Analyzes extracts of classroom discourse involving teachers and groups of nine-year-olds in terms of what they reveal about the establishment of shared knowledge between teacher and students. Identifies this shared knowledge with the discourse "context," focusing on how classroom events are recalled and reconstructed. (MM)

Presents questions that should be asked of any school program using teacher observation and that should serve as standards to measure the realization of teacher autonomy in the professional growth process. Suggests that a school's supervisory program should combine administrative-, peer-, and self-direction. (MS)

Examines the impact that public examinations of students has upon teaching. The four-year study raises questions about the current assumption that public examinations cause fact-transmission teaching. Uses timings of teacher and pupil talk to examine teaching on a range of different types of courses. (GEA)

Reported are observational limits of detectability for several single stimulus and multi-stimuli observation tasks in secondary level chemistry. Provided are tables of actual results obtained including type of observation, chemical system used, method of determining stimulus magnitude, and observational thresholds. (Author/YP)

Describes the behavior of five calculus professors and their students based on observations of calculus classes. Results showed that the dominant mode of instruction was lecture and students were usually not actively engaged in doing mathematics. (14 references) (Author/MKR)

This study observed a classroom of 15 students (ages 3 to 11) with behavior disorders, using amount of teacher attention to generate hypotheses about problem behavior function which were then validated in individual functional assessments. For 14 of the students, accurate hypotheses were efficiently generated by noting how teachers distributed…

Notes the importance of skilled classroom observation, and examines how early childhood teachers can improve their classroom observation and recordkeeping techniques. Discusses the advantages and disadvantages of methods of recording teacher observations, such as 3x5 cards, audio- and videotapes, and spiral notebooks. Elements of daily observation…

Offers suggestions for administrators when they observe content area classrooms with a whole language thrust. Discusses instructional goals, sharing the learning-teaching process, classroom organization, classroom library, writing, and importance of meaning. (SR)

Analyzes instructional actions designed to help a student understand distance, time, and speed. Focuses on the mathematical knowledge that guided instructional decisions and actions and discusses implications for content preparation of teachers. Contains 48 references. (Author/MKR)

Reviewed 39 empirical studies in which direct observational methods were used to assess children in whom attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) had been diagnosed. Found that classroom studies distinguished ADHD children from comparison groups better than laboratory studies. Behaviors that most consistently distinguished ADHD children…

This review of classroom interventions for students with attention deficit disorders discusses attentional weaknesses, the use of observation and behavioral analysis to clarify issues that need to be addressed in intervention planning, and subsequent determination of the behavior management programs and academic strategies that will result in…

Describes the use of several organized distractions which force preservice science teachers to simultaneously teach and observe students. A variety of activities were developed to serve as additions to microteaching sessions in which the task is to "see" actions, not to redirect wayward students. (LZ)

A 1992 survey of 135 California principals identified key factors contributing to marginal teachers' performance: lack of motivation, burnout, and personal crises. Common symptoms of teacher marginality were persistent negative attitudes and classroom control problems. The most useful intervention strategies involved continuous classroom…

Discusses methodological issues arising from the evaluation of the impact of IT-assisted information systems on information-seeking and research in academia. Learning and use of information technology by academics was observed over time by using diaries, interviews, discussion, and observation. Results indicate that academic research is a complex…

This activity is more concerned with illustrating the process of scientific discovery than with astronomy. Students are involved in observing the Moon and noting the simultaneous location of the Sun. A manual with observation log and diagrams is provided. Requires no special equipment and takes a discovery learning approach. (LZ)