Module 9: Lesson 5

Regardless of the principles, procedures or teaching format you are using to teach a skill, you will need a skill acquisition plan.

A skill acquisition plan is a document that specifies how you are going to teach a particular skill. It allows for the consistent implementation of a skills development plan across all of those providing learning opportunities to the individual learner.


There are several key features of a skills development that should be included. These include:

  • The Terminal Goal ? This should specify the long term objective of the skills development plan. It should describe objectively what the behaviour will look like when it is occurring independently.
     
  • The Teaching Procedure –  The skills development plan should specify if procedures such as chaining, shaping, prompting etc. are being used. If a specific prompting hierarchy is being used, it can be included in this section

  • Materials Required –  This section should let the person delivering learning opportunities know what items are needed.

  • The Antecedent –  This section lets the person delivering the learning opportunity know what the environment should look like when it is time to deliver a learning opportunity at the current target level. If an instruction is to be provided as part of a learning opportunity, it should be listed here.

  • The Target Behaviour –  This section objectively describes the current target response in a way that allows the person providing the learning opportunity to know if the response is correct or incorrect
  • The Tactic –  The current target prompt level for a behaviour should be listed here. Other tactics that might be listed include the use of behavioural momentum or interspersing mastered tasks between learning opportunities
  • The Consequence –  This section should say how the target behaviour is going to be reinforced (the type of reinforcement& the schedule of reinforcement) when it is carried out at the target level and what to do if the response is incorrect (i.e. not the current target response)
     
  • The Criteria –  This section should let those working with the learner know when the learner has met the short term target and it is time to change the target to something closer to the terminal  goal.
     
  • The Data Collection system ? The skill acquisition plan should make it clear how staff are to record correct and incorrect behaviours (e.g. frequency, duration etc.)

The exact terms used in the skill acquisition plan will vary. However, as an RBT you should be able to identify each of these features in the plan. If you cannot identify some of these features from written instructions provided, then you should contact your supervisor to obtain this information.

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