In this article, the author describes her use of service-learning as a pedagogical strategy for developing preservice students' dispositions for urban teaching. Twenty-one students were enrolled in a multicultural education course with a service-learning requirement. This was the students' first teacher education course in a two-year,…

The research in this paper explores the possibilities of challenging preservice teachers' mathematical beliefs through a specifically designed early field experience intended to encourage both reflective analysis and instructional skill acquisition. The subjects in this one-semester study were 25 preservice elementary teachers at a small, private,…

This paper argues that while organizational research includes a diverse array of naturalistic approaches, a gap exists in the organizational literature that can only be filled by the ethnography of communication (EC). The paper proposes that, instead of using speech to do qualitative research, speech itself should be studied as the topic of…

This study examined children's attention to formal features and other attributes during television viewing. Subjects were 40 children, ages 2, 5, 8 and 11 years old, who were videotaped watching television at home during a 10-day period. Among other attributes, children's visual attention to television was coded, along with television program…

Observing children is a task teachers and caregivers perform to understand the unique characteristics of each child. Observation alone can be helpful, but in combination with record keeping it becomes a valuable aid to understanding child development and can be used as a basis for making decisions about appropriate experiences to foster each…

Examined were preschoolers' naturally occurring behaviors during their attempts to gain, maintain, and regain materials, space, and peers' attention/interaction in the classroom. The major question addressed was, Are there differences between "most" and "least" competent preschoolers in terms of (1) frequency and type of…

This paper reports the results of the validity studies done on the Five P's (Parent/Professional Preschool Performance Profile), an assessment tool for parents and teachers developed by the Variety Preschooler's Workshop (Syosset, New York) to rate young handicapped children functioning between birth and 5 years of age on their observed…

A naturalistic study of 112 families in two parks examined proximity and touching between family members as a function of age and sex of child, sex of parent, and family composition variables. Mothers and fathers were strikingly similar in their behavior. Distance from parent increased and touching decreased as age of child increased from the…

Four professional observers watched videotapes of the behavior of ex-mental patients (N=20 each). Their recordings showed that the observers were sensitive to any atypical behavior on the part of patients with whom they were familiar. They were equally objective in their observation of behavior of unfamiliar patients. (SE)

The first author criticizes the outcome measures used in a previous behavior modification study. The authors of the latter study answer the criticism by discussing the merits and disadvantages of outcome measures used in various behavior therapy studies. (SE)

This study assessed the nature of the conceptual schemas used by elementary school students in observing the behavior of peers. The results indicate that elementary school students use a comprehensive, understandable conceptual schema, discrepant from the schema used by teachers, but reliable. (JMB)

Topics under examination in this article are: what we evaluate and why, humane and scientific evaluation, a plan for classroom visits, and the department as a medley of teaching excellence. (ND)

Gives illustrations for experiences designed to help intermediate (grade 6) children learn to follow directions. Activities, in the form of five stations contained in one classroom, were developed with each activity focused on a different approach to problem solving and observation. (PEB)