Advocate the use of repeated applications of inventories of approaches to learning as an appropriate technique for the evaluation of educational innovations. Presents three case studies that use the Study Process Questionnaire (J. Biggs, 1987) to show how the measure can be used for innovations in naturalistic settings. (SLD)

Discussion of how to teach students to use different environments for learning focuses on visual awareness and visual problem solving skills in a visual literacy walk. Highlights include observation techniques, multiple perspectives, categorizing and analyzing visual information, and generating multiple solutions for problem solving tasks. (six…

Uses empirical data from an obtrusive study of reference performance to explore the content validity of and assumptions about unobtrusive studies. Changes needed to improve unobtrusive studies of reference services are discussed, including the development of test questions representing all types of queries and supplementing the correct fill rate…

The metaphysical assumptions undergirding conventional (positivist) approaches to research in the social sciences provide a warrant both for deceptive research and for objectifying human research participants. The present status of ethical guidelines for inquiry are reviewed. Special ethical problems typical of naturalistic inquiry are outlined.…

Examines the correlations among measures of social cognition, social competence, and naturalistic social behaviors of 23 kindergartners. Negative or aggressive comments were significantly related to performance on the test of social cognition. Rating scales completed by the teacher emerged as the most accurate gauges of observed social behaviors.…

Observations of children ages birth to five years were collected in seven states before and after implementation of legislation requiring use of passenger safety devices. Among results were observed increases in safe seating for children ages one-five in four of the five states implementing legislation during this study. (JW)

The study assessed the efficacy of a method of quantifying observations of blind clients made by orientation and mobility instructors. Client problems were observed for street crossings, bumps, stumbles, orientation, and drop-offs. (DB)

Videocameras and wireless microphones were used to study the peer relations of aggressive and nonaggressive children on playgrounds at two schools. Aggressive children were found to be verbally and physically aggressive once every 3 and 8 minutes, respectively, while nonaggressive children were found to be verbally and physically aggressive once…

This naturalistic study examined the classroom collaborative play activities of nine preschoolers with hearing impairments and language delays, but without sign-language skills. Findings indicated the children constructed collaborative play episodes which incorporated role, action, and object transformations using a nonverbal metacommunication…

Ethnographic fieldwork is advocated as two ways for student affairs educators to enhance practice. Recent fieldwork and published ethnographic texts about college students are used to illustrate three benefits: (1) access to students' experience and culture; (2) access to student and campus culture; (3) enhance practice through informed…

Collecting outdoor adventurers' stories for research is best done using the naturalistic inquiry paradigm. This type of hypothesis-free investigation, used in the study of folklore, requires maintaining the normal storytelling context while meeting scholarly demands for reliability and validity. Choice of focus and site, the participant-observer…

Infant imitation is considered a significant component of social, cognitive, and language development. Observation of 20 infants and their mothers in 2 naturalistic settings at 4 separate ages revealed dyads' imitation and matching in vocal, verbal and action behaviors. Verbal matching increased over the second year, suggesting relation of dyads'…

This paper reports results of intensive field work in urban high school mathematics and science classrooms based on research with students attending eight high schools located in large, disparate urban sites across the U.S. During the course of our observations and interviews we recorded students' activities as well as their impressions of…

Researchers who have investigated the public understanding of science have argued that fictional cinema and television has proven to be particularly effective at blurring the distinction between fact and fiction. The rationale for this study lies in the notion that to teach science effectively, educators need to understand how popular culture…

A year-long naturalistic case study investigated teacher-initiated change efforts in language arts by examining the experiences and influences of a single sixth-grade teacher. The teacher was observed in multiple contexts (both in and out of her school), interacting with varying groups of individuals, not all of which were located within the…