http://tde.sagepub.com/The Diabetes Educator

http://tde.sagepub.com/content/10/4/30The online version of this article can be found at:

 DOI: 10.1177/014572178501000406

1985 10: 30The Diabetes EducatorAlan M. Gross, Jean E. Anderson, Harry K. Delcher and Micky Stiger

Video Teacher: Peer Instruction  

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- Jan 1, 1985Version of Record >>

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Video Teacher:Peer Instruction

Alan M. Gross, PhDEmory UniversityAtlanta, Georgia

Jean E. Anderson, PhDMorehouse School of Medicine

Harry K. Delcher, MDEmory University School of Medicine

Micky Stiger, BSNDiabetes Nurse SpecialistEmory University Clinic

Children can be motivated to learn

procedures by having the opportunityboth to view peer children on televi-sion and by performing and seeingthemselves on a videotape. This tech-nique is easy to perform and is becom-ing more available in hospitals.

There is little argument that peoplecan learn new responses from observ-ing models. Health-care providers at-tempt to teach children with diabeteshealth-care skills using modeling pro-cedures. It is clear, however, that themore similar the model is to the

observer, the higher the likelihood thatobservational learning will occur

Exposure to diabetic children skilled indiabetes self-care would be a usefulexperience for the newly diagnoseddiabetic youngster attempting to learnthe various aspects of the medical regi-men. Such an experience would beparticularly helpful in cases where theresponse being taught is feared by thechild e.g., insulin injections, fingerpricking for blood tests.

Diabetes educators have no diffi-culty explaining and demonstratinghealth-care responses in an instruc-tional setting. However, they rarelyhave the opportunity to illustrate tech-niques using child models. One possi-bility for including this method in theirrepertoire of teaching procedureswould be to use videotapes.A number of investigators have

demonstrated that videotapes can bevery useful in preparing children formedical and dental procedures.3-4However, a common complaint about

these types of training tapes is that

they are general and don’t alwaysmeet the particular demands of eachindividual health educator. This is

especially the case for the diabeteseducator working with children andadolescents. The combination ofdevelopmental variables in conjunc-tion with the multiple medical regimencomponents that must be taught makefinding appropriate training videotapesan extremely difficult task.One possible solution to this prob-

lem is for the educator to use each ses-sion in which a youngster is trained indiabetes health care as the basis for a

training videotape. That is, eachteaching session could be filmed.These tapes could then serve as aninstructional tool to be employed withsimilar youngsters in future teachingsituations. This would not only lead tothe development of videotapes of chil-dren performing supervised demon-strations of the diabetes health-care

responses, but also allow for trainingtapes to be personalized to the exactspecifications of each diabetes edu-cator.

The use of videotaping to teachchildren with diabetes provides notonly an innovative approach to in-

struction, but it can improve children’smotivation to learn. Gross and his col-

leagues’ have demonstrated thatchildren find the opportunity to viewthemselves on television as reinforc-ing.We have developed a format for

including peer video teaching in thediabetes education of children. Tomaximize the motivational aspects ofthis rewarding activity each child thatis about to receive health-care instruc-tion is told that we have a diabetestelevision show, and we would likethem to appear on the program. It isfurther explained that the purpose of

the show is to help teach other chil-dren with diabetes how to performurine tests, blood glucose tests, insulininjections, and other aspects of thediabetes treatment program. The childis then shown a videotape of a

youngster performing the targethealth-care response. The videotapeis followed by formal instruction andfilming of the target child receivingtraining in that same behavior.The videotaping portion of the

teaching session is initiated with theeducator introducing the TV show(&dquo;Welcome to the name of clinic Pro-gram&dquo;) and welcoming the specialguest star. The child is then asked afew questions regarding age, hobbies,school, and play activities in order toput the child at ease and personalizethe TV experience. The educator thenexplains the purpose of the presentshow and begins to instruct the childin the performance of the target be-havior. After the educator demon-strates the response, the child is

prompted to perform the behavior.The educator asks the child questionsduring the procedure in order to in-sure that the youth understands thetechnical requirements of the responseand to increase the educational qualityof the videotape. Upon successfulcompletion of the target behavior, theeducator gives the child praise for theperformance and thanks for being partof the show. The youngster is thengiven the opportunity to view the

videotape.Our experience with this procedure

has suggested that children reallyenjoy this teaching method and learnfrom it. It provides numerous benefitsto both the child and the instructor.The youth is able to see a peer per-form the target response, which pro-vides a good peer model and helpsreduce any fear the child may have

Continued on page 40

This report was supported by a grant (HD17090) from the National Institute of ChildHealth and Human Development. Reprint re-quests should be addressed to Alan M. Gross,Department of Psychology, Emory University,Atlanta, GA 30322.

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