Examines differences among speech behavior-social evaluation relationships as a function of whether the evaluator's perspective was that of a participant or an observer and, if the latter, whether the presentational medium involved an audiovisual, audio-only, or transcriptual recording. (RAE)

Discusses ways in which teacher supervision and observation can help teachers to explore and see teaching as a process through such methods as taping and transcribing class activities, grouping tape or transcription excerpts, arriving at a common language to discuss them, and making multiple interpretations about them. (Author/CB)

Several reference librarians respond to the Hernon and McClure study on the accuracy of library reference services. Highlights include problems with the methodology used (unobtrusive observation), and performance factors not addressed by the study. Comments by Hernon and McClure address these responses and ways to improve reference services are…

Assessed the criterion validity of the Relational Communication Control Coding System. Undergraduates listened to audiotaped interactions of a pair they were told were husband and wife, or a counselor and client, each loaded with a symmetrical or complementary communication control pattern. Subjects' perceptions of the control patterns were…

Presents two methods of enhancing therapeutic relationships through having special education teachers observe and use students' verbal and nonverbal behaviors during social interactions. Discusses how teachers can identify students' predominant sensory modalities used to communicate experiences and can adopt behaviors similar to their students'…

Describes how curriculum specialists and supervisors can use two generic observation categories of effective teaching--development and management of lessons and presentation of subject matter--to identify quality teaching of writing across grade levels. (SRT)

Presents teachers' and students' criticisms of teacher preparation programs at the University of Illinois, Northern Illinois University, and New Mexico State University and of student teaching in particular. (SRT)

Analyzes the structure of young children's social comparison exchanges in two preschool settings, focusing on the precursory and sequent phases of social comparison exchanges manifested by young children during play in preschool. (HOD)

Using the Classroom Behavior Inventory, teachers rated the behaviors of 63 school-identified, learning-disabled first and second graders. Hierarchical cluster analysis techniques identified seven distinct behavioral subtypes. Internal validation techniques indicated that the subtypes were replicable and had profile patterns different from a sample…

Reading and writing assessment which focuses on fragmented, isolated skills provides little information about how children actually read and write. An holistic alternative, the systematic observation of children's reading and writing behavior as they occur in natural settings, is discussed. (Author/CB)

Examines measurement and method designs for improving the research on teaching. Outlines four variables for assessing teacher research: presage; context; process; and product. Recommends research that moves beyond the traditional emphasis on teacher behavior to an emphasis on the product of teaching, student outcomes. (KH)

Examines the effect of an unfamiliar peer in a situation requiring a subject's separation from mother in order to play with attractive toys. Observation of 20 children 18 months old and 20 children 30 months old revealed that peer presence facilitated initial separation for both ages, but that age differences in subsequent behaviors existed. (CB)

Using 77 junior high school students in two mathematics classes, this study investigated sex differences in interaction patterns and achievement in small cooperative learning groups. Results related to the male-female ratio in a group. Explanations for these results and consequences for group composition in the classroom are discussed. (BS)

Reports results of an experiment using peer observation of teachers as part of the evaluation process. The study indicates that a large number of evaluators will produce fair and just evaluations of their peers, with any kind of bias leveling out. Thus, by implication, a small evaluation team could be dangerous. Discusses the improbability of…

Seventy fifth-grade students in Australia were observed as each solved a jigsaw puzzle. Boys obtained higher scores on a measure of cognitive style and took less time to complete the jigsaw task; the two measures were significantly correlated. Uses of tangrams are also discussed. (MNS)