In this paper we explore the value of theoretical triangulation as a methodological approach for the analysis of classroom interaction. We analyze an excerpt of a whole-class discussion in history from three theoretical perspectives: interactivity of the discourse, conceptual level raising and historical reasoning. We conclude that using…

A model for processes of abstraction, based on epistemic actions, has been proposed elsewhere. Here we apply this model to processes in which groups of individual students construct shared knowledge and consolidate it. The data emphasizes the interactive flow of knowledge from one student to the others in the group, until they reach a shared…

A review of the research of E.G. Mishler, H. Mehan, and others suggests that a unified theory of the mechanics of how continuous discourse is accounted for in classroom behavior is necessary for further study. Discourse analysis meets the criteria for selection of a theoretical framework because it deals with all the language within the classroom…

An annotated bibliography of 14 journal articles and documents from the ERIC indexes presents literature on verbal and nonverbal behavior, feedback of interaction analysis data to teachers, classroom coding manuals, and interracial interaction. (JN)

The ultimate goal of this study was to specify conditions which affect achievement in the chemistry laboratory through an understanding of instructor-student interaction. The Flanders System of Interaction Analysis was used to measure the ratio of indirect to direct teaching (I/D/ Ratio) during pre-lab and post-lab sections of eight two-hour…

Reported is a study designed to describe the nature of teacher-pupil-materials interactions occurring in classrooms using Australian Science Education Project (ASEP) materials and to investigate relationships between these interaction patterns, changes in student achievement and attitudes toward science in classes taught by teachers whose…

An observational system for classroom interaction based on the nature of science is reported. Author reasons that structure of the discipline must be considered while evolving an interaction analysis system. (PS)

Describes the development of the Multidimensional Audioconferencing Classification System (MACS), an instrument for the tabulation, analysis, and interpretation of audioconferencing instructional interactions. MACS draws on three theoretical and empirical streams: (1) systematic small group interaction analysis; (2) systematic classroom…

Because of the need to describe and analyze nonverbal as well as verbal classroom interaction, an attempt has been made to develop an observational system of complete behavioral analysis using the Flanders system as a base. Each of the 10 Flanders verbal categories (based on direct and indirect teacher influence) is combined with relevant…

This investigation studied that relationship between structured teacher-student verbal interaction and critical thinking ability of students in an introductory course in general college biology. This interaction took the form of lecture, of discussion using broad questions, and of discussion using narrow questions as the three primary teaching…

This is an examination of beginning teachers' acquisition of the structures of classroom discourse. Teachers were compared at the beginning and at the end of their first teaching year using a discourse analysis system. Thirty-three hours of audiotapes from 11 teachers were transcribed an coded. Teacher initiations during informing, eliciting, and…

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.…

This volume of selected readings developed for students and practitioners at various levels of sophistication is intended to be representative of work done to date on interaction analysis. The contents include journal articles, papers read at professional meetings, abstracts of doctoral dissertations, and selections from larger monographs, plus 12…

The potentiality of macroanalysis of interactive dialogue was studied for ten suburban school teachers and their very high and very low ability student groups. Macroanalysis is the computerized analysis of interaction data into units of three or more tallies with the number of unit occurrences determinable. The sample groups had a mean IQ…