Greg MacDonald leaves no stone unturned as he places the complexity of second-plane observation into one coherent vision that includes the fundamentals of self-construction, the essential field of observation (freedom of work within the prepared environment), the role of the human tendencies, the construction of developmental facets, and the…

This paper provides an account of the methodological approach of a study designed to address some fundamental questions relating to formative assessment. The paper reports on the use of a critically quasi-ethnographic approach and describes the practicalities of adopting such an approach. The validity of the study is also considered, reflecting on…

This article describes a new construct for coding the social communicative performance of school-aged children as they interact with peers and teachers in the classroom. The Social Communication Coding System (SCCS) allows clinicians a way of describing how children actually spend their time during the school day by observing ongoing behaviors…

The article presents a rationale for naturalistic assessment of young handicapped and nonhandicapped children in the classroom. Observation of such areas as cognitive activity, materials use, sustained activity, activity variation, adaptive environment, and classroom structure are encouraged. Four alternative assessment procedures are presented,…

We have been exploring the potential of a web-supported professional development system, the Inquiry Learning Forum (ILF), that integrates videotaped classrooms and discussion forums for use in preservice science methods classrooms. This article examines pre- and inservice teachers' perceptions about using the ILF and how their participation in…

The study presents a methodology for collecting detailed naturalistic data on preschool teachers' instructions and children's compliance as well as a descriptive analysis of variables related to instruction rate and compliance probability. The study also illustrates the effects of context on teacher and child behavior. (Author/DB)

This monograph addresses the issues in phenomenology as applied to educational research. The first chapter discusses problems with the following traditional goals of scientific methodology when applied by social scientists to educational research: measurement, control, objectivity, generalizability, and prediction. The second chapter explains the…

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)

The current study describes preschool teacher-child interactions during several commonly scheduled classroom activities in which teachers deliver instructions. An observation system was developed that incorporated measurement of evidence-based compliance strategies and included the types of instructions delivered (e.g., integral or deficient…

An ethnographic approach with added quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis was used to study the extent and nature of technology-based materials in 15 elementary school mathematics classrooms. The blend of methods provided rich and varied information and gave insights either type of analysis could not provide alone. (SLD)

Observing young children learning is an indispensable part of teaching in the early years and this is clearly acknowledged in the "Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage." It is through observing and assessing learning that one can find out what children know and what skills and concepts they appear to have acquired. In this…

A teacher educator took over a high school physics teachers' class for a semester in exchange for the physics teacher taking over his university physics methods classes. The paper presents the perceptions of people involved in the experience. Students at both schools accepted the situation well. University students, invited to observe their…