Teaching is hard work because it requires continuous human involvement and communication. It falls on the shoulders of teachers and professors to organize the learning process in such a way as to capture the attention of everyone in the group and give them the material. In addition, groups are always different, and it is not easy to find things students have in common. As a result, many small group instructors resort to studying students individually because it allows them to explore each person and tailor teaching approaches.
To study a particular student, they use a three-phase model to track changes in student behavior and evaluate them qualitatively and quantitatively. The first part is the repeated measurement, whose purpose is to examine variables over time before and after the intervention (Check & Schut, 2012). It clarifies the results and makes it possible to derive a curve of the subject’s dependence on the variables. The second aspect is the baseline phase, during which the issue does not tolerate interference. The third aspect is the treatment phase that lasts similar to the baseline phase. Measurements are provided during both phases until patterns or changes emerge. Based on the results of the second and third phases, a measurement point comparison graph can be derived from which the degree of influence of the intervention can be judged.
The data interpretation stage takes place not only in the subjective evaluation of the observer (evaluation of manner of speech or gesture) but also with the help of actual data, which can be depicted graphically. For this purpose, the principles of reducing uncertainty are used. The practical relevance of the study relies heavily on the costs and resulting benefits of the treatment, whether the effort expended by the teacher pays off (Check & Schut, 2012). Achieving success and reducing problem significance scores are psychological tricks helpful in evaluating the result obtained. The significance of the result achieved is established by combining the three attributes.
Visualization of data allows the process to be assessed at different points in time, thereby creating a measurement base. The visual analysis determines the level, trend, and variability of an individual’s behavioral function (Chack & Schut, 2012). The level is a quantitative measure of the target variable, and conclusions are drawn about the change in the variables after the intervention. It is a simple method of estimating points for straight-line segments of the change graph. The trend is a direction in the structure of the measured points; that is, it can have a spatial orientation: up, down, cycle, curved lines. It is necessary to determine the reasons for the change in the trend and consider whether the rate of change has increased. After that, assumptions are usually made about future changes after the intervention. The sign of variability determines the differences between the estimates at baseline and intervention. One way to reliably interpret variability is to create ranges in which changes will be noted. In this case, state dynamics can be assumed in advance to facilitate assessing this indicator.
Individual assessments present some ethical problems, especially if the study is to be conducted without informing the subject. There is an issue of breach of consent in such a case, even if the examination may yield a good result. Nevertheless, if the principles of the single-subject approach are followed, and the problem assessment methodology is gradually followed with care, the likelihood of success is high, thus minimizing the ethical component.
Reference
Check, J. & Schut, R. K. (2012). Single-subject design. In Research methods in education (pp. 213-236). SAGE Publications.