This paper is about examining life in classrooms. Authentic recording and interpretation of the complexities of classroom life have long been both fascinating and challenging for researchers. Typically, such research has been expensive, time-consuming and susceptible to claims that its intrusiveness pollutes the authenticity of the very context…

Explains the shadow-study observation record of a child's daily actions in an educational environment, describing the processes involved in the shadow-study technique. Suggests that the shadow study is suitable for use in any early-childhood classroom for a variety of purposes, providing valuable information to teachers and researchers. (JPB)

Proposes a methodology for the naturalistic investigation of classroom environments in primary schools. Maintains that this approach is derived from a critique of the work of classroom ecologist Walter Doyle. Proposes suggestions for empirical research methods for naturalistic investigation. (CFR)

A naturalistic study investigated writing-related teacher planning and classroom activities in a combined second and third grade classroom and a sixth grade classroom. Data were collected from participant observation, teachers' reflections on classroom writing, and naturally occurring teacher and student writing samples. The study, which was based…

Concerned with the interaction between teacher writing values and classroom writing instruction, this report describes a naturalistic study of writing-related activities and teacher attitudes in a combined second and third grade classroom and a sixth grade classroom. It presents descriptions and analyses of seven occasions for writing that…

An instrument used to assess educational environments for computers as new tools for teaching and learning was studied in grades 2, 3, and 4 of the Atlanta (Georgia) Public Schools (APS) in May 1990. The instrument contained 46 items indexing: (1) the immediate and expanded spaces for the computer stations; (2) the presence of software and…