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As a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, I spent years searching for academic research to inform my practice. Few things were more frustrating than spending half a day tracking down studies to support my treatment recommendations, only to hit a paywall demanding $50 for full access. The only thing worse? Paying the fee, finally reading the article, and realizing the procedure wasn’t applicable to my setting. Over time, I realized I wasn’t alone—many behavior analysts faced the same struggle, spending hours searching for research only to come up empty-handed or out of money. For some, the process was so overwhelming and aversive they didn’t even start at all.

The Purpose of This Tutorial

This tutorial was created with one primary goal in mind: to bridge the research-to-practice gap by empowering behavior analysts with the skills they need to efficiently search for and access scholarly literature.

By improving research literacy, BCBAs can:

• Make more informed clinical decisions based on the latest research
• Stay up to date with emerging trends and best practices in ABA
• Reduce frustration when searching for studies and full-text articles
• Confidently use online databases and search tools to efficiently find relevant research

With the growing emphasis on evidence-based practice, it’s more important than ever for behavior analysts to stay connected with the academic literature. This tutorial provides the tools to do just that—quickly and effectively.

What the Tutorial Covers

The tutorial is designed to be practical, interactive, and easy to follow, regardless of your previous experience with literature searches. It includes a mix of lecture content, step-by-step descriptions, and hands-on experience to ensure you walk away with real, applicable skills.

Here are some of the things you will learn:

• How academic literature is structured online: Understand how research is organized and indexed in databases such as ProQuest, PubMed, Wiley and Springer.
• Where to find full-text articles: Discover multiple free and low-cost resources for accessing peer-reviewed studies without paywalls.
• Advanced search techniques: Learn powerful strategies to refine your searches, filter out irrelevant results and quickly find the most relevant research.
• Discipline-specific search techniques: Learn how to construct searches that yield results rich in behavior analytic literature relevant to your scope of practice.

By the end of the tutorial, you’ll have the confidence and skills to navigate academic databases with ease—without wasting hours sifting through irrelevant results or hitting dead ends.

Who Should Take this Tutorial?

This tutorial is designed for:

• BCBAs, BCaBAs, and RBTs who want to enhance their research skills and stay up to date with the field
• Graduate students in behavior analysis who need guidance on conducting literature reviews
• Academics and researchers looking for better ways to streamline their search process
• Anyone passionate about evidence-based practice who wants to strengthen their ability to find relevant research.

Whether you are a seasoned behavior analyst or just beginning your career, Efficiently Searching the Academic Literature will give you a valuable edge in efficiently finding the research you need.

Continuing education is a cornerstone of professional development for Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs). Staying updated with the latest research, methodologies, and ethical standards ensures that practitioners provide the highest quality of care. However, accumulating the required Continuing Education Units (CEUs) can sometimes be a financial burden. Our mission at CEUniverse is to offer high-quality, affordable CEUs for BCBAs and BCaBAs. But did you know that—in addition to our already low prices—you can also easily earn completely free BCBA CEUs with us? Enter CEUniverse’s Star Points rewards program!

Understanding the Star Points Program

We offer the Star Points program as a way to reward our users. This loyalty program functions similarly to a token economy, a concept familiar to many behavior analysts. Here’s a breakdown of how it works:

• Earning Star Points:
  • Purchases: For every dollar spent on CEU modules, bundles, or gift cards, you earn 1 Star Point.
  • Product Reviews: By contributing to the community through product reviews, you can earn bonus Star Points (20 points per review, in fact!).
• Redeeming Star Points:
  • Conversions: Every 10 Star Points equate to $1. These points can be applied toward future purchases of CEU modules, bundles, or gift cards, effectively reducing or eliminating the cost of these educational resources.

Strategies to Maximize Your Star Points

To make the most of the Star Points program and potentially earn free CEUs, consider the following strategies:

1. Plan Your Purchases:
   • Bundle Up: CEUniverse offers bundles that provide multiple CEU modules at a discounted rate. Purchasing these not only saves money upfront but also accumulates more Star Points due to the higher total spend.
   • Gift Cards: If you anticipate future CEU needs or want to gift educational resources to colleagues, purchasing gift cards can be a strategic way to earn additional Star Points.
2. Engage with the Community:
   • Write Reviews: After completing a CEU module, take a moment to write a thoughtful review. This not only aids fellow practitioners in their decision-making but also rewards you with bonus Star Points.
3. Monitor Your Points and Expiry Dates:
   • Stay Informed: Regularly check your Star Points balance through the CEUniverse myAccount dashboard. Be aware that Star Points expire after two years, so plan your redemptions accordingly. CEUniverse will notify you via email before your points expire, ensuring you have ample time to use them.

Benefits Beyond Free CEUs

While the primary allure of the Star Points program is the opportunity to earn free or discounted CEUs, the benefits extend further:

• Financial Savings: By leveraging Star Points, you can significantly reduce the financial burden associated with mandatory continuing education. This is especially beneficial for practitioners who are self-funding their professional development.
• Enhanced Engagement: The program encourages active participation within the CEUniverse community. Writing reviews and engaging with content fosters a collaborative learning environment, enriching the experience for all users.
• Access to High-Quality Content: CEUniverse is approved by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board® to offer continuing education. Our modules are developed using evidence-based principles of instructional design and best practices for multimedia instruction, ensuring that you’re receiving top-tier education. Check out our many reviews to see how much people love our content!

A Testimonial from the Field

Many BCBAs have found the Star Points program to be a valuable asset in their professional development journey. One practitioner shared, “CEUniverse is user friendly and I enjoy the points system. Great CEU bank for a good price.”

Conclusion

Continuing education is an essential aspect of maintaining excellence in the field of behavior analysis. CEUniverse’s Star Points rewards program offers a practical and rewarding pathway to achieve your CEU requirements without incurring significant costs. By strategically engaging with the program, you can enhance your knowledge, contribute to the community, and advance your career—all while enjoying the benefits of free or discounted CEUs.

Shop for BCBA CEUs and start earning Star Points today!

We’re thrilled to share some fantastic news with you—CEUniverse has officially launched our brand-new Affiliate Program! This is a great opportunity for you to earn some extra income while sharing the love for our amazing products.

Earn Big with Every Referral!

As a valued affiliate, you can earn a generous 20% commission on all purchases made by customers you refer over the course of a year! Just think about it: if one of your referred customers buys our popular $259 Galactic Bundle, you’ll earn a whopping $51.80! That’s a pretty sweet deal for simply sharing what you love!

Ideas for Sharing Your Referral Link

Not sure how to get started? Here are some fun and easy ways to share your referral link and start earning:

1. Social Media Posts: Share your unique link on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok. Accompany it with a quick review of your favorite CEUniverse product!
2. Email Friends and Colleagues: Send a friendly email to your friends letting them know about the fantastic CEUs you’ve discovered. Include your referral link for easy access.
3. Blog or Vlog: If you have a blog or YouTube channel, create content showcasing our products or website and drop your referral link in the description or post.
4. Join Online Communities: Engage with relevant groups or forums, and share your link where appropriate. Just remember to follow community guidelines!

We can’t wait to see how you spread the word about CEUniverse and reap the rewards. If you have any questions or need assistance getting started, feel free to reach out. Click the button below to learn more!

Become an Affiliate

The number of BCBA CEUs provided for a continuing education event for Board Certified Behavior Analysts must adhere to the guidelines established by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board:

Each event must include a minimum of 25 minutes of instruction, for which 0.5 CEUs are awarded. Additional CEUs should be awarded in increments of .5 (25 minutes of instruction) or 1.0 (50 minutes of instruction). For example, 50 minutes = 1 CEU; 75 minutes = 1.5 CEUs; 100 minutes = 2 CEUs; and so on. Rounding up is not permitted when issuing CEUs.

These guidelines make perfect sense for live, in-person, and synchronous learning events. They are less clear for the on-demand, self-paced, and asynchronous learning events that we publish. There can be a lot of variability in completion time when dealing with self-paced content, particularly if it involves mastery learning or adaptive instruction (as most of our modules do). For example, we have some modules that some people complete in 3 hours, but other people complete in 10 hours.

In determining the number of CEUs we provide for our modules, we try to strike a balance between the expected time to completion and the amount of content or number of objectives covered. Several data points factor into our calculations:

• The amount of text to be read (or listened to)
• The length of any videos or other media elements included
• The number of interactions required during practice activities or assessment
• Historical time-to-completion data recorded by our system for previous users of the module
• Self-reported time-to-completion data reported by previous users of the module

We have considered awarding credit based on actual time to completion, but there are two key problems with that. The first problem is that accurately measuring time to completion in a self-paced, online format is pretty difficult. We still try to do it (you may notice a “are you still here?” prompt pop up occasionally while you’re working on our modules), but there are serious limitations to consider. The second problem is that it punishes learning quickly and reinforces learning slowly. Someone who can complete a module and master its content in just 3 hours would only get about 3.5 CEUs, whereas someone who takes 10 hours to complete it would earn 12 CEUs. That doesn’t seem fair and raises a related problem of how to sell and price an event without a predetermined number of CEUs to be awarded.

Thus, we do our best to standardize the number of CEUs available per module in accordance with the BACB’s guidelines by using the best evidence we have available to us. If you ever disagree with the number of CEUs awarded for a module, please let us know by completing the survey at the end of every module (there is a question on it specifically about whether the number of CEUs offered seems appropriate).

Do you have any suggestions of other strategies we should use to determine the number of CEUs for our modules? If you are a provider of self-paced, asynchronous CEUs, how do you determine the number of CEUs to offer?