Though Mr. Zamarrón was pleased with the progress Brandy had made in handling corrective feedback, he also wanted to make sure the skill generalized to the appropriate settings (i.e., setting generalization). Specifically, Brandy needed to accept corrective feedback consistently across all her general education classes. Mr. Zamarrón operationally defined two objectives to measure the efficacy of his instruction:

• When Brandy receives corrective feedback on a school assignment, she will fix the assignment to align with the feedback without crying on 9/10 opportunities.
• When Brandy receives corrective feedback on a school assignment, she will write the corrective feedback in a designated journal on 9/10 opportunities.

With two objectives operationally defined, Mr. Zamarrón needed to determine an appropriate instructional setting and method. He knew that the two objectives involved interactions with an adult. Thus, he thought role play involving Brandy’s peers would likely be inappropriate. Instead, Mr. Zamarrón decided to teach the skill in a 1-1 setting. He would use direct instruction to rehearse the targeted skills.

• Instructional Setting: 1-1
• Instructional Method: Direct instruction

Mr. Zamarrón also knew that corrective feedback could take different forms. He wanted to prepare Brandy for the range of corrective feedback she might receive. Accordingly, he decided he would teach multiple examples as his generalization tactic. 

Mr. Zamarrón then selected an appropriate support strategy. He considered that when Brandy had cried to him about corrective feedback in the past, Brandy may have been trying to gain his attention. So, Mr. Zamarrón decided to provide attention and another type of reinforcement for the targeted skills. Brandy would show Mr. Zamarrón her journal with corrective feedback at the end of the week. Mr. Zamarrón would praise Brandy for writing the corrective feedback, and Brandy would gain access to one item / activity off of her reinforcement menu when she presented the journal with at least three instances of corrective feedback.

• Generalization Tactic: Teach multiple examples
• Support Strategy: Reinforcement

Mr. Zamarrón’s Lesson on “Accepting Corrective Feedback”

Preparing Multiple Examples

Before the direct instruction lesson, Mr. Zamarrón prepared 20 example assignments with corrective feedback, so he could teach Brandy multiple examples. These examples were intended to look like assignments completed by Brandy in each of her general education courses. Mr. Zamarrón intentionally made errors on the assignments that were similar to errors Brandy might make. Then, he used a red pen to write specific corrective feedback on each assignment. Originally, Mr. Zamarrón considered asking Brandy to actually complete example assignments, but he decided this activity would take too long and delay instruction on targeted objectives.

Carrying Out the Direct Instruction Lesson

Mr. Zamarrón began the 1-1 direct instruction lesson by reminding Brandy what she had learned during VOISS lessons. He told her that corrective feedback was not a personal insult, but was intended to help her improve. He showed Brandy the designated journal where she would write the feedback. He explained that this would help her remember this feedback for future assignments. 

First, Mr. Zamarrón went through a few assignments to demonstrate the targeted objectives. He modeled correcting the assignment and adding the feedback to the journal. Next, Mr. Zamarrón and Brandy went through some example assignments together. He prompted Brandy to correct the changes in the example assignments and note the corrective feedback in her journal. Finally, Brandy corrected the remaining assignments independently. Mr. Zamarrón provided immediate corrective and reinforcing feedback.

Reinforcing the Skill with Brandy

When Brandy finished correcting the remaining assignments, Mr. Zamarrón explained the reinforcement system. He told Brandy that she would turn in her journal at the end of each week. If she had written down at least three corrections that week, she would be able to choose an item or activity from her reinforcement menu.