This research employs a mixed theoretical perspective drawing on elements from interactionism and social constructivism. In this study, a discourse analysis is performed on conversations among intra- and inter-institutional mathematics and science teaching faculty participating in reforming content classes for teacher candidates in the Maryland…

A year-and-a-half of ethnographic fieldwork in a primarily African-American neighborhood suggests that praxis and ethnographic methods can be stirred together to produce empowering literacy artifacts and discourse in the community. Originally a Marxist notion, praxis requires researchers to understand how people characterize their own situations…

Two education professors conducting research on the curriculum planning at a high school near Boise (Idaho) found that their status as observer and/or participant in discussions among teachers, administrators and parents made things more difficult. Usually in ethnography it is assumed that the hard part is to achieve insider status--to be accepted…

A composition scholar conducted a study of peer response groups in a freshmen composition course to determine what leads to conflict among students in these groups. In the course of her study, however, she found herself deeply perplexed by conflicting roles she had to play as a participant/observer. The ethnographer as a participant/observer is,…

The Comer School Development Program is a reform model aimed at creating a positive school climate. Research has confirmed that specific Comer characteristics, such as an orderly, well-maintained facility, classroom diversity, and staff friendliness, can be observed. This study uses the Comer Visitor Observation instrument to determine whether…

The affective relationship between six male and one female preschool-aged autistic children and their parents was studied by employing a method enabling systematic analysis of parent/child interaction. Children ranged in age from 3 years, 7 months to 6 years, 4 months. Through use of the Bank Interaction Coding System (BICS), behaviorial sequences…

To determine how parent behaviors affect children's anxiety and coping responses, and to assess how children's behaviors affect parental functioning in stressful medical settings, 50 children between 4 and 10 years of age, who were seen as outpatients in the Pediatric Clinics at Shands Teaching Hospital at the Unviersity of Florida, were…

A step-by-step primer is presented that introduces the reader to ethnography and its practical applications, then guides the reader through each stage of the ethnographic inquiry process (initial steps, observation, interviews, data analysis, leaving the site, and reporting the findings). The concrete guidelines and suggestions help the reader…

The Canadian College of Family Physicians has conducted certification examinations in which instructors observed physicians interviewing patients in another room equipped with one-way mirrors. An experimental study comparing evaluations of physicians by this method with those in which examiners sat in the same room revealed no differences between…

Reports results of studies dealing with the use of storage shelves versus toy boxes and limited versus free access to toys. (ED)

Both teachers and students can use experimental research methods in the classroom. (JR)

The author, a student adviser in a Student Support Services (TRIO) program, took an introductory psychology course in order to study students' note-taking behaviors. The most important finding was that students copied the terminology the instructor wrote on the board, but failed to take notes on the examples he used to clarify the terms.…

Presents one teacher's observations on the activities happening in the writing and drawing classes in New York's P. S. 84. (RB)

This study compared the typing efficiency of four young children (5 to 6 years of age) who were novice typists on the Dvork and QWERTY keyboards. A copying program on an Apple IIc microcomputer functioned as the training instrument. Although the children did not acquire proficient touch typing skills, they did type accurate responses faster, keep…