This study investigated the effect of types of orienting activities and practice on achievement, continuing motivation, and student behaviors in a cooperative-learning environment. Learning groups composed of graduate students viewed three instructional television lessons, which included advance organizers, objectives and verbal information, or…

Describes the integrated package of mathematical assessment (Work projects, Progress activities, Self-regulating elements, and Observation) used with (n=4) secondary school teachers. Teachers focused on three levels of observation: local aims; general aims; and intentions, attitudes, and confidence as evidence of improved classroom environment.…

Reviews research literature leading to design of a new LOGO environment, Geo-LOGO, tailored for elementary students' learning of geometry. Presents empirical data from the first field test of the Geo-LOGO environment, which generally support the efficacy of the software design. (Author/MKR)

Describes specific problems related to the issues of confidentiality and subjectivity in a qualitative research project concerning social dynamics in a music education classroom. Argues that the nature of the observer/participant relationship creates complex problems involving confidentiality and subjectivity. (MJP)

In a year-long participant observation study of remediative action following child injury, 61 children ages 8 and 9 and their mothers wrote records and, in biweekly interviews, reported on more than 1,000 minor injuries. Found that remediative action was related to type of child activity and to mother's affect and beliefs. (MDM)

Describes a class demonstration of observer bias in which students were led to believe what the research data would indicate. Reports that students reported trends consistent with the expectancy. Asserts that the demonstration had a strong and memorable effect on students and has value for demonstrating observer bias. (CFR)

Reports on the Ecole Moderne, a French educational reform movement that began in the 1920s that views technology as a tool. Through a review of the literature, interviews with leaders of the Freinet movement, and observations of Freinet classrooms in France, the impact of modern technology on the Ecole Moderne movement and implications for…

Examined the interrelationships among three major components of classroom teaching: subject matter content knowledge, classroom management, and instructional practices. Observations of a middle school science teacher found that the teacher's limited knowledge of science content and strict classroom order resulted in heavy dependence on the…

Conducted a study to examine the influence of grouping, by means of cooperative learning, on elementary preservice teachers' (n=84) science teaching efficacy. Confirms the relative superiority of heterogeneous cooperative learning. Concludes that a well-designed science teaching methods experience can enhance the development of science teaching…

Used multiple-choice instruments and classroom observations of elementary education majors (n=116) to examine the importance of cooperative incentives and heterogeneous grouping in cooperative learning. Results indicate no differences in the achievement of students in the group accountability and individual accountability conditions and do not…

Observation of an adult literacy class and participant interviews yielded data about the teaching context, session organization, types of teacher questions, patterns of questioning, and student perceptions. Analysis using critical theory concluded that teachers may aim to establish democratic processes, but practical questioning strategies may…

Children can better understand the United Nations' role as a peacekeeper if they have some experience at it themselves. This activity for grades 4 to 6 demonstrates that the battles on the schoolground are not so different from those in the wider world. Includes a bingo gameboard and worksheet. (LZ)

Participant-observation research was conducted in the home care components of a free-standing inpatient facility associated with several hospice organizations over three years. The data are reported using negotiated order theory as a framework for understanding the hospice movement and its attempts to change the experience of dying. (JPS)

Examines ways in which elementary school teachers organize their workplace behaviors as they respond to computers in their schools. Data was collected via extensive observation and formal interviewing in nine elementary schools. Findings revealed that teachers shape the meaning of computer technology through avoidance, integration, and technical…

Contributions of the methodological procedures and principles offered by Labov and Gumperz are evaluated, especially regarding the problem of observer effect in community-level investigations of linguistic minorities. The need for accountability and openness in data collection and analysis procedures is emphasized. (39 references) (Author/LB)