The author discusses the role that ethnography can play in understanding interaction processes in physical education classrooms, with the aim being improvement of instructional techniques. The characteristics of ethnography are described as: (1) dealing solely with action-watching and analyzing the things people say and do; (2) dealing with action…

The purpose of this study was to observe and describe the teaching behavior and interaction patterns of four elementary school physical education teachers longitudinally. Each teacher was observed twice a day (AM and PM) for a period of 20 consecutive days, resulting in 40 observations per subject. The following conclusions were reached: (1)…

This paper outlines a classroom technique that conveys to students some of the complexities of naturalistic and systematic observation. Most research methods textbooks devote only a single chapter to all of the descriptive techniques of research. This activity involves students in the observation and recording of "fidgets" during a five-minute…

This study examined children's conflict interactions in an attempt to provide evidence for the evolutionary continuity of the organization of power relations within primate societies and childhood peer groups. A total of 17 children, ages 3 - 5, were observed daily at their preschool over a three month period. Two one-half hour video samples were…

The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which inter-rater agreement in classroom observation of teachers is affected by using a system where each scale point is defined by a descriptor particularly created for the quality being rated. Thirty-three subjects enrolled in two Teacher Performance Assessment Instruments training…

This paper is a critique of Eisner's "The Perceptive Eye: Toward the Reformation of Educational Evaluation," abstracted in ED 103 327. Criticisms are that Eisner (1) distorts the analogy between the arts and education by choosing the instructional process as a potential object of connoisseurship and criticism; (2) discusses critics and…

The paper describes an observation instrument originally developed as a research tool to assess both the special setting and the regular classroom. The instrument can also be used in determining appropriate placement for students with learning disabilities and for programming the transfer of skills learned in the special setting to the regular…

The relationship between cognitive style (field independence/field dependence), proctor/student interactions, and achievement of undergraduate students in a Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) course was studied. Field dependence/independence was measured using the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT), which measures ability to identify a…

More than 100 classroom communication observation instruments are surveyed and assessed from a communication-based perspective in this paper. In an overview, a schema designating three main types of approaches is established; they include behavioral descriptive, message functional, and cognitive/affective inferential observational categories.…

The purpose of this study was to summarize an examination of the social interactions of a sample of 370 preschool children and to demonstrate from the summary that social settings within the preschool environment differentially affect both the quality and quantity of social interaction. The Social Interaction Observation Procedure was used to…

One of the main advantages of the naturalistic approach to classroom research is that the observations are of natural phenomena, occuring in circumstances which the researcher ultimately hopes to generalize. Some problem areas are associated with this approach, however. Observers must obtain complete and accurate records of classroom activities…

The Classroom Interaction Analysis Index (CIAI) was developed to categorize the actions of teachers and students as they interact in classroom situations. The CIAI rating system is easy to learn and easy to use. Experience has shown that the average teacher or supervisor can use it effectively after three or four one-hour sessions. The purpose of…

The premise of this presentation is that clinical experiences are superior to many traditional kinds of field placements. Four types of clinical experiences are described: participant observation in special education classrooms; a team planned cooperative teaching experience; participation in the activities of a college reading clinic; and…

The evolution of educational evaluation has been significantly influenced by the assumptions and procedures of educational research which, in turn, aspires to make educational practice scientific. The concept of education connoisseurship and education criticism is posited upon a different set of techniques. Connoisseurship is an appreciative art…

This study was designed to compare inexperienced and experienced teachers of both sexes in terms of types of teaching behaviors, reactions to boys and girls, and reactions to different child behaviors, particularly sex-preferred behaviors. Forty teachers, 20 male and 20 female, were observed for 10 hours each during free play periods in preschool…