The Effect of Direct Instruction Model on Teaching Musical Play (Round) Skills to Children with Intellectual Disabilities

Oct 15, 2026

Play supports children’s personality, cognitive abilities, social-emotional development, and communication skills. This study examined the effect of teaching musical play (round) skills using the Direct Instruction Model for students with moderate intellectual disabilities. Using a multiple probe design, nine children (five girls, four boys) aged 9–11 participated. Results showed effective instruction of butterfly round play skills, maintenance after 7, 14, and 21 days, and generalized performance across different people, times, and environments, with positive teacher feedback.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time53 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

The Effect of Direct Instruction Model on Teaching Musical Play (Round) Skills to Children with Intellectual Disabilities Sinan KALKAN1 Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University Abstract Play is a very effective tool in the development of the child's personality, cognitive skills, socialemotional structure, communication and interaction skills. In this study, it was aimed to determine the effect of teaching with the Direct Instruction Model on the teaching of musical play (round) skills in students with moderate intellectual disability. The study was designed with the multiple probe model with probe phase between subjects five girls and four boys with intellectually disabled, aged between 9-11, participated in this study. The research findings show that the Direct Instruction Model, which was used to a limited extent in teaching play skills to children with intellectual disabilities, was effective in teaching butterfly round play skills to students with moderate intellectual disabilities. It isundestood that the participants continued their butterfly round play skills 7, 14, and 21 days after the end of the instruction. It also showed that all of the participants were able to generalize their round play skills to different environments, times and people. In addition, the teachers of the students included in the study also expressed positive opinions about the teaching model used in the research and the changes on their students. Keywords: Intellectual disabilities, Musical play, Direct instruction model. DOI: 10.29329/epasr.2022.442.3 1Assist. Assoc. Dr., Education Faculty, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Canakkale, Turkey, ORCID: (0000-0001-6890- 6421 Correspondence: [sinan.kalkan@comu.edu.tr](sinan.kalkan@comu.edu.tr) Introduction Children begin to take an active part in life by entering the process of interaction with their environment by their birth. These interactions of young children constitute the beginning of the process of adapting to the world. In this process, as children begin to interact with their environment, they also begin to recognize and understand the world they live in. One of the most important tools in children's attempts to recognize and understand the world they live in is plays. While play is seen asan important exercise that prepares the child for the culture he lives in (Jordan, 2003), Piaget (1962) defines play as a bridge between concrete experience and abstract thought (Ustundag, 2017) . Froebel (1887), on the other hand, defined play as the occupation that determines the whole life of the child and provides the purest and most spiritual satisfaction in the pre-school period (Ilhan Ildiz et al., 2017; Ozmen, 2019). The play is a tool that can be played with or without a certain purpose, with or without rules, and which contributes to the physical, cognitive, language-speech and social-emotional development of the child willingly under any circumstances (Ozturk, 2018), also it is a tool where they discover their environment and learn while having fun (Barton & Wolery, 2008) . Plays are a universal and motivating activity in which children have fun, relax and their development is supported in many ways. Play is very effective in the development of the child's personality, dreams, social-emotional structure, communication and interaction skills (Sevinc, 2004) . With this aspect, the play not only supports all development areas of the child as a whole, but also increases the adaptation to the cultural environment in which he lives. Considering the relationship between play and developmental skills, three aspects of play can be mentioned: (a) diagnostic, (b) experiential and (c) developmental. Plays are also a diagnostic tool that enables us to obtain information about the developmental levels of children (Kuguoglu & Kurktuncu-Tanir, 2006) . Plays, while giving clues about the behavior and developmental characteristics of the child with the observations made in the play, can also ref

FAQs

What was the aim of the study?

The study aimed to determine the effect of teaching musical play (round) skills using the Direct Instruction Model for children with moderate intellectual disabilities.

How was the study designed?

It used a multiple probe model with a probe phase between subjects and involved nine children aged 9–11 (five girls and four boys).

What were the main findings about teaching and follow-up?

The Direct Instruction Model was effective for teaching butterfly round play skills, and participants maintained the skills 7, 14, and 21 days after instruction ended, with generalization to different environments, times, and people.

Oct 15, 2026

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