Describes a positive method of studying children which gives insight into the differences between "privileged" and "underprivileged", and makes possible analysis of the development of a logical concept (number). Preschool children were observed as they interacted in a controlled group situation. (ED)

This article illustrates how data on second language learning can contribute to linguistic theory and to teaching procedure. (AM)

One explanation of the disproportionately low percentage of women in school administration is the commonly held assumption that men are better managers than women. As a test of this assumption, the task performances of five female high school principals were described, analyzed, and compared with those of five male high school principals. Data…

The Job Characteristics Model proposed by Hackman and his associates postulates that positive personal and work outcomes are derived from five core job dimensions: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback from the job. The effects of the number of workers (work group size) and the number of tasks (task size) on…

Using structured observation, researchers carried out a field study of the work behavior of five elementary school principals in two northeastern states. Each principal was observed for one work week. The results were compared with similar observations of secondary principals. The observers recorded the nature, location, time, duration,…

A study of technology students' understanding and learning in mechanics is reported, which was carried out at the Swedish Chalmers University of Technology, in the School of Mechanical Engineering. Data were collected on one group of students' progress through the required courses, and include regular examinations, interviews, a learning session,…

Narrative observations were made of kindergarten through fourth grade students' challenges of their peers' inappropriate behavior and of the responses made to the challenges. Approximately 90 hours of observation in 10 classrooms yielded 728 occasions in which an interchange began with one child challenging another. Three types of responses to…

This paper discusses playfulness and creativity and draws educational implications. The suggestions in the paper are intended to provide a rationale for incorporating foolish interludes, humor, flexibility, and the playful side of human nature into classrooms to stimulate creative thinking in young people today. Play is described as a mode of…

The Coping Analysis Schedule for Educational Settings (CASES), an observation instrument to identify students' primary coping or interaction styles, was evaluated with 44 educable mentally retarded (EMR), learning disabled (LD), or normal children (7 to 11 years old). CASES is intended to be a quantitative tool for collecting the data required…

The effects of an instigator's and a respondent's disclosure on impressions of the revealing respondent were examined in a pair of experiments. The first experiment assessed the effects of both own and other's disclosure on a participant perceiver. After meeting a confederate partner, female undergraduate subjects (N=83) were induced to make an…

Several factors thought to influence the representativeness of behavioral assessment data were examined in an analogue study employing a multifactorial design. Systematic and unsystematic methods of observing group behavior were investigated using 18 male and 18 female observers. Additionally, valence properties of the observed behaviors were…

Three basic conceptual issues that underlie studies of the content of instruction are explored in this paper. These include the need to reach a common definition of the concept of content of instruction, to undertake a serious analysis of the taxonomies presently employed in studies of content, and to critically examine the units of observation…

Important aspects of field research in education were discussed at this seminar. A wide spectrum of topics included the theoretical foundations of field methodology, information gathering, access, validity, reliability, interpretation and explanation, limits of methods, ethical issues, and approaches to write-up and presentation of data. Four…

The purpose of this teacher resource paper is to assist preschool teachers in (1) interpreting the interactions of children in terms of educational growth, (2) insuring that planned interactions will stimulate growth related to program goals, and (3) developing realistic expectations of children. Three topics are discussed. In Topic A the reader…