The System for the Classroom Observation of Teaching Strategies (SCOTS) is described. The schedule requires a higher level of inference by the observer than many researchers may find acceptable. The paper argues that inference can be controlled within acceptable limits and that issues of objectivity and subjectivity are very complex. The SCOTS…

This report details a research intervention plan designed to test the hypothesis that increases in student teacher use of Active Teacher Behaviors (ATB) need not rest upon intensive or even extensive training involving cooperating and student teachers. A review of literature on the best methods of effecting change in teaching behaviors so as to…

Theoretical conceptions of the value of social pretend play in the socialization process have focused on two potentially different mediating factors: play enactment and negotiation of the rules for play. In this study, observational measures of enactment were distinguished from negotiation so as to examine their independent and joint relations to…

This naturalistic study of teacher educators explored the differences between the attitudes of methods teachers and instructional development (ID) teachers toward ID and teacher education. Three faculty members were interviewed in depth, and brief questionnaires were sent to seven faculty members in each of the two fields; responses were received…

Observing the composing processes of students working over real time in naturalistic settings, two exploratory studies asked: (1) What skills and assumptions do freshman and advanced writers invoke when they are searching for information to be used in writing? (2) What strategies and goals do students bring to a typical writing-from-sources task…

A prototype low inference observation instrument to measure minimal teaching competencies of teaching candidates was deductively developed. Focus is on determining if observers could be trained to use the observation instrument with a high degree of reliability and validity. The instrument, entitled Classroom Observation and Assessment Scale for…

A study was designed to develop a comprehensive approach to observing teaching in early childhood settings. A systematic method of observing developmentally appropriate and inappropriate behaviors was sought. The result was a comprehensive model based on Gordon's (1968) conceptualization of instruction. The model proposes that presage variables,…

Techniques for improving college teaching are presented, noting higher education faculty are being encouraged to evaluate and improve their teaching effectiveness in the classroom. Traditionally, faculty have relied upon student evaluations as a primary means for assessing and improving their teaching effectiveness. Literature on faculty…

The linking of research and action, basic methods of social research, and the uses of research in distance teaching are examined, with examples drawn from the Lesotho Distance Teaching Centre and other distance teaching programs. Ways in which research can be useful and early stages of research design and planning are discussed. An explanation of…

Using ethnographic research techniques, a study examined the nature of the process whereby a three-member collaborative writing group responded to literature and to each other through a local area network (LAN) and also generated a group composition. The three subjects--of varied educational backgrounds--discussed questions associated with a novel…

In a study of children's moral development, four toddlers and their mothers were observed at home approximately every three weeks when toddlers were 13-23 months of age. Six behavioral signs of children's awareness of standards were coded: (1) proud looks, achievement smiles, statements of accomplishment; (2) awareness of, interest in, and…

Findings from three studies that used a laboratory procedure to assess individual differences in various dimensions of infant temperament in relation to later Brazelton scores are presented. Participants included 59 healthy, full-term and sick, preterm infants. The sick, preterm infants included infants who developed respiratory or neurological…

Classroom and playground behaviors of 95 integrated mildly intellectually handicapped and mildly disabled students were compared with those of 95 nonhandicapped, age- and sex-matched regular class students. All subjects attended state government primary schools and were between 8 and 13 years of age. Subjects' behavior was observed in the…

This article examines first discusses the three components of clinical supervision: (1) the planning conference; (2) the six steps of observation; and (3) the meeting with the teacher to analyze and interpret data as well as to reach decisions about alternatives, changes, and resolutions for future efforts by the teacher. Four approaches involving…

Techniques are proposed for informally assessing oral communication skills in learning disabled adolescents. A feedback sheet uses direct observation by the teacher while the self-rating scale uses an indirect form of observation by the student. Theoretical premises of the two measures are noted. The Communication Feedback Sheet is designed to…