A Meta-Analysis of Self-Instructional Training Research

Abstract

Many handicapped children receive part or all of their education in special education classrooms. The purpose of special education programs is to provide children with the skills necessary to function in the regular classroom so that they may return on a fulltime basis. Consequently, it is critical that behaviors learned in the special education classroom generalize to the regular classroom. Self-instructional training is an approach that would seem to enhance the likelihood of generalization. However, the research on self-instructional training has been criticized as being inconclusive.

The purpose of this study was to systematically examine the efficacy of self-instructional training by using meta-analysis. Data were collected from 47 studies of self-instructional training and included study and subject characteristics; the treatment characteristics; and the characteristics of the dependent variables. For each dependent variable, an effect size was computed. The studies included in the analysis contained 96 different treatment programs and a total sample of 1,398 subjects. From these studies, 684 effect sizes were computed.

The results of the meta-analysis indicated that self-instructional training does result in the generalization of behavior change. However, the effects were moderate when compared to findings from previous meta-analyses. The effects of self-instructional training were consistent across a variety of behaviors and subject populations.