Review of experimental or quasi-experimental studies of the behavior of staff working with retarded persons resulted in 12 generalizations including the following: a disproportionate number of interactions occur with a relatively small number of clients; small teaching groups promote interactions; and structured settings promote more interactions.…

Discusses interaction analysis, a procedure for objectively recording and analyzing the verbal interchange between instructors and students, which can aid instructors in setting goals for improving their instruction. Specific topics covered include instructor behavior when working with students, a process for objectively analyzing teacher…

In addition to assessing observed communication behaviors, this paper suggests that SYMLOG--a System for the Multiple Level Observation of Groups--can be used by participant-observers as a foil for interpreting how their own value orientations affect their data collecting and theorizing. The first section of the paper examines the research role…

New trends in language teaching have resulted in a move towards research in the language classroom. A brief overview of classroom research reveals three distinct but inter-related research paradigms: classroom-centered research, classroom process research, and qualitative research, respectively.

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.…

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)

The Stanford Research International (SRI) classroom observation system provides a description of the classroom environment with emphasis on interactions between teachers and students and among students. Included in the SRI observation system is the Five Minute Observation (FMO), which records classroom interactions into "frames"…

Identifies and explains five widespread myths related to the what and how of evaluation in English student teachers. Describes a multiphased cycle or process aimed at helping teachers identify teaching problems, receive data from supervisors, and develop solutions that produce self-directed teachers. (FL)

This paper examines aspects related to the validity of process-product research involving classroom observation and teacher effectiveness. Differences in categories, terminology, and definitions of five classroom observation instruments are delineated and discussed in relation to their various effects on the validity of process-product research…

An overview is presented of classroom observation instruments which have been created and refined since 1962. The components of teacher-pupil transactions measured by different observation methods are listed, and the complexities and difficulties encountered when using the instruments are discussed. A description is given of the Coping Analysis…

Validity is a central issue in use of self-report data for the investigation of teacher thinking. "Triangulation," or use of several data sets to test, corroborate and elaborate each other, is one method for increasing validity of findings. This paper illustrates a process of triangulation of data obtained by three different data…

This report, addressed to the broad audience of cognitive scientists, examines research on cognitive change. In the introduction, background considerations are made, previous research is reviewed, and the report itself is outlined. The first chapter, "Finding Goals Outside the Laboratory," discusses how laboratory tasks can obscure research goals…