Co‐operative Learning for Children with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Mainstream and Special Class Settings: An exploratory study

A Meta-analysis of Peer-Mediated Instructional Arrangements and Autism

“…The researchers conducted studies in various settings. Seven studies were in the general education classrooms (Carter et al 2005;Dugan et al 1995;Hunt et al 1994;Kamps et al 1994bKamps et al , 1995Kamps et al , 1999, and four other studies were conducted in special education classrooms (Egel et al 1981;Grey et al 2007;Kamps et al 1989;Petursdottir et al 2007). One study was conducted both in general education and special education classrooms (Kamps et al 1999) and two other studies were conducted off-campus-one in a large conference room at the cafeteria of an institute (Chung et al 2007) and the other in a private therapy room (Krebs et al 2010).…”

“…Trainers included mostly teachers: general education teachers (Kamps et al 1989(Kamps et al , 1994b; general education teachers and paraprofessionals ; special education teachers, paraprofessionals, and researchers (Carter et al 2005;Grey et al 2007;Kamps et al 1999); general and special education teachers (Hunt et al 1994); and a general education teacher and the special education paraprofessional (Dugan et al 1995).…”

“…Researchers in all 13 studies used a variety of peer instructional strategies. They included modeling (Egel et al 1981) and prompting in which peer tutors prompted, assisted, cued, and provided feedback to children with ASD (Carter et al 2005;Chung et al 2007;Grey et al 2007;Hunt et al 1994;Kamps et al 1989Kamps et al , 1994bKamps et al , 1999Krebs et al 2010;Petursdottir et al 2007). Instructional arrangements included cooperative learning group techniques in which teachers presented material and observed the cooperative learning activities in various academic settings (Dugan et al 1995;Kamps et al 1995).…”

“…Peers provided cues to students with disabilities to evoke the target communication and motor response. Also, provided the assistance and feedback when needed Communication and motor skills=0.88 Eighty-one to 96 students without disabilities (age or grade not provided) Kamps et al (1989) Two students with autism aged 9 and 11 years old Hanline 2008); classroom tasks-poetry writing, art work, and social engagement (Grey et al 2007); and other learning strategies (e.g., lecture, worksheet, cards, and facts) (Carter et al 2005). In three studies, investigators focused on other skills/behaviors: social communication skills (Chung et al 2007), communication and motor skills (Hunt et al 1994), and decreasing problem behaviors (Krebs et al 2010).…”

Educating children on the autism spectrum: preconditions for inclusion and notions of ‘best autism practice’ in the early years

“…Garfinkle and Schwartz (2002) focused on an intervention to encourage peer imitation in a structured four‐step intervention. Other studies have looked at the effectiveness of ‘cooperative learning’ (CL) on social engagement (Grey, Bruton, Honan, McGuiness & Daly, 2007). Owen‐DeSchryver, Carr, Cale and Blakeley‐Smith (2008) looked at increasing peer involvement with children on the spectrum using a strategy which consisted of finding out more about autism, discussing strategies for befriending students with autism and helping to involve them in activities, including thinking about the strengths and preferences of the target child on the autism spectrum in their class.…”