ugs.usf.edu/catalogs/1213/pdf/disruptionofacademicprocess.pdf Student Academic Grievance Procedures http://www.ugs.usf.edu/catalogs/1213/pdf/studentacademicgrievanceprocedures.pdf 6. Students with Disabilities/Special Accommodations: USF is committed to providing support for students with disabilities. Students in need of academic accommodations for a disability may consult with the Office of Students with Disabilities Services to arrange appropriate accommodations. Students are required to give reasonable notice prior to requesting an accommodation. Students with Disabilities Services: http://www.sds.usf.edu/ If you need special accommodations, or of there is any topic or activity in class which makes you feel uncomfortable and causes serious distress, please advise the instructor or a representative of USF. Students with disabilities are responsible for registering with Students with Disabilities Services in order to receive academic accommodations. Students with disabilities are responsible for registering with Students with Disabilities Services in order to receive academic accommodations. SDS encourages students to notify instructors of accommodation requests at least five business days prior to needing the accommodation. A letter from SDS must accompany this request. See Student Responsibilities http://www.asasd.usf.edu/student.htm See Faculty Responsibilities http://www.asasd.usf.edu/faculty.htm 7. Holidays and Religious Observances: Students are expected to notify their instructors at the beginning of each academic term if they intend to be absent for a class or announced examination. Students absent for religious reasons, as arranged with the instructor at the beginning of each academic term, will be given reasonable opportunities to make up any work missed. For further information, please refer to: http://generalcounsel.usf.edu/policies-andprocedures/pdfs/policy-10-045.pdf 8. Emergency Suspension of University Operations (required language). In the event of an emergency, it may be necessary for USF to suspend normal operations. During this time, USF may opt to continue delivery of instruction through methods that include but are not limited to: Canvas, Elluminate, Skype, and email messaging and/or an alternate schedule. It s the responsibility of the student to monitor Canvas site for each class for course specific communication, and the main USF, College, and department websites, emails, and MoBull messages for important general information. [Rev. 1/6/17] Page 9

9. Incomplete Grade: Definition: An Incomplete grade ( I ) is exceptional and granted at the instructor s discretion only when students are unable to complete course requirements due to illness or other circumstances beyond their control. This applies to all gradable courses, including pass/fail (S/U). Students may only be eligible for an I when: The majority of the student s work for a course has been completed before the end of the semester the work that has been completed must be qualitatively satisfactory The student has requested consideration for an I grade as soon as possible but no later than the last day of finals week. Policy may be found at: http://www.grad.usf.edu/policies_sect7_full.php#incomp 10. Student Grievance Procedure: Review USF Academic Grievance Policy at: http://generalcounsel.usf.edu/policies-and-procedures/pdfs/policy-10-002.pdf http://www.grad.usf.edu/inc/linked-files/usf_grad_catalog_2010_2011.pdf#page=50 Student assistance is provided by Division of Student Affairs, Office of the Student Ombudsman. http://www.sa.usf.edu/ombudsman [Rev. 1/6/17] Page 10