New technologies transform research specialties and potentiate new fields. Sociometers--wearable electronic sensors collecting quantitative, dynamic data about embodied social interactions at hyperfine scales--represent such a possibility for small group research. This article introduces this new method and its distinctive qualities and…

Standardized interviewing (SI) and conversational interviewing are two approaches to collect survey data that differ in how interviewers address respondent confusion. This article examines interviewer-respondent interactions that occur during these two techniques, focusing on requests for and provisions of clarification. The data derive from an…

Identifying which online behaviours and interactions are associated with student perceptions of being supported will enable a deeper understanding of how those activities contribute to learning experiences. Student language is one aspect of their interaction in need of greater exploration within discourse-based online learning environments. As a…

Studies of interaction in ESL classrooms have not taken into account how space and materials used in classroom impact interaction. This case study examines how three ESL teachers in two different school districts, four high school and twelve junior high ELLs and the two-classroom spaces co-construct the cultural and literacy practices of the…

Reports two investigations of the effects of rater's race (Black v White) on observed interactions across Black and White families. (CM)

This study collected normative behavioral data from extemporaneous 3-minute conversations of 50 typically developing adolescents. Analysis found the following high frequency behaviors: directing gaze at the partner, nodding and showing neutral and positive facial expressions, using back-channel responses, and giving contingent responses.…

Certain features of the PLATO IV system allow the gathering of large quantities and varieties of information describing the interaction of students with computer based education courseware. Two kinds of information can be provided: (1) data concerning single student interaction, which must be analyzed manually; and (2) data summarizing activities…

This paper presents a rationale for observing black mothers during semi-structured play activities with their toddlers. It appraises the strengths and weaknesses of such situational assessments of mother-infant dyads, arguing that in addition to observational data the collection of introspective interview data from mothers is essential. Interview…

This paper is concerned with the research and development work that is being undertaken in applying interaction analysis to the training of university lectures. Interaction analysis or the systematic observation of lecturing is a technique that has been used in conjunction with microteaching to facilitate the trainer's job in shaping the teaching…

The purpose of this study was to collect data on behavior, including educational media usage, in a wide range of educational settings through use of participant observation. Eight special education teachers and their classrooms were used. An instrument adapted from the OSTRAQ system was used to measure 12 categories of pupil-teacher interaction…

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"…

Multifaceted Rasch analysis was used to determine whether bias was evident in the way a group of raters graded two different versions of an oral interaction test, undertaken by the same candidates. Results indicate that certain raters consistently rated the tape version of the test more harshly while others rated the live one more harshly. (10…

This paper reports on a longitudinal study involving 48 mother-infant dyads that attempts to explore the role of the caregiver-infant interactional environment in determining cognitive functioning as related to an understanding of environmental contingencies. The present report includes (1) a progress report to date of the longitudinal data…

Investigates teacher reformulation of student talk in order to determine the manner in which teachers affect student meaning and expression. Findings indicate that reformulation is a device used by teachers to control classroom dialog and that teachers disproportionately perform the language functions most commonly associated with higher-order…

Focuses on strategies of second-language learners who communicate among themselves. Pairs of students were left alone in a room with a sound recorder and instructions to describe a specific object. The communication strategy they selected to describe an object with no common referent was to paraphrase the object's function. (11 references) (CK)