Effects of Response Cards and the Number of Teacher-Directed Questions on Classroom Behaviors

Active student responding increases student academic outcome and on-task behavior. Response cards are an effective and efficient strategy for increasing active student responding. This study examined the effects of response cards on student disruptive behavior, percentage of questions answered, and accuracy of questions answered while alternating the number of teacher-directed questions across sessions. An alternating treatments design was used with 5 teacher-nominated students. During baseline (BL), the teacher used her standard lecture format, having students raise their hand when responding to a question. During the response card (RC) intervention, the teacher asked students to write responses on their white boards. Following BL, 3 conditions were rapidly alternated across sessions. Conditions included BL, RC in which the teacher asked 6 questions, and RC in which the teacher asked 12 questions. During the RC conditions, there was a decrease in disruptive behavior and an increase in the percentage and accuracy of responding