Discusses some ways teachers can better understand their students through interviewing on a one-to-one basis. (CS)

Some suggestions on how teachers can become better facilitators of learning in the classroom by sensitizing their listening skills and increasing their use of divergent questioning techniques. (CS)

This critique of James Gallagher's Topic Classification System (TCS), a tool of categorizing teacher-pupil classroom interaction, suggests revision of the system asking for more complete analysis of the data obtained with it, but recommends its use in future investigations especially in view of its organization and the "unique elements"…

This study examines the relationship between covert decisions by teachers and classroom behavior. The decisions of 12 classroom teachers were analyzed through stimulated recall and content analysis techniques. Results indicate that there is a clear and powerful relationship between thought and action. A majority of covert decisions led to…

The study compared the cognitively oriented teacher pupil interactions observed in a sample of 10 intermediate special classes for educable mentally retarded children with those observed in 10 regular third grade classes in the same schools. Examined were differences between samples in the rate of interaction, cognitive level, and distribution of…

Compared was the relative effectiveness of two teacher questioning styles on the motivation and learning of eight intermediate educable mentally retarded pupils. Interactive process data and pupil achievement on a recall posttest were examined for two different types of lessons: one utilizing "episodic" questions (that encouraged the child to…

This research examined the nature of the "self-fulfilling prophecy" by investigating how the gradual accumulation of information and the relationship of the source and content of information may affect teachers' perceptions and ratings of trust, social ability, and academic ability of individual students. The study sought to answer two…

The assumption that question-answer sequences consist of two moves was examined using data from recordings of second-grade classrooms in Austin, Texas. Interactions initiated by children's spontaneous questions in informal, small group settings were evaluated. Twenty-nine dialogue samples are presented and analyzed. Four issues in the study of…

This report, addressed to the broad audience of cognitive scientists, examines research on cognitive change. In the introduction, background considerations are made, previous research is reviewed, and the report itself is outlined. The first chapter, "Finding Goals Outside the Laboratory," discusses how laboratory tasks can obscure research goals…

This paper describes an instrument designed to yield quick and reliable data on cognitive processes in classroom interactions; techniques of applying the instrument to classroom situations; findings on the reliability of the instrument; and implications for its uses as a research instrument or, when coupled with the paradigms developed by Nelson,…