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My BCBA Study Plan

This document outlines the author's study plan to pass the BCBA exam. They had experience working in ABA since 2015 and received their supervision hours while working as an ABA teacher. Their initial studying became overwhelming, so they took a break before developing a focused study plan using the PTBABAE Manual and BDS. Their plan broke the task list into sections studied over several weeks. They completed acquisition modules to a 80% criterion and took practice exams, scoring over 75%. On their first attempt at the exam, they passed although were unsure during. Their advice is to focus on understanding material rather than hours studied and make changes if your plan is not working.

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Mohamed Elgendy
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415 views

My BCBA Study Plan

This document outlines the author's study plan to pass the BCBA exam. They had experience working in ABA since 2015 and received their supervision hours while working as an ABA teacher. Their initial studying became overwhelming, so they took a break before developing a focused study plan using the PTBABAE Manual and BDS. Their plan broke the task list into sections studied over several weeks. They completed acquisition modules to a 80% criterion and took practice exams, scoring over 75%. On their first attempt at the exam, they passed although were unsure during. Their advice is to focus on understanding material rather than hours studied and make changes if your plan is not working.

Uploaded by

Mohamed Elgendy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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My BCBA Study Plan

Background info: I’ve been in the field of ABA since 2015. I have worked at 3 clinics as a line
technician prior to starting my master’s degree. While completing my master’s degree at
Nicholls State University in South Louisiana (it was a fully online program that is an approved
course sequences by the BACB), I worked as a special education teacher ABA teacher (basically
a SPED teacher that used ABA in her classroom). I received my supervision hours by the district
BCBA. In June I started studying, and I was using multiple resources (I’m talking Cooper, Mayer,
the PTBABAE Manual, SAFMEDS, BDS, you name it I was likely doing it), and I become
overwhelmed and quit studying. I took some time to off to relax and enjoy wedding planning.
When I went back to studying I decided that I wasn’t going to let this exam take over my life
and I was still going to enjoy the things I liked to do. I chose to limit my core study resources to
BDS and the PTBABAE Manual. I’ve attached my study plan (which I based on a 4-day week and
I took 2 weeks off for my wedding and honeymoon, and a week for each holiday) below. The
study plan flows through the task list by tacking the task list by the section with the most
questions on the exam to the least. I had previously completed the modules to criterion during
my coursework and finished shortly after; however, when I started my study plan I chose to re-
do the modules to ensure I was actually learning the material rather than memorizing. This time
I only focused on the acquisition modules and set a criterion of 80% or above for me to move
on so I wouldn’t focus on just getting the stupid checkmark, but rather I focused on actually
learning and understanding the material. In February, I started taking mock exams, I scored a
75% on two mocks from studyaba.com, a 75% on Celila’s mock, and an 81% on Bill’s mock. My
last two weeks, I focused on the mini mocks that are on the ABA Study Group website, and I
scored a 75% or over on each task list section.

I sat for the BCBA for the first time Feb. 27, 2019. During the exam, I thought the questions
were easier than BDS, but I still wasn’t confident I would pass. I flagged all of the questions that
I had to choose between 2 correct answers, even if I was overall confident I had chosen the
correct one; at the end of the test I had 30 questions flagged. There were 2 questions that I had
no absolute idea what it was asking. At the end of the exam, I went back to review my flagged
questions, and I only changed the answer on 3 of them because I knew for sure it was the
better choice. When I was taking mocks, I realized most of the time my gut instinct was usually
the correct answer, so I went into the exam saying I wouldn’t second guess myself. I passed my
first time.

My Biggest Advice:
Don’t let this exam take your happiness away from you!! Remember to take time for yourself!!
Don’t focus on how many hours a week you study, but rather focus on a study method that has
the ability to show that you are making progress. You can study for 40 hours a week, but that
doesn’t mean you learned anything. When we work with clients, we don’t focus on hour many
hours a week we work on a specific skill with them, but rather we focus on collecting data that
shows the progress (or lack of progress) they are making. If something isn’t working for you,
don’t be afraid to change things up; just like our clients, what works for one, may not work for
another.
If any of you have questions during your study time or need someone to vent to, feel free to
send me a private message! I’m here for you, and I understand this journey.

Note: modules per day of focused on a 4-day week (Monday-Thursday), because I took time for
myself Friday-Sunday.

Please feel free to download and make changes for whatever fits YOUR needs!!

Happy Studying!!

Dates Task List Section Acquisition PTBABAE


modules to Sections
complete per
day
October 1- 5 FK (foundational 4 per day 1,2,3,6
knowledge)
33 modules total

October 8 – FK Continued 4 per day …


12
October 15 – D (fundamental 4 per day 2,3,4,8
19 elements of
behavior change)
37 modules total
October 22 – D Continued 4 per day …
26
October 29 –B (Experimental 3 per day 1,2,5
November 2 Design)
13 modules total
November 5 J (Intervention) 3 per day 3,4,5,7,10
–9 13 modules total
November A (Measurement) 3 per day 6,7,9
12- 16 15 modules total
November 19 Off Off …
– 23 Thanksgiving Week Thanksgiving
 Week
November 26 E (Specific 4 per day 2,3,8
– 30 Behavior-Change
Procedures)
16 modules total
December 4 Catch up Catch up …
–7 week/Review week/Review
December 10 Catch up Catch up …
– 14 week/Review week/Review
December 17 G (Identification of 2 per day 4,6,7,10
– 21 the Problem)
8 modules total
December 24 Off Off …
– 28 Christmas Week  Christmas
Week
December 31 Off Off …
– January 4 New Years Week  New Years
Week
January 7-11 K (Implementation, 2 per day 4,8,10
Management, &
Supervision)
10 modules total
January 14- I (Assessment) 3 per day 4,9,10
18 12 modules total
January 21 – H (Measurement) 1 per day 10,4,6,7
25 5 modules total
January 28 – F (Behavior- 3 per day 2,3,8
February 1 Change Systems)
and C (Behavior-
Change
Considerations)
11 modules total
February 4 – Ethics 4 modules a
8 19 modules total day
February 11 Review until test
– 15
February 18 Review until test
– 22
February 25 Hopefully test this
– 28 week

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