Introduction to Behavior Modification is a 400-level course required for students in Special Education and in Exercise Science at Georgia State University. However, other education majors and psychology majors also take this course. We use Behavior Modification: What It Is and How to Do It by Martin and Pear. Chapters One and Two are used to introduce students to the course and then we jump to Chapters 18, 19, and 21 to teach the process for a behavior change project. We are on a quarter system and only have 10 weeks to complete the required behavior change project. Students turn in their target behaviors and operational definitions the second week of the quarter, and their measurement and design the third week. While these are not graded assignments, there is a penalty for not turning them in on time. I provide feedback on these early assignments to increase the possibility of a technically correct project.

Students receive a copy of the grading sheet used to grade their projects which shows what they need to include and how much each piece is worth. They are required to include an introduction; a method, with participants, behavior and operational definition, measurement and design, and treatment; the results with a graph; a discussion; and references using the guidelines of the APA Publication Manual. Students also make an oral presentation of their project and take four tests and a cumulative final. Students find this a demanding course as there is much to learn in a short time. However, it is clear from their projects that they learn a great deal. They change social behaviors such as complying with bedtime requests, knocking before entering the when the door is closed, saying and doing nice things, making eye contact rather than interrupting when wishing to speak. They increase their children's homework behavior, arriving in the kitchen by a designated time on school mornings, and eating fruits and vegetables. Students increase their parents' exercising, cleaning the kitchen, and monitoring blood-glucose. The level of sophistication is low in all of these projects, yet most students accomplish what they want for some, the changes are very important. Possibly the two most important things students learn from these projects is that as they are changing the behavior of their participants, their participants are also changing their behaviors. This is something they typically come and tell me privately as they think it is a problem. Additionally, they learn that when the people around them behave in ways they don't like or that interfere with the flow of day to day activities, they are in some ways responsible and can begin to accomplish change first by changing their own behavior. Students' reaction to the course is that it is relevant and gives them a new perspective on their own behavior.