Enhancing Skills with ABA – Example Lesson Plans for Discrete Trial Teaching, Incidental Teaching, and Natural Environment Teaching

At Jigsaw Connects, we are committed to providing high-quality training for aspiring and practicing Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs). Understanding and implementing various teaching methodologies is crucial in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Today, we are excited to share example lesson plans for three fundamental teaching strategies: Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT), Incidental Teaching, and Natural Environment Teaching (NET). These approaches are essential tools in an ABA practitioner’s toolkit, helping to foster meaningful learning and skill acquisition in individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities.

Discrete Trial Teaching

Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT) is a structured teaching method commonly used in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to teach new skills by breaking them down into small, manageable steps. The goal of DTT is to systematically teach and reinforce specific skills in a highly structured and systematic manner. This method is suitable for many, but not all, learners.

Here is a brief description of how you might run DTT sessions.

1. Arrange the teaching materials: Set up the teaching materials for the trial, ensuring the learner will have a clear view of the teaching materials.
2. Wait for a readiness response: Obtain a signal or indication from the learner indicating they are attending and ready to learn.
3. Provide the antecedent instruction: Present the target instruction or task to the learner (SD).
4. Prompt the target behaviour if scripted: If necessary based on the teaching plan, you may use prompts (e.g. gestural or visual prompts) to encourage the correct response.
5. The learner responds: The learner responds to the instruction (and prompt if scripted).
6. Deliver the consequence: Reinforce the correct response with some form of positive feedback; provide a correction procedure, typically including repeating the SD and additional prompting, if the response is incorrect.
7. Intertrial interval: After providing the consequence, briefly pause to record data, reset the materials for the next trial (e.g., rotate items, introduce new stimuli) and ensure the learner is ready before presenting the next trial.

Here are some examples of DTT Lesson Plans to give you an idea of the plans you might come across in practice.

Incidental Teaching

Incidental Teaching is a naturalistic teaching approach that capitalizes on spontaneous learning opportunities within the learner’s environment. It focuses on promoting initiations of communication, teaching mands (requests) and vocabulary development in everyday situations. Here are the steps involved in an Incidental Teaching session:

1. Create a rich environment: Set up the environment with a variety of materials and objects that may spark the learner’s interest or motivate communication.
2. Wait for learner initiation: Allow the learner to take the lead and initiate communication or interaction based on their interests or needs.
3. Prompt elaboration: Once the learner initiates communication or interaction, prompt further elaboration or engagement in the activity to encourage extended interactions.
4. Reinforce the mand: Provide reinforcement for successful communication attempts, such as offering the desired item or providing praise. If the response is incorrect, provide corrective feedback and guide the learner through the correct response.
5. Data collection: Record data on the learner’s responses, including correct and incorrect responses, to monitor progress and make informed decisions for future teaching sessions.
6. Extend the learning: After the interaction, find ways to extend the learning by introducing new concepts, expanding on the communication, or encouraging further engagement with the environment.
7. Prepare for the next opportunity: Reset the environment, introduce new materials or stimuli, and be prepared to capitalize on the next spontaneous learning opportunity that arises.

Incidental Teaching encourages natural interactions and communication, promoting learning in a meaningful and contextually appropriate way. Here are some sample Incidental Teaching Lesson Plans.

Natural Environment Teaching (NET) is a naturalistic teaching approach that utilizes the learner’s interests and daily activities as a foundation for instruction, allowing for learning in real-life contexts. It combines elements of DTT and incidental teaching, focuses on teaching across the verbal operants (e.g. mands, tacts, intraverbals, echoics listener responses and more) and typically uses naturally occurring reinforcement. Natural Environment Teaching is especially useful for practicing previously mastered skills but can also be used to teach new targets.

Here are the steps involved in conducting a Natural Environment Teaching session:

1. Identify learner’s interests: Determine the learner’s preferences, strengths, and interests to personalize the teaching session and make it engaging.
2. Set the stage: Create a conducive environment that aligns with the learner’s interests, including selecting materials and activities that are motivating and relevant to the learner.
3. Present contextually appropriate instructions as opportunities arise: Present learning opportunities within the learner’s natural environment, embedding targets for various skills such as following instructions, imitating, manding, tacting, and more.
4. Prompt responses: Provide prompts or cues as scripted/needed to support the learner in responding to the learning opportunities presented, ensuring they can successfully engage with the targeted skills.
5. Reinforce correct responses: Reinforce the learner’s correct responses immediately. This reinforcement may be the naturally occurring outcome of the target behaviour, however at other times, additional reinforcement such as praise, tokens, preferred items or other forms of positive reinforcement may be used to increase the likelihood of future contextually appropriate responses. If an incorrect response to the learning opportunity is made, repeat the antecedent instruction (if possible) and provide additional prompting.
6. Data collection: Record data on the learner’s responses, successes, and areas for improvement to track progress and tailor future teaching sessions accordingly.
7. Generalize skills: Encourage the learner to apply newly acquired skills beyond the teaching session, promoting generalization and independence in various real-life situations.

Natural Environment Teaching emphasizes learning in a natural and meaningful way, utilizing the learner’s interests to enhance motivation and engagement. By integrating teaching goals into the learner’s daily and preferred activities, NET facilitates skill acquisition that is relevant and applicable to their daily life. Here are some example NET lesson plans that might give you some ideas for how to integrate NET sessions into your practice.

Implementing these teaching strategies can significantly enhance the learning experiences of both neurodivergent and neurotypical children. Remember the resources shared here are just examples. In real life, a behavior analyst individualised lesson plans to the individual learner by taking into account their preferences, choices, needs and abilities. At Jigsaw Connects, we believe in the power of well-structured, individualized teaching approaches to promote meaningful skill acquisition. By using Discrete Trial Teaching, Incidental Teaching, and Natural Environment Teaching, you can create a rich and engaging learning environment that supports the unique needs of each child.

To learn more about ABA teaching methods, consider enrolling in our RBT course at Jigsaw Connects. If you’ve already completed your 40-hour RBT Training Course, consider accessing our RBT exam revision resources.