Observed the social communication and task relevant behaviors of 80 kindergarten and first-grade children, each of whom was assigned to do a task with either a friend or a nonfriend. Results showed that friends exhibited less sharing and communicative behaviors and more task relevant behaviors. An explanatory model is suggested to account for…

Four principles for arranging successful field experiences in health are: (1) Organize the experience as a partnership involving the student, faculty member, and health practitioner; (2) Require regular feedback from students; (3) Provide the student with input from the health practitioner; and (4) Observe and evaluate the students in the field.…

The faculty of the human behavior course at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, when evaluated by their students, received high ratings. It is hypothesized that the success of these teachers comes from their ability to create an atmosphere that encourages student participation in discussion groups regardless of topic. (MLW)

Attempts to clarify the epistemological basis of interaction analysis by exploring the modes of observation researchers adopt when using interaction coding schemes and outlining the validation requirements these options entail. Modes of observation include the viewpoint of the experiencer, the process of experiencing, and what is experienced. (JAC)

An ecological study of the quantity and distribution of language among children in nursery schools is reported. Two different situations, one in which the presence of the adult is incidental and the other in which the adult assumes a teaching role, are analyzed for categories of verbalization by the children. (Author)

Study I examined activity spans in four types of preschool establishments. Overall span was greatest in the nursery school and lowest in the day nursery. Study II examined attention spans in a primary school. Both studies demonstrated the influence of adults in increasing children's attention. (Author/SJL)

Observation of undergraduate students in an anthropology course was used to evaluate the impacts of learning strategies, group size, and sex composition of groups on successful interaction with a computer simulation. Sixteen references are listed. (Author/LLS)

Clinical supervision focuses on helping teachers improve their performance through the analysis of observed events in the classroom and postobservation critiques. (Author/MLF)

In follow-up studies conducted 36 hours, 3 months, and 12 months after delivery, maternal behavior, infant behavior, the duration of breast feeding, and attitudes toward child rearing procedures were shown to develop differently among mothers and infants receiving physical contact soon after birth as compared to control subjects who were briefly…

Relationships between day care and attachment were assessed with alternative procedures: (1) hypothesized normal patterns of attachment were tested naturalistically in day-care centers; (2) day-care and home-reared children were compared in a laboratory setting. (Author/MP)

A program to instruct preschool teachers in a technique of interaction analysis is presented, and initial outcomes of the program are evaluated. (DB)

Describes the ethnographic component of a multidisciplinary evaluation, conducted by the RMC Research Corporation, of the Career Intern Program for dropouts. Includes discussion of participant observations, interviewing techniques, triangulation, unobtrusive measures, data recording, and equipment. (Part of a theme issue entitled…

This study of 29 elementary music teachers sought to determine if teaching competencies can reliably be measured through classroom observation; which selected competencies correlate to measures of pupil achievement and attitude; and how achievement and attitude related to attribute variables, such as socioeconomic status, grade level, and class…

A competency-based teacher education program, combined with a data-based classroom observation system, appeared to control, to an extent, the selected behaviors of student teachers and their classes. (CJ)

Using a behavior observation schedule, classroom behavior was investigated in relation to pupils' level of anxiety and achievement need, which were hypothesized to be indicative of coping strategies. Subjects were 104 British students (ages 10-11) in formal and informal classrooms. For part one of this study see AA 532 922. (Author/SJL)