The Effectiveness of Video-Enhanced Activity Schedules in the Teaching of Science Experiments to Seventh-Grade Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder Who Benefit from Inclusive Practices

Abstract

Three students who were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and continued their full-time inclusive education participated in the study. The purpose of this study was to determine whether using video-enhanced activity schedules is effective in teaching science experiments (mixture-separation experiments) to seventh-grade students with ASD who benefit from inclusive practices. A multiple-probe design across the participants, one of the single-subject research methods, was used in the study. While the dependent variable of the study was science experiments on the separation of mixtures, the independent variable was the use of video-enhanced activity schedules. In the teaching of some science experiments about the separation of mixtures through the method of video-enhanced activity schedules, baseline, instructional, maintenance, and generalization sessions were organized. The skill steps required for the teaching of the experiments were recorded with a camera, and then these videos were used in teaching sessions as materials. The findings of the study suggested that using video-enhanced activity schedules was effective in the teaching of science experiments about the separation of mixtures to seventh-grade students with ASD who were benefiting from inclusive practices. It was observed that the students retained the information on mixture separation experiments they had learned even after the teaching ended. It was also revealed that the seventh-grade students with ASD benefiting from inclusive practices could generalize the information they had learned from the science experiments to different media and practitioners.