Studies of primary education within the UK have shown that small groups can feature within classrooms; however, equivalent research within secondary education remains scarce. Research has established effective group work approaches, yet secondary teachers may encounter difficulties employing approaches tied to parameters embedded within primary…

The aim of this qualitative case study is to investigate how learning in "democratic participation" is constituted by the social interaction and conversation pattern in school democratic meetings in a Swedish primary school. According to the findings, a pupil control discourse and the Initiation-Response-Evaluation pattern dominates the…

This overview describes a system for measuring instructional and management parameters of teaching through a method of classroom observation in which live observers and video tapes record teacher and learner behavior (both verbal and nonverbal) and the social-political-physical characteristics of the setting. Presentation is in 3 sections: (1) the…

A multi-aged primary classroom environment was observed to determine (1) the degree to which teacher behaviors specified by developers of an adaptive learning environment (ALE) are actually exhibited by the teachers, (2) the nature of classroom processes and interactions between teachers and students in an ALE, and (3) the extent to which…

This booklet suggests new methods to personalize supervision by giving teachers and supervisors more concrete techniques and information with which to develop their abilities. Examination of several teaching and supervisory studies provides insights into the supervisory role and teacher behavior. Four models for supervisory practice are suggested.…

The history and utility of category observation instruments are briefly traced; category observation instruments are defined and their essential properties stated; and a sequential strategy for their construction is discussed. (MM)

A study was conducted to analyze the role that nonverbal communication plays in classroom climate. A 40-item classroom communication climate questionnaire was developed, and administered to 76 students and 8 teachers to determine its reliability and validity. After several changes and deletions, the final version of the questionnaire was…

Descriptive data were collected over a two-month period on two middle elementary classrooms to which student teachers had been assigned. From this data typical patterns of teaching/learning behavior were identified for each classroom. The student teachers were then interchanged, and the data collection continued for another two months. Comparison…

These materials will help the educator develop an awareness of nonverbal behavior, which is complimentary to and independent of the verbal realm, to give a complete picture of the classroom. The purpose of the manual is to enable the teacher to identify nonverbal components of behavior, including dimensions other than behavioral of the teacher's…

The verbal behavior of teachers and students in elementary stenography classes is described. Observational data, consisting of the verbal behavior of teachers and students in 30 elementary stenography classes, were categorized and analyzed. From this initial analysis, a basic model of teacher-student behavior was defined. Deviations from the basic…

Data collected in both classroom and open design schools suggest that teacher-pupil interactions in classrooms are not as routine as is often assumed, and that open plan schools may not provide for dynamic and fruitful teacher-teacher interaction to the extent that was earlier thought to be the case. (Author/NQ)

The Critical Teacher Behavior Observation Instrument is currently being tested at the University of California; its function is to help teachers increase knowledge of their teaching so they may determine what teaching skills need to be improved. (JD)

Observation of student teacher behavior was undertaken to determine interpretive and managerial skills necessary for adapting to the environmental demands of classrooms. The five skills isolated were (1) "chunking" (grouping discrete events), (2) differentiation (distinguishing the importance of events), (3) overlap (handling several events at…

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"…

In this paper progress made in the systematic study of science classrooms is examined. Discussion centers on research studies related to three questions: (1) What is the nature of the environment in science classrooms? (2) What inputs to the classroom influence the environment? and (3) What environmental characteristics are related to student…