Social Learning Skills Research Articles

Assessment for Effective Screening and Progress Monitoring of Social and Emotional Learning Skills

The collection of student data through screening and progress monitoring of social and emotional learning (SEL) skills is just as important as the implementation of curriculum and practices. Monitoring skill acquisition allows teachers to identify effective practices, provide intervention, and intensify support for students who need it. In this article, we provide a practical demonstration of how to make instructional decisions based on screening and progress monitoring of student SEL skill acquisition.

ILAT (Software as a Service): Interactive Learning Application Tool for Autism Screening and Assessment in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism is a type of neurological disorder usually noticeable during the early stage of childhood, especially between one to three years and occurs in all social groups. The common problem experienced by the autism subjects includes lack in social interaction, poor communication skill, overexcited, unable to express their emotions. While these disorders are not fully curable, early detection can reduce the severity with proper therapy. Even though there are no appropriate medications and treatments, still we can improve the lifestyle of the autism subject through various supportive therapies. If this disorder is not detected at early stages, the severity rate may probably increase during the later stage. Developing countries like India witness 0.2 percentage of the autism population in the overall community based on the information provided by the Rehabilitation Council of India. Express growth in the Information and Communication Technologies allows developing various assistive tools to enhance the lifestyle of the autism people. Fourth Generation Technologies like the Internet of Things, Wearable Devices, Cloud Computing, Big Data Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence, Mobile devices, Location-aware technology, Sensors, Augmented and Virtual Reality together provide a smart solution to all the sufferers. The objective of Interactive Learning Application Tool is used for Autism Screening and Assessment in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and extended to explore the assistive technologies available to serve the community. This will enhance the social interaction, learning and communication skills in children, a tool for analysing the aggressive level, a tool for caregivers and supportive and ranking tool for psychiatrist dealing with autism subject.

RAISE: Robotics & AI to improve STEM and social skills for elementary school students

The authors present the design and implementation of an exploratory virtual learning environment that assists children with autism (ASD) in learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills along with improving social-emotional and communication skills. The primary contribution of this exploratory research is how educational research informs technological advances in triggering a virtual AI companion (AIC) for children in need of social-emotional and communication skills development. The AIC adapts to students’ varying levels of needed support. This project began by using puppetry control (human-in-the-loop) of the AIC, assisting students with ASD in learning basic coding, practicing their social skills with the AIC, and attaining emotional recognition and regulation skills for effective communication and learning. The student is given the challenge to program a robot, Dash™, to move in a square. Based on observed behaviors, the puppeteer controls the virtual agent’s actions to support the student in coding the robot. The virtual agent’s actions that inform the development of the AIC include speech, facial expressions, gestures, respiration, and heart color changes coded to indicate emotional state. The paper provides exploratory findings of the first 2 years of this 5-year scaling-up research study. The outcomes discussed align with a common approach of research design used for students with disabilities, called single case study research. This type of design does not involve random control trial research; instead, the student acts as her or his own control subject. Students with ASD have substantial individual differences in their social skill deficits, behaviors, communications, and learning needs, which vary greatly from the norm and from other individuals identified with this disability. Therefore, findings are reported as changes within subjects instead of across subjects. While these exploratory observations serve as a basis for longer term research on a larger population, this paper focuses less on student learning and more on evolving technology in AIC and supporting students with ASD in STEM environments.

Performance- and Theater-Based Interventions for Supporting Social Cognition and Social Communication in Autistic Youth: A Review and Theoretical Synthesis.

Social skills interventions (SSIs) are commonly used to improve social functioning in youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which is a condition characterized by differences in social cognition and social communication. Although more traditional SSIs have used knowledge-based, didactic instruction, recent research has explored the utility of performance-based SSIs, which use various activities to support implicit learning of social skills in supportive, enriched environments. This article reviews the extant literature evaluating the effectiveness or efficacy of five performance-based SSIs using theater-based approaches on social cognition and social communication. Overall, this body of literature suggests social communication gains that include increased peer interactions, peer liking, and reciprocal friendships, as well as social cognitive gains in theory of mind and affect recognition. This review also discusses theoretical models that may help explain the emerging strengths of performance- and theater-based SSIs with underlying hypotheses related to the social communication and social cognitive differences in ASD. Limitations of performance-based SSIs in the evidence-base include several approaches in initial stages of research with small sample sizes and limited maintenance of effects. Future research should aim to bridge the research-to-practice gap and use more rigorous designs and more diverse samples, including those with cooccurring intellectual disability.

“Like Two Musketeers”: Socialization beliefs about toddler's friendships among Dominican, Mexican, and African American mothers

AbstractParental ethnotheories shape socialization beliefs around childrearing more broadly, and children's friendships more specifically. While prior work has examined aspects of parental socialization of friendships among school‐aged children and adolescents, no studies have examined beliefs held around the function of friendships among ethnically diverse mothers of toddlers from low‐socioeconomic contexts. Toddlerhood marks a point in development when the concept of “friendship” gains impact and relevance due to leaps in children's social, cognitive, and motor skills, as well as children's increasing access to contexts where they organically encounter peers. Toddlerhood is also a time when caregivers may initially consider the influence of peers on their children, beliefs that could eventually guide and shift how they navigate socialization practices around friendship. In the present study, we document U.S. Dominican American, African American, and Mexican American mothers’ socialization beliefs around functions of friendship for their 2‐year‐old children. We found that mothers emphasized a variety of friendship functions, including learning of social skills and morality, and communicating and experiencing emotions. A majority of mothers viewed their children's friendships as unidirectional, and framed their children as undiscerning in their engagement with social information from peers. Findings are discussed in relation to mothers’ orientation to children and “childhood” via cultural and developmental beliefs.

Social and emotional learning (SEL): How it finds a place in an early childhood education curriculum in Turkey

The study aims to identify the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) skills as defined by Collaborative, Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) in the Turkish Early Childhood Education Curriculum (TECEC). Recent studies have pointed out that gaining SEL skills at early ages has many benefits for development. Researchers in the SEL area suggest that having a clear conceptual framework benefits both in research and practice. TECEC document is examined based on CASEL’s framework. Document analysis was used to identify how SEL standards and objectives in TECEC were conceptually designed. The findings show that out of 17 standards to support social and emotional development, only 10 of them are related to SEL, meanwhile, 7 of them are identified as social studies standards. Out of 53 stated objectives, thirty-one of them are related to SEL skills. The current study will provide a tool for researchers, curriculum developers, and practitioners that feel the need to base their research and practice on a solid conceptual framework.

Use of video self-modelling to teach combined vocational and social skills to an adult with autism spectrum disorder

BACKGROUND: Autistic adults have difficulty in learning vocational and social skills, which often translates into low employment rates. Video self-modelling (VSM) is an effective educational technique for high-support-needs autistic adults, with the ability to teach challenging vocational skills as well as basic social skills. OBJECTIVE: The present study examined the use of video self-modelling to teach vocational and social skills to a 22-year-old autistic adult. Target behaviours categories included (1) reading order forms, (2) transporting goods, and (3) engaging with customers. METHODS: A multiple baseline design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the videos in teaching these target behaviours. The dependent variables were the percentage of tasks completed correctly, and quantitative prompt dependency, using a least-to-most prompting strategy. RESULTS: Results showed that VSM modestly improved reading order forms and transporting goods, and moderately improved engagement with customers. CONCLUSION: This intervention resulted in the successful employment of an autistic adult in a job that he desired, whilst teaching him skills he specifically struggled with. As such, VSM should be considered for others wanting to learn combined social and vocational skills.

Virtual reality therapy in special needs education.

The Virtual Reality (VR) technology has become a part of our everyday lives. The VR systems allow the users to be directly involved in human-computer interaction. The Virtual Environment provides artificial sensory information, while Virtual Tools allow direct interaction from the users side. Virtual devices such as computers, smartphones, and interactive whiteboards often appear both in general and special education. Education and rehabilitation professionals also use VR systems in various fields. The aim of the study is to summarise the wide range of VR system applications in diversified areas of special education. Our literature review focuses on special education and rehabilitation, moving towards the context of inclusion. Based on the numerous research, applying VR tools to the educational field has been increasing year by year. In the early ’90s, researchers began using virtual learning environments and they demonstrated that the application of virtual methods can be extended to behavioral therapies (relate anxiety), physical therapies (e.g. wheelchair simulators), and to develop cognitive performance (to develop attention) or social skills (learning to navigate community literacy). VR systems allow the possibility of providing continuous feedback and the opportunity for interactive learning and skill development. In the practice of special needs education, VR systems are useful in intervention, as well as monitoring, and evaluation. By using VR systems, users from any age group can be motivated. Furthermore, these systems apply their own natural semantics and can be used without spoken language or other conventional symbols. VR can promote education more accessible and differentiated for children with disabilities. This is one of the conditions for the effectiveness of co-education. The VR systems make no distinction between the users, on the other hand, users with special needs may require more adaptation or support in using VR. Hungarian professionals in the field of special needs education are also using VR tools, which offer opportunities to develop skills for independent living.

How do preschoolers interact with peers? Characterising child and group behaviour in games with tangible interfaces in school

Learning social skills is an important part of the socialisation process of children, which should occur at school, at home and in any place where children live. There are very few studies on social interaction and collaboration roles with 3–4 year old. In this paper, we aim to understand collaboration in young children to help them develop their social skills and improve their overall development. To get this, we have designed an observational experiment to monitor and characterise group activity and roles, mediated by technology and using data mining techniques.First, we have designed a game as a free-play situation where the conditions require interplay of three children with toys and among interaction among peers. Children interacts with game through tangible toys. The environment collects accurate data on children’s actions automatically and non-intrusively. We also consider other data from direct observation by psychologists and educators. Then, we have organised a study for groups(triads) of 3 to 4-year-old children playing with this game. We analyse data from 81 children (51.9% boys and 48.1% girls) in groups of three randomly selected.The work proposes a set of actions in the game and from them a set of indicators, which are used as intermediate measures of observation to analyse the playing process. Social interaction is characterised in 5 levels: Coordination, Cooperation, Collaboration, Troubled and Unproductive; and five roles: Saboteur, Missing, Explorer, Actor, Collaborator and Director. We found that children interact socially, engage in play, help each other and mostly reach the level of collaboration. There are minority cases of non-cooperation (Troubled or Unproductive), with conflict situations or trial and error solving processes, which cause the task to last a long time before it is finally finished. We have also found that children can adopt different roles in the group. Occasionally, there are cases of children who act as conductors, organising the work while others follow.This work provides a contribution for teachers and educators in the preschool classroom, relating to social interaction. It tells us that young children can play in randomly organised groups, collaborate and take roles, help their peers and learn to do so in classroom games. It shows a learning situation that can serve as an example of how to conduct technology-mediated activities in the classroom to promote social interaction among children in an effective, engaging and motivating way.

APPLICATION OF THE OUTDOOR STUDY METHOD TO IMPROVE SOCIAL SKILLS AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCEPT OF NUTRITIONAL SUBJECTS

This study aims to determine efforts to improve process skills and understanding of the concept of nutrition science courses using the Outdoor Study method, as well as improving process skills and understanding of nutrition science concepts using the Outdoor Study method. This type of research is CAR (Classroom Action Research) model of Kemmis and Taggart whose steps consist of planning, implementing and observing, reflecting. Data collection techniques using observation, questionnaires, interviews, concept understanding tests and documentation. The data analysis technique used qualitative analysis. The research subjects were students of the fifth semester of the Biology Education study program at the Islamic University of Balitar, Blitar. The results showed that the increase in learning social skills and understanding of the concept of Nutrition Science was shown from the observations of learning social skills in the first cycle of 67.78%, increasing to 78.89% in the second cycle. The results of the learning social skills questionnaire in the first cycle were 71.46%, increasing to 77.40% in the second cycle. The average result of the percentage of social skills in the first cycle was 69.62% and 78.14% in the second cycle. The results of the assessment to determine the understanding of the concept, namely the post-test results in the first cycle obtained an average value of 74.33 with 21 students (70%) completed and 9 students (30%) incomplete. Cycle II obtained an average grade of 79.83 with 25 students (83.33%) completed and 5 students (16.67%) incomplete.

Adolescents' Resilience During COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Mediating Role in the Association Between SEL Skills and Mental Health.

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of social and emotional learning (SEL) skills and resilience in explaining mental health in male and female adolescents, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three self-report questionnaires were administered to 778 participants aged between 11 and 16 years (mean age = 12.73 years; SD = 1.73) and recruited from 18 schools in Northern Italy. The SSIS-SELb-S and the CD-RISC 10 assessed SEL and resilience skills respectively, while the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used to measure mental health in terms of internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and prosocial behavior. We found that SEL and resilience skills were positively and significantly associated with each other, negatively associated with internalizing and externalizing problems, and positively related to prosocial behavior. Three linear regression analyses showed the significant role of resilience, age, and gender in explaining the variance of internalizing problems; the significant role of SEL skills, resilience, age, and gender in explaining the variance of externalizing problems; and the role of SEL skills, age, and gender in explaining prosocial behavior. Importantly, we found that resilience fully mediated the relationship between SEL skills and internalizing problems, partially mediated the relationship between SEL skills and externalizing problems and didn't mediate the relationship between SEL skills and prosocial behavior. The paper concludes with a discussion of the limitations of the study as well as its practical implications.

Chatbot, as Educational and Inclusive Tool for People with Intellectual Disabilities

In the current health crisis due to COVID-19, people with intellectual disabilities have especially suffered. The development of their social abilities has been restricted, first with the lockdown and then with the current limitation of social life. They have lost some of these abilities or are having difficulty practicing them. CapacitaBOT, our use case, is a mobile application based on a chatbot, which allows people with intellectual disabilities to work and train their social skills. A chatbot is a software tool that allows to maintain a conversation in automatic way between the user and the machine, the mobile application. CapacitaBOT can be considered by its features, an educational ICT tool that introduces innovation, inclusion and quality in order to be integrated into education for people with intellectual disabilities. The tool trains these people for real-life situations and can also be considered a resource that allows the application of active methodologies since it makes easy the learning of social skills. In addition, all the contributions of the tool are aligned with the objectives of sustainable development because it is a tool that facilities the accessibility of people with disabilities, who more than ever have been affected by social isolation caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

Studi Fenomenologi Pengalaman Guru dalam Mengembangkan Ketrampilan Sosial Siswa Sekolah Dasar saat Pandemi Covid-19

The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences of elementary school teachers in developing students' social skills during online learning during the covid-19 pandemic. This study was explored using a qualitative approach with a phenomenological type of study, by examining the experiences of 10 elementary school teachers in developing students' social skills. Data collection in this study used semi-structured interview techniques. The teacher's strategy in forming groups based on the distance between students' homes, making it easier for students to work with their teams. The learning method used to develop social skills is discussion and assignment. The teacher gave reinforcement verbally, using words to motivate students. Classroom management to run effectively and efficiently includes making class rules, giving examples and habituation. Teachers agree that learning social skills is very important in preparing students to live in society.

Opinions of Special Educators and Special Therapists on the Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Learning Social Skills in Students on the Autism Spectrum

Opinions of Special Educators and Special Therapists on the Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Learning Social Skills in Students on the Autism Spectrum

Conflict and Harm in the Context of Restorative School Physical Education

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the issues of conflict and harm in physical education within a school recognized for its exemplary restorative practices. Method: A single case study approach was employed to examine one restorative school in Wellington, New Zealand. The school was purposely selected to participate in this study based on its recognition for exemplary restorative practices. Participants included physical educators (n = 11), administrators (n = 4), and students (n = 25). Data sources included interviews, observations, and reflection documents. Data were analyzed using a collaborative qualitative approach. Results: Three qualitative themes described the context of restorative school physical education, types of harm that occurred, and how physical educators were positioned as central figures in creating a context where harm was addressed. Discussion: This study provides insights into restorative practices and has implications for teaching social and emotional learning skills.

Enhancing Empathy through a Creative Writing Program in Elementary School

Education is not only about the transferring of knowledge, but also about the cultivation of strong social and emotional skills, which are necessary for the strengthening of the social competence of students, their positive self-perception and their success in school. Empathy, which refers to the ability to recognize another person‟s emotional state is one of the basic skills of the 21st century, which helps all students grow up to become active and critically aware citizens. The research/intervention program "Creative Writing and Social Learning Skills", implemented by students of the 5th and 6th grade of elementary schools in Thessaloniki, Greece, explores the enhancement of empathy, through the use of creative writing as an educational tool. Activities used were based on literary texts from Balkan countries and countries of Eastern and Southeastern Europe. The research sample consisted of 573 students, who were divided into the Intervention Group, that implemented the program, and the Control Group, that attended its regular curriculum. The analysis of the level of skills in children, and especially the level of empathy, which is of concern to us in the present study, was carried out using a structured improvised questionnaire, the alpha Cronbach coefficients where of range at very high levels. Study results showed that the Intervention Group exhibited statistically greater improvement in the assessment of empathy compared to the Control Group.

Pedagogical practices predicting perceived learning of social skills among university students

The aim of this study was to examine what kinds of pedagogical practices predict perceived learning of university students’ social skills in classes where these skills are not set as learning outcomes. Data were collected from students of various disciplines by means of a questionnaire and then analysed using regression analysis. Students’ learning of social skills was explained by pedagogical factors related to 1) the modes of teaching and learning, 2) the features of the constructivist learning environment, 3) the features of the integrative pedagogy, and 4) the circumstances pertaining to the atmosphere of the learning environments involved in their studies. Factors belonging to three of these elements predicted the learning of social skills amongst university students. The regression models explained 46–58% of the learning of social skills. The results showed that collaborative learning typical of a constructivist learning environment plays a critical role in the learning process. In contrast, the modes of traditional or individual learning, such as listening and feedback or evaluation given by the teacher, loaded negatively in the regression model. Overall, the results suggest that collaborative and active forms of learning are highly significant in the learning of social skills. The study also brought up new perspectives to consider in the teaching of social skills.

SEL Concept: A discursive review on texts describing social and emotional learning skills.

SEL Concept: A discursive review on texts describing social and emotional learning skills.

Psychometric Properties of a Norwegian Version of the Social Emotional Assets and Resilience Scales–Child–Short Form

Norwegian schools are obliged to develop students’ social competences. Programs used are School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) or classroom-based ones that aim to teach students social and emotional learning (SEL) skills in a broad sense. Some rating scales have been used to assess the effect of SEL programs on SEL skills. We explored the Norwegian version of the 12-item Social Emotional Assets and Resilience Scales–Child–Short Form (SEARS-C-SF). An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed, proposing a one-factor solution that was verified by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The scale reliability of .84 (λ2), means and standard deviations, as well as tier levels were compared with the original short form. Finally, concurrent, discriminant, and convergent validities for the SEARS-C-SF were compared with different Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) subscales.

Improvement of Learning Outcomes, Motivation, and Achievement of Students' Social Skills by Applying Student Teams Achievement Division Cooperative Learning Model through PhET Simulation Media

This study aims to improve learning outcomes, motivation, and students' social skills by applying student teams' achievement division cooperative learning models through PhET simulation media. The method used in this study is quantitative. The research used is Quasi-Experimental. Instruments were used in the form of problems, questionnaires and, observation sheets. The results of the study data analysis prove that the average posttest of the experiment class obtained a score of 77.81, while the control class was 71.82, so that the results obtained in the experimental class were>75 or above from the KKM score that has been determined. Furthermore, the analysis of student motivation data proved an increase where the pretest score showed 60.5 and for the posttest results increased by a score of 66.56 and for the results of social skills learners showed an increase in each meeting in each indicator, which showed an excellent category. The conclusions in this study prove that the student teams achievement division cooperative learning model through PhET simulation media can improve learners' learning outcomes, motivation, and social skills