A comparison of video modeling, text-based instruction, and no instruction for creating multiple baseline graphs in Microsoft Excel.

The team wanted the fastest way to teach staff to build multiple-baseline graphs in Excel.

They compared three groups: one watched a two-minute video model, one read a text tutorial, and one got no help.

Then they timed how fast and how accurately each adult built the graphs.

The video group finished sooner and made fewer errors than the text group.

The no-help group did worst.

A short clip beat a written guide.

Oğur et al. (2025) extends this idea. They used video modeling plus live coaching to teach autistic adults online-safety skills. The format still worked, so the tool travels beyond Excel.

Zhu et al. (2021) looked at live videoconference feedback versus email. Like Schaaf et al. (2015), they found real-time visual input beat static text for staff skill growth.

Parsons et al. (1981) warns that staff who calculate their own data can bend the numbers. Teaching them to graph correctly, as Schaaf et al. (2015) does, helps guard against that old bias.

Next time you train RBTs or teachers to plot multiple-baseline data, skip the long handout. Record your screen while you build one graph, keep it under two minutes, and share the clip. Staff learn faster, make cleaner graphs, and you spend less time fixing errors later.