An experimental teacher-effectiveness intervention, a six-week training program for regular education middle school social studies teachers with mainstreamed/regular classes, produced important changes in teacher and student behavior. Forty volunteer teachers served as subjects in this one-year study. The specially designed observation code for…

Investigated was the intellectual behavior of 66 student teachers of science. Suggests that the degree of integration of teaching practice with theoretical studies may be a more important factor than length of teaching practice. (YP)

Reports on a study of student perceptions of learning via audioconferencing using two distinct instructional designs in university-level courses delivered at a distance. The use of field observations, interviews, focus groups, and mail surveys is discussed; pertinent literature is reviewed; and the importance of human interaction in distance…

Reports on a process/product study undertaken to increase understanding of the nature of language instruction and its effect on language proficiency. Also discussed are a number of pedagogical issues arising from the study. (30 references)

Article describes behavior rating scales and the difficulties in the use of cutoff scores to identify students as Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Also described are how problems with interobserver agreement hamper the validity of rating scales and the subsequent conclusions that can be drawn about students' behavior. (RJM)

Study investigated the development of elementary teachers' professional knowledge while involved in a qualitative research process. Teachers took the graduate course "Trends and Issues in Education" which involved them as researchers. They kept journals and recorded class sessions and individual conferences, discovering that as…

Four naturalistic methods for assessing college student learning styles are discussed: direct observation of student behavior, in-depth interviews with students, analysis of self-directed learning projects, and analysis of the guiding metaphors used by students in describing the teaching-learning process. Each suggests ways teachers can adapt to…

Responds to Martyn Hammersley's critique of the authors' research concerning classroom participation of boys and girls. Agrees generally with Hammersley's critique. Defends the small-scale approach for its ability to examine interactive mechanisms by which inequality in participation was produced. (DB)

Observation of mixed-age undergraduate classes and analysis of students' interactions showed that older students tended to dominate the discourse; the cognitive level of discourse was not altered by the presence of older students; and andragogical practices may not be the most effective strategies for mixed-age classes. (SK)

Describes a tool that quantifies the number and kinds of interactions between students and teachers. Structured observation of classroom events indicates whether a teacher is interacting equitably with each student in the classroom. Science teachers were receptive to the relatively quantitative nature of the process. Both inservice and student…

Describes a California high school's collaborative teacher observation model. The Teacher-Guided Observation/Curriculum Analysis is a continuously evolving instructional and curricular development program that recognizes teachers' need to be treated like professionals, have nonthreatening growth opportunities, assume primary responsibility for…

Focuses on the assurance by the Alliance Francaise of Paris of professional development of future teachers of foreign languages. The article describes the members of the Alliance as professors at the Foreign Language School of Paris with university training in such diverse fields as linguistics, modern languages, education, and philosophy. Their…

An innovative preservice teacher education program at the State University of New York, College at Fredonia, provides many highly structured field-based experiences which include students with disabilities; systematic training in specific, validated intervention strategies; direct training in peer collaboration skills; and emphasis on reflective…

Classroom observation, a survey of several hundred primary grade teachers in the United Kingdom, and interviews with teachers found that National Curriculum requirements have produced considerable change in curriculum planning, management, assessment, and recordkeeping, against a backdrop of relative continuity of deeper pedagogy, especially in…

Examines the importance of English language teachers' knowledge about language, and their insights into the relationship between such knowledge and their classroom practice. With reference to grammar, data is presented from classroom observations and interviews with teachers. (Author/VWL)