There is considerable agreement about the fact that the presence of researchers in the classroom mediates teaching and learning. Why "should" two very different forms of human activity, one designed to study the other, interact and mediate each other? In this article, we propose cultural-historical activity theory as a framework for understanding…

The main purpose of this study was to explore teacher-student verbal interaction in the secondary level classes using the Flanders Interaction Analysis system (FIA). Its findings and conclusions may stimulate teachers at the secondary level to improve their teaching behaviour in order to maximize students' learning.

The use of Kruskal's nonmetric multidimensional scaling model for analysis of classroom interaction data is discussed. Four distance models are proposed which lead to multidimensional representation of single sequences, sets of sequences, and behavior categories using symmetric and conditional proximity options of the model. Results of application…

Describes a method with data analyzed from two lessons on the quantitative assessment of content structure in classroom dialogue. Kinetic structure analysis was used and the fundamental coefficient of structure was calculated for each lesson. The method should provide new directions for looking at verbal interaction in classrooms. (PS)

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)

The Munby system for coding classroom interaction is an observation system constructed to study the intellectual consequences of varying kinds of science teaching behaviors. The initial use of the system called for making judgments about small portions of teaching, arbitrarily determined from a transcript of the teaching in question. Recent work…

Study was conducted to explore patterns of verbal interaction in science classrooms. Pupil characteristics were measured in the beginning and towards the end of instructional term. Four patterns of outcomes, communication, and pupil characteristics were found. These are named as success, rejection dependency, person orientation and alienation…

To help teachers develop an awareness of how they structure a discussion, an instrument was constructed called the Assessment of Classroom Interaction Dynamics (ACID). Two expert judges and 26 trainees then participated in a study (1) to estimate interrater reliability between expert judges in the use of the ACID, (2) to assess the validity of the…

Though the need for a language or languages to describe teacher behavior has been recognized for some time, few systems of analysis exist. A conceptual framework and a set of terms have been developed to describe the messages students and teachers send and receive in second language classrooms. This system is called FOCUS (an acronym for Foci for…

Background: After the failure of several important methods comparison studies in the 1960s, the influence of interaction analysis stimulated interest in foreign language classroom processes. More careful observational studies gradually revealed which process variables were of interest. Also, there has been much research on teacher talk, with a…

During the 60's, systems for the observation of classroom behavior have become an important area of educational research. Many new systems have been devised both for the evaluation of teaching techniques and for basic research into teaching processes. In the development of such systems the investigator must determine what behaviors are to be…