Creating a 'choose your topic' massive open online course: an innovative and flexible approach to delivering injury prevention education.

BACKGROUND: A pediatric injury prevention course has not been available as a massive open online course (MOOC). Creating a comprehensive topic course is particularly challenging because the traditional, week-by-week linear curriculum design is often a barrier to learners interested in only specific topics. We created a novel, flexible course as both a 'choose your topic' MOOC for the public learner and a Small Private Online Course (SPOC) for medical students. METHODS: We describe creating 'Injury Prevention for Children and Teens', a course of 59 video learning segments within eight modules taught by a multidisciplinary panel of 25 nationally-recognized experts. Completion tracking and course evaluations were collected. RESULTS: In 2.5 years, 4,822 learners from 148 countries have enrolled. Two-thirds of learners were female. Median age of learners was 31 years. For engagement, 19.3% (n = 932) of learners attempted quizzes, and 5.2% (n = 252) participated in online forum discussions. Medical professionals (n = 162) claimed an average of 13 credit hours per learner. Over 200 senior medical students have taken the SPOC. CONCLUSION: 'Injury Prevention for Children and Teens' is a novel approach to injury prevention education that is broad, science-based, accessible, and not cost-prohibitive for a diverse group of global learners.

Correction to: Assessment and Treatment of Challenging Behavior Maintained by a Nonvocal Mands Function.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s40617-020-00486-z.].

Assessment and Treatment of Challenging Behavior Maintained by a Nonvocal Mands Function.

Standard functional analysis procedures may require modifications to assess idiosyncratic variables, such as adult compliance with mands. In the literature, the mands function is largely represented by individuals who vocally communicate idiosyncratic requests. Although effective treatment procedures have been published, schedule thinning has rarely been conducted. Using a reversal design, a mands functional analysis was completed with a 12-year-old nonvocal male. Results showed differentiated rates of challenging behavior. Treatment consisted of differential reinforcement via a chained schedule with signaled availability. During schedule thinning, low rates of challenging behavior were maintained.

Task Interspersal Implementation Practices with Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Task interspersal is a teaching method frequently used with individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although many different procedural variations of task interspersal have been reported in the literature, it is unclear how providers serving individuals with ASD implement task interspersal. The present study surveyed direct care providers to examine which variations of task interspersal they use most frequently, as well as how they choose a particular variation. Results revealed that many different procedural variations are used across providers. Provider discipline background appeared to be associated with differences in selection of specific procedural variations. Findings inform areas for further research as well as consideration of topics for discussion during training and/or supervision with employees and trainees. (1) Providers report frequently interspersing tasks of similar difficulty, despite research supporting the practice of interspersing tasks of varying difficulty. Service providers might consider primarily implementing maintenance among acquisition tasks when using task interspersal. (2) Due to potential problems associated with using the same reinforcement schedules/reinforcers for both tasks (e.g., satiation), providers and supervising BCBAs are encouraged to consider whether using different reinforcement schedules/reinforcers will enhance acquisition outcomes. (3) When selecting a procedural variation, providers reported relying on clinical judgment or guidelines from their organizations more frequently than directly contacting the current literature. It is important that organizations and supervisors provide clear guidelines and recommendations based on the most recent scientific literature and update these as new research is published. (4) Individualization of procedures based on specific client characteristics was found to be inconsistent. Supervisors are encouraged to discuss individualization practices for cases in which consistency of treatment across providers is preferred or necessary for maintenance of skills.