Teaching Community Skills to Students with Moderate Disabilities: Comparing Combined Techniques of Classroom Simulation, Videotape Modeling, and Community-based Instruction

The investigator used a constant time delay procedure to teach 3 secondary students with moderate mental disabilities the community skills of mailing a letter, cashing a check, and crossing a street. The instructional format was counterbalanced across skills and students and consisted of (a) classroom simulation plus community-based instruction, (b) videotape modeling plus community-based instruction, and (c) classroom simulation plus videotape modeling plus community-based instruction. Generalization probe sessions conducted within a multiple probe design evaluated generalization to novel community settings. Effectiveness data showed that all instructional formats were effective in teaching the skills and resulted in generalization to novel community settings; however, efficiency data showed the combination of classroom simulation and community-based instruction to be the most efficient procedure across participant in terms of time to criterion.