Inside Behavior Analysis
Volume 3 | 2011 | Number 2 | Online ISSN: 2151-4704
Teaching
By Christine H. Barthold
This has been a busy year for the Teaching Behavior Analysis (TBA) SIG. The majority of our activity came from our e-mail discussion list, the TBA-L. Dr. Pat Williams of the University of Houston-Downtown did a fantastic job organizing and moderating the list. Conversation on our listserv was lively; many topics of interest to all ABAI members were discussed: certification, evidence-based practice, basic research, and suggestions for future endeavors.
In addition to discussion, there were also opportunities to try new products and collaborate with others. Announcements for new products—textbooks, books for the public, software, and websites—were often posted to the list. For the fourth year in a row, members used the TBA-L listserv to put together panel discussions and symposia for this year's ABAI annual convention in Denver. Many were able to attend these great presentations.
Because of discussion, we recently completed a survey of our membership. The purpose of this survey was to determine what members saw as the strengths and needs of the TBA SIG. The SIG would like to thank Dr. Cheryl Young-Pelton of the University of Montana, Billings for leading this project. While we are still analyzing the data, we hope that this will help us determine what our mission, vision, and activities will be for next year.
We are proud to say that we have over 400 members on our listserv. Only 79 of these 400 members have filled out a membership form on our website. We are asking all SIG members to take the time to tell us who they are! According to the membership data we have, members come from all parts of the world, such as the United States, Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Pakistan. Our group is diverse—all facets of behavior analysis are represented. The membership data suggest that a little over half of our members teach in higher education. The remaining members are service providers and parents. Most of the service providers who responded stated that they work with children in home and school settings. We also have quite a few graduate students who are part of our SIG. (The TBA SIG thanks Mr. Andrew Netta of the University of Delaware for his help compiling and analyzing the data.)
Of course, new members are always welcome. Please visit our website at http://teachbehavioranalysis.com and fill out a membership form, if you have not done so already. We encourage people to get involved in our SIG. It is great to have a forum where consumers, students, researchers, and service providers can interact and learn from each other. It is also a good place for those new to the field to converse directly with well-known behavior analysts. This is another reason we encourage membership in this SIG. The TBA SIG is truly one that all ABAI members should consider joining, not just those who teach in higher education.
We thank the membership of TBA and TBA-L for a productive year, and look forward to more excellent discussions of behavior analysis in the coming year. If you have any questions or want more information, please contact Christine Barthold at chrisbarthold@bartholdautism.com.