Research Project Shows Games Platform Facilitates Learning And Inclusion Of Autistic Students In The Classroom
A study by the Institute of Mathematics and Computer Sciences (ICMC-USP) combines the use of Discrete Tentative Teaching (DTT) to improve learning and increase the engagement of children with autism in the classroom. The project aims to use a gamified platform to promote the practice of responses to educational stimuli, through repetition and reinforcement.
Digital interventions for children with autism are proven and commonly used. It was through the observation of case studies, together with the incorporation of technology, that it was possible to develop the gamified platform. For use in schools, they must be accessed from a computer or smartphone with an internet connection.
The prototypes developed by the research work in the following way: questions are asked to the students and, based on the answer obtained, there is a positive return, regardless of whether they were right or wrong. The researcher responsible for the research, Laíza Ribeiro Silva, from ICMC-USP, explains that, in practice, it occurs as follows: “If the student clicks on the correct answer, he will receive positive reinforcement. But when he gets the question wrong, he doesn’t get punished. He is presented with the correct answer and after that he moves on to the next question.”
Methodology in DTT
The research group raised the main challenges encountered by teachers within the learning process of neurodivergent students. This is a fundamental step, as Professor Rinaldo Voltolini, from the Faculty of Education (FE-USP) puts it , since it is necessary to discuss case by case, listen to the professors and work on the impasses, thinking about possible pedagogical interventions. “Some psychosocial interventions foster the potentialization of the socializing factor, inherent to the regular school, which has heterogeneity. This heterogeneity is potential for the autistic child”, he adds.
From this, the creation of a game interface was stipulated, developed from joint work with a clinic for neurodivergent disorders. Designs were thought of in the platform interface, in which it would be possible to unite gamification with teaching by discreet attempts, to improve learning.
The third stage was based on the development of mechanisms capable of guiding professionals and educators, based on the DTT method, placed as a fundamental point of the research by the author of the project, Laíza Ribeiro. Teaching by Discrete Trial is a common approach to psychoeducation in classrooms. It involves positive incentives, in which the error is not punished, and there is a return with positive stimuli. This encourages the learning of skills that were not “spontaneously” acquired during life and encourages the apprehension of contents.
In practice, the researcher explains the methodology: “You ask a question to the student and he answers you incorrectly, you are not going to punish him. And when he gets it right, he will receive positive reinforcement.”
Results
The first results were guided in this way, in which two groups were submitted to cognitive activities. A group of students developed such activities with the help of the game prototype, and “we can see that the students showed a greater understanding of the knowledge tests. The same did not happen with the group that used the prototype without gamification”, adds the researcher.
In general, the number of correct answers by students who used the gamified platform was higher. Also in relation to the development of engagement and participation of students with autism, specialists in the area monitored the acquisition of improvements in manual skills, a higher rate of positive behaviors and lower outflow of students and repetitive behaviors.