Group versus individual instruction for teaching daily living skills to students with severe handicaps

Abstract

The relative effectiveness of group and individual instruction formats for teaching daily living skills to students with severe handicaps was examined through an initial study (n = 23 students) and a replication (n = 47 students). The replication study also examined the acceptability of the group instruction procedures from the perspective of the participating teachers. Students were selected for participation who represented the range of students present in the classroom sites, including those students whom teachers identified as too difficult to teach in a group situation.

Factorial repeated measures analysis of variance designs were used in both studies. Results indicated that there were no significant differences between the group and individual instruction formats for the four tasks targeted in the first study. These findings were replicated for the two tasks targeted in the second study. Virtually all of the teachers participating in the replication study reported the group instruction procedures to be practical as a major teaching strategy, for teaching their difficult students, and for teaching daily living skills. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for future research to develop group instruction strategies for teaching all students within the constraints that exist in school programs.