Applied Behavior Analysis Conference today
By Jennifer Palmberg
The Collegian
Educating people who work with
children has always been a big focus at Fresno State.
Fresno State began in 1911 as a two-year teacher training school. It was
the only educational institute in the area except for the surrounding
public schools. Later it became Fresno State Normal School and its primary
focus was to train and educate Valley teachers.
Fresno State Normal School joined with Fresno Junior College and officially
became Fresno State Teachers College. The Fresno State we know today wasn’t
established until 1972.
Liberal studies continues to be a popular major at Fresno State, but it’s
not the only department concerned with teaching students how to foster
a child’s development. The College of Science and Mathematics, the
Department of Psychology and the Fresno State ABA Club are sponsoring
“Applied Behavior Analysis Conference” today.
The conference has been designed specifically for professionals who want
to or do work with children and for parents. The conference will feature
nine presenters, some from Fresno State such as Jennifer Austin, an assistant
professor of psychology and Criss Wilhite, who has been teaching courses
in the Department of Psychology since 1986, and presenters from as far
away as Florida and Washington.
The conference will cover topics from educating children with autism and
other developmental disabilities to teaching children language skills
during daily activities, according to the Department of Psychology’s
Web site.
The Web site also explains that educational limits are often a result
of student behavior and the structure of the learning activities presented
to them. Presenters will offer three strategies for increasing student
participation.
The conference will conclude with a 45-minute “Talk to the Experts”
session where members of the audience can interact with the speakers on
a more individual basis.
The conference is open to all students, faculty and staff. The entrance
fee is $15 for students and $40 for outside professionals. The conference
wil be held at the University Business Center in the Craig School of Business
and begins at 8 a.m. and goes until 5:30 p.m. with scheduled breaks in
between. Each attendee will receive a conference packet containing speaker
handouts and other relevant material.
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