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3C Institute

An Interactive Social Tutoring System to Approve and Measure Social Goals for Students Related to Academic and Other School-Related Outcomes

US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
ID: ED-IES-10-P-0114
PI: MELISSA E. DEROSIER, PHD, JIM THOMAS
TERM: 06/10 – 12/10

Children who are able to establish and maintain positive peer relations during the elementary school years are more successful in school and better able to cope with stressful life events. In contrast, children who have difficulty navigating these social developmental shifts are substantially more likely to experience academic failure, behavioral problems, and emotional difficulties. The recognition of interconnections between social and academic functioning has led to the inclusion of social goals in many Individualized Education Plans, Student Support Team strategies, and overall school improvement plans. However, few proven tools exist to help educators implement social interventions and simultaneously measure their impact. Given the current educational trend toward Response to Intervention models (in which data collection is a central component), the development of tools that can assist teachers and support staff with student-based data collection is imperative.

The goal of this Phase I project was to develop a prototype computer-based interactive social tutoring system for students that would not only enhance students’ social literacy, but also document progress towards specific measureable social goals. The interactive software, titled Zoo U, allows students to engage with pedagogical agents (animated life-like characters) to solve specific social tasks representing six core social skills: Impulse Control, Empathy, Initiation of Play, Communication, Cooperation, and Emotion Regulation. Results of feasibility testing with professionals and students showed extremely positive ratings for the Zoo U software prototype and proposed full product. School professionals rated the software as very easy to use and rated the online implementation aids, Reporting Center, and supplemental resources as extremely important and valuable. Student ratings of Zoo U were extremely positive, with comments such as “This is awesome!” and “When can I play more?” In addition, results indicated that student performance on the Zoo U was meaningfully related to teacher-completed ratings of their social-behavioral functioning.

Based on the strong support for the Phase I project and recommendations for continued development, funding was sought for Phase II research and development. Phase II will focus on full product development and school-based efficacy testing.

Zoo U Assessment is now available for purchase. To learn more or to purchase Zoo U Assessment, visit 3C Marketplace.

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DEB CHILDRESS, PHD

Chief of Research and Learning Content

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Childress obtained her PhD in psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to coming to 3C Institute, she served as a research associate and a postdoctoral fellow in the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill working on a longitudinal imaging study aimed at identifying the early markers of autism through behavioral and imaging methodologies. She has 19 years of autism research experience, during which she has examined the behavioral, personality, and cognitive characteristics of individuals with autism and their family members. Dr. Childress also has experience developing behavioral and parent report measurement tools, coordinating multi-site research studies, and collecting data from children and families. She has taught courses and seminars in general child development, autism, and cognitive development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Expertise

  • autism
  • early development
  • behavioral measurement
  • integrating behavioral and biological measurement

Education

  • Postdoctoral fellowship, Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities (Institutional NRSA-NICHD), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • PhD, developmental psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • BS, psychology (minor in sociology), University of Iowa

Selected Publications

  • Elison, J. T., Wolff, J. J., Heimer, D. C., Paterson, S. J., Gu, H., Hazlett, H. C., Styner, M, Gerig, G., & Piven, J. (in press). Frontolimbic neural circuitry at 6 months predicts individual differences in joint attention at 9 months. Developmental Science.
  • Wassink, T. H., Vieland, V. J., Sheffield, V. C., Bartlett, C. W., Goedken, R., Childress, D. & Piven, J. (2008). Posterior probability of linkage analysis of autism dataset identifies linkage to chromosome 16. Psychiatric Genetics,18(2),85-91.
  • Losh, M., Childress, D., Lam K. & Piven, J. (2008). Defining key features of the broad autism phenotype: A comparison across parents of multiple- and single-incidence autism families. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 147B(4):424-33.
  • Wassink, T. H., Piven, J., Vieland, V. J., Jenkins, L., Frantz R., Bartlett, C. W., Goedken, R., … Sheffield, V.C. (2005). Evaluation of the chromosome 2q37.3 gene CENTG2 as an autism susceptibility gene. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 136, 36-44.
  • Barrett, S., Beck, J., Bernier, R., Bisson, E., Braun, T., Casavant, T., Childress, D., … Vieland, V. (1999). An autosomal genomic screen for autism. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 88, 609-615. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8628(19991215)88:63.0.CO;2-L
  • Piven, J., Palmer, P., Landa, R., Santangelo, S., Jacobi, D. & Childress, D. (1997). Personality and language characteristics in parents from multiple-incidence autism families. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 74, 398-411.
  • Piven, J., Palmer, P., Jacobi, D., Childress, D. & Arndt, S. (1997). Broader autism phenotype: Evidence from a family history study of multiple-incidence autism families. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 185-190.