Creating compliance: Improving behavioral intervention in the classroom
Graduate student to present at Student Academic Conference on April 14
By Meghan Feir
School Psychology graduate student, Sean Soehren, entered the program knowing he wanted to help struggling students in the classroom, and through his research, he may be able to assist educators with new methods of growing classroom compliancy.
His presentation topic, “Increasing Compliance Using Mystery Motivator and Sure I Will Behavioral Interventions,” is based on the research he did on behavioral intervention for his thesis. Soehren worked with second graders with reading disabilities and extreme behavioral issues last spring to find a way to increase compliance for the benefit of the classroom.
“This was a very unique way to use these concepts,” Soehren said. “I took two interventions and combined them. This is something that’s useful for further research and classroom management.”
Results of Soehren’s study show definite improvement of classroom compliance during the intervention phase, with the average compliance increasing from 49 to 74 percent. Other negative behaviors also diminished.
“My presentation will have information on environmental satisfaction, so things that make for a good environment, classroom or otherwise,” Soehren said. “There will be information on specific disorders that are seen in classrooms, as well as some insight into how the research was put together, how the stats were run and the positive results acquired.”
Although this is Soehren’s first time doing such an in-depth research project, this will be his third time presenting the material. In February, Soehren also presented at the National Conference of School Psychology in Orlando, Fla., at Disneyworld.
“This is my first go at doing any type of research,” Soehren said. “There’s just a lot that goes into it, a lot of collaboration with other people. It was nice to have some guidance to overcome the challenges.”
Soehren worked closely with faculty in School Psychology and school counselors as he gathered information for the study.
“In my graduate studies, all the faculty has been exceptional – Lisa Stewart, Mary Dosch, Olivia Melroe, Peg Potter. It’s a small program, so you really get to know everybody,” Soehren said. “They each contribute useful things. They’ve all been an influence on me.”
For more information on the Student Academic Conference and abstract listings, visit www.mnstate.edu/sac.