The Effects of Group Contingency Strategy on Students' Behaviors in Physical Education Classes in Korea Using Multiple Baseline Design

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a group contingency strategy on student behaviors in elementary physical education classes. The study was conducted in an elementary school within metropolitan Korea. Eighty 6th-grade students (2 classes) and one teacher participated in this study. To investigate the effects of group contingency (intervention), two classes were separately designated as the experimental group (n=40) and control group (n=40). A multiple-baseline design across student target behaviors was used to determine the effects of exposure to behavioral intervention on student behaviors. Comparison was also made with the absence of the intervention. Data collected through each class observation and videotaping of 17 lessons of ball game and gymnastics showed that a group contingency strategy was effective in increasing the percentage of on-task behavior (motor activity) and reducing student waiting time and off-task in the experimental group. Compared to the experimental group, the control group showed no significant behavioral changes. Results also showed that the strategy was effective in decreasing inappropriate behavior and increasing appropriate behavior, which consequently builds on new forms of behavior by applying these contingencies consistently with effective consequences.