Instructional Activities to Enhance Teaching Organizational Behavior Management
Steal these ready-made class activities to give your OBM students real practice before they hit the field.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Gravina et al. (2024) wrote a how-to paper for OBM teachers. They list ready-made class activities that let students practice real assessment and intervention tasks.
The paper is not an experiment. It is a recipe book you can lift and use tomorrow.
What they found
The authors give step-by-step guides for three kinds of practice: quick in-class tasks, longer homework projects, and supervised field work. Each activity links to course goals so you can drop them into any graduate OBM class.
How this fits with other research
Rafacz et al. (2024) give the blueprint for an entire OBM course. Gravina et al. (2024) hand you the bricks. Use both papers together: pick the course map from Rafacz, then plug in the ready activities from Gravina.
Johnson et al. (2023) clean up OBM vocabulary for new learners. Run the Gravina activities first, then point students to Johnson when they ask, "What exactly is a response cost?"
Pettingell et al. (2022) show teachers need about eight weeks to internalize one skill. The Gravina paper builds that long runway into its supervised projects, matching the slow skill path L et al. found.
Why it matters
Most OBM courses stay lecture-heavy. These activities flip the room so students actually practice systems analysis, pin-pointing, and feedback delivery before they graduate. Lift an activity, slot it into your next class, and watch students leave with hands-on confidence instead of just notes.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
ABSTRACTThe demand for teaching Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) is increasing within and outside of the field of behavior analysis. OBM coursework might contain a combination of didactic instruction and experiential learning opportunities covering assessment and intervention strategies used to evaluate and enhance performance, supervision, and address other organizational concerns. Experiential learning opportunities are crucial for building practical competence and include practicing skills in guided class activities, hands-on assignments, and supervised projects. This paper provides examples of instructional activities to facilitate and enhance experiential learning for assessment and intervention in OBM coursework. Each activity includes contextual relevance, necessary preparation, the assignment description, and integration into the broader instructional unit. Ethical, cultural, and practical considerations are also discussed.KEYWORDS: InstructionOBMteaching Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Supplementary materialSupplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/01608061.2023.2248114.
Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 2024 · doi:10.1080/01608061.2023.2248114