Systematic Classroom Observation Research Articles

Hungarian inflectional morphology By Daniel Mario Abondolo (review)

BOOK NOTICES Hungarian inflectional morphology. By Daniel Mario Abondolo. (Bibliotheca Urálica, 9.) Budapest: Akad émiai Kiadó, 1988. Pp. 292. $28.00. This is the book for anyone determined to fathom the maze of Hungarian morphophonemics . Abondolo aims at 'economy, thoroughness and consistency', and certainly offers the most complete account to date. The book is a revision of a Columbia University dissertation, and the framework owes much to Robert Austerlitz , to whom the book is dedicated. In its postulation of abstract underlying forms and derivational rules which recapitulate diachronic changes, the approach is germane to generative phonology, though references are few. Thus the nominative madár 'bird' is derived from the underlying form /madara/, the stem-final vowel being dropped and the penultimate vowel lengthened in compensation. No phonological features are used, however; the primitives are phonemic. An introduction (17-28) presents the 'morphophonemic code' in which underlying forms are represented. Ch. 1 (29-83) motivates the root structures and morphophonemic processes assumed for Hungarian: vowel harmony and lengthening, consonant assimilation and gemination . Ch. 2 (84-178) is devoted to verbal morphology and Ch. 3 (179-264) to nominal morphology . The conclusion (265-71) surveys the results achieved and outlines possible extensions to deictic and derivational morphology. A uses some rather original tools. Some functionally -motivated asymmetries in the verbal morphology are treated by representing person features as concentric circles, yielding a particularly elegant account of object agreement and of the occurrence or avoidance of syncretism. Another innovation is the integration of stylistic features such as 'slang' and 'foreign' into the system; the operation of vowel harmony is of interest here. On the surface, the daunting complexity remains : dedicated readers may find their way through the maze but have trouble remembering the route. Phonological theorists may find the framework unnecessarily idiosyncratic. But at the descriptive level this study does offer truly comprehensive coverage of a whole level of grammar, providing a rich storehouse of data against which theoretical claims can be tested. [Stephen Matthews, University of Southern California.] Observation in the language classroom. By Dick Allwright. (Applied linguistics and language study.) London and New York: Longman, 1988. Pp. xvi, 288. When the final report of the Pennsylvania Project was published in 1970, it had already been the subject ofa special issue ofthe Modern Language Journal (vol. 53, no. 6, October 1969). Critics, perhaps disappointed in the finding of no significant differences in student achievement under traditional and audiolingual methods, were particularly unhappy with the Project's techniques of classroom observation. As Allwright points out, 'The time was ripe, then, for an alternative approach to classroom language learning research' (10). The alternative, according to Allwright. came from the general classroom observation system developed by Ned A. Flanders in the early 1960s, a system Flanders called 'interaction analysis'. Although there are no excerpts here from Flanders, his system is repeatedly discussed in passages from other authors, and there is enough information about the Flanders system and its various adaptations to enable teachers and researchers to apply the systems to actual classroom situations, should they choose to do so. Allwright traces changes in the approaches, techniques, and goals of systematic observation in the foreign/second language classroom from the reception of the Pennsylvania Project, through various modifications of the Flanders system, to a 1980 article of his own. The book resembles a carefully-planned 'course packet" with extended excerpts from fifteen articles, each introduced and concluded by a few paragraphs of Allwright's insightful commentary. The 'Follow-up activities and points for discussion ' at the end of each chapter make it clear that this is a textbook for preservice or inservice teacher training. Nevertheless, the overview of the subject Allwright provides may be interesting to those not already familiar with the his183 ...

Sensitivity of Classroom Observation Systems

AbstractClassroom-based measures of teaching effectiveness may be collected at a variety of levels including a macro (teacher-to-group) or a micro (teacher-to-student) level. This study examined correspondence between these two levels of measurement using (a) multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) of extreme groups and (b) whole-sample cluster analysis procedures. Mixed results were found. The MANOVA indicated limited correspondence between macro and micro measures of teaching effectiveness. Cluster analysis, however, failed to show any significant correspondence between macro and micro measures of teaching effectiveness. Instead, results suggested that macro measures tended to separate more effective teachers from all others, whereas micro measures were more useful for separating less effective teachers from all others. These outcomes are discussed in terms of their implications for the purposes of teacher observation, as well as the use to which measurement data are used.

Alternative Feedback Approaches for Improving Student Teachers' Classroom Instruction

Freiberg and Waxman describe three approaches for providing feedback that have not been widely used but have great potential for improving the class room instruction of preservice teachers. The methods include: (a) feedback from pupils, (b) systematic feedback from classroom observation systems, and (c) self-analysis of classroom lessons. The authors argue that these feedback ap proaches, individually or collectively, provide student teachers, cooperating teachers, and university supervisors with excellent data for strengthening the preservice teaching experience.

Multiple staffing and teacher actions: The effect of team teaching in early childhood education

In this paper, I report the results of an ethnographic study on the effects of multiple staffing in an early childhood classroom. Through the use of participant observation and systematic classroom observation, I found that one early childhood educator acted in significantly different ways when her co‐teacher was present in the classroom than she did when the co‐teacher was absent. Three factors—interpersonal relationships, territorial ownership, and differential status characteristics—contributed to the phenomenon of differential behavior. I used, furthermore, the sociological concept of small groups and leadership patterns in them to understand the social dynamics of multiple staffing.

Classroom organisation and interactions of pupils with moderate learning difficulties in mainstream and special schools

Abstract This paper reports a research study which used the technique of systematic classroom observation to describe pupil behaviour and pupil‐teacher and pupil‐pupil interaction in four classrooms in schools for children with moderate learning difficulties. The results are compared with those of a previously published study in mainstream junior‐age classrooms. The results show that a predominantly individualised mode of working with children prevails both in the mainstream and the special school classrooms and also that, despite the smaller class sizes, teachers in the special school classes are even less likely to use whole‐class approaches than those in the mainstream. Conversly they are more likely to use group work. Children in the special school classes receive considerably more individual attention from the teacher than those in the mainstream. Overall levels of pupil‐pupil interaction are similar but in special school classrooms this is less likely to involve more than two children at once.

Practical suggestions for increasing the reliability of classroom observational research

Abstract The increasing use of classroom observation systems for studying reading instruction requires examination of the observation process. Unreliable observation measures severely limit the utility of such research. This paper examines ways to increase reliability using a framework developed by Cronbach. Temporality and generality form a two‐by‐two matrix for sources of variation affecting reliability. Specific examples in each element are addressed.

Perceived Origins of Teaching Behavior

What impact does a teacher education program have as a source of ideas for subsequent teaching practice? To an swer this question, Clark and his col leagues collected "origins" behavior for 71 student teachers and first-year teachers. Through systematic class room observation of the subjects, 1,346 teaching behaviors were observed and analyzed. Immediately after a behavior was exhibited, the teacher described what he or she perceived as the origin of that behavior. The dominant behavior related to instructional activities and the most frequently perceived origin was "my own idea." Few behaviors were attributed by the teachers to their work with university faculty members. The authors discuss the reasons for their findings, and they propose several ways of mitigating the powerful influence of personal experience.

Direct Assessment of Reading Skills: An Approach Which Links Assessment to Intervention

The purpose of this article was to describe a multifaceted assessment paradigm, referred to as direct assessment, for the diagnosis and planning of remediation for reading and related learning difficulties. To accomplish this purpose, we outlined the process and the content of the direct assessment paradigm. Specifically, the process of direct assessment was described as experimental in nature and involves testing-the-limits and trial teaching techniques. The content discussed includes behavior checklists, classroom observation systems for reading and instruction, and informal reading inventories. It was concluded that direct assessment can direct interventions.

Convergent and discriminant validity of five classroom observation systems: A secondary analysis.

Convergent and discriminant validity of five classroom observation systems: A secondary analysis.

Convergent and discriminant validity of five classroom observation systems: A secondary analysis.

Convergent and discriminant validity of five classroom observation systems: A secondary analysis.

Systematic Classroom Observation: British Research

Summary A survey published in 1970 by Simon and Boyer, two American researchers; contained some 79 ‘observation systems’ ‐ sets of instructions or categories which the researcher can use to note down what is happening in the classroom he is observing. Of these, only two were British in origin. The information for this article is derived from a survey of 41 native British systems currently in use (Galton, 1978). In contrast with most of the American studies, which are geared to formal classroom climates, many of the British studies are concerned with the more flexible type of classroom and teaching methods. This perhaps will be one of the distinctive contributions of British researchers to this field, where there is always a danger that formal methods of teaching will receive more attention and seem more productive simply because, by their very nature, they are more amenable to observation and validation. At the same time, much of the British research is simply descriptive, and there is a need for more stu...

Convergent and discriminant validity of five classroom observation systems: Testing a model.

Convergent and discriminant validity of five classroom observation systems: Testing a model.

Counseling and intellectual giftedness

My work of research with the gifted children has been at all times fascinating intellectual as well as emotional experience. Ever so often I have wondered: what could be the feelings and emotions of those even more closely related to the gifted than myself, a researcher? How do the parents, the siblings, the teachers and the peers of the gifted feel? How do the gifted themselves feel about their giftedness? Some years ago, I did some research on gifted children and their parents, with the purpose of finding out more about the personality of gifted children and the inter-relations between them and their parents. But the children and their parents were given an identical battery of tests. Observing one family at work I saw them answering one of the Torrance creativity tests questions, namely: ' I f a dense fog was to cover the earth and all one would see are people's feet, what would happen in the world then?' The task was to write as many ideas concerning the possible consequences of such a hypothetical situation. All three mother, father and Jonathan tackled the task very enthusiastically; then father slowed down and came to a full stop; mother was still writing a while, but soon she too stopped; Jonathan was still in full vigor, writing away idea after idea. Father suddenly lit up with a thought, mother felt she had drained her store of ideas, but Jonathan was going on and on till the interviewer called their attention to the next question. Overhearing the 'comparing notes' after the test, Jonathan's greater richness of ideas in comparison to his parents' was prominent. How did Jonathan's parents feel? In another research on gifted, while doing systematic classroom observations, I was struck one day witnessing the following incident in a 3rd grade class. The teacher had presented the class with an arithmetic problem and the answer instantly popped out of a little curly headed boy whose name I later found out to be David, sitting in the front row. The teacher threw him a look of annoyance and posed a new but similar problem. This time David kept his answer at the tip of his tongue for a while till it burst out. The teacher, reprimanding him, said: 'David, I do not want you to shout immediate answers, I want you all to 'think" through the problem'. David sat still during the

Convergent and discriminant validity of five classroom observation systems: Testing a model.

Convergent and discriminant validity of five classroom observation systems: Testing a model.

Teacher awareness of classroom dyadic interactions

Systematic classroom observation has frequently been used to provide teachers with feedback as to the type and frequency of their interactions with students. This process assumes that teachers are unaware of their interaction patterns; however, this assumption has seldom been tested directly. In order to test this hypothesis, the interactions between teachers and individual students in 30 classrooms were observed. Immediately following these observations teachers were asked to estimate the frequency of occurrence of various types of interactions. The results indicated a general lack of awareness of the frequency of occurrence of the types of interactions observed.

Experimental validation of two classroom observation systems.

Experimental validation of two classroom observation systems.

Experimental validation of two classroom observation systems.

Experimental validation of two classroom observation systems.

An Observational Method in the Foreign Language Classroom: A Closer Look at Interaction Analysis

ABSTRACT Many classroom observation systems have been developed, including Flanders' interaction analysis. This system provides feedback to teachers about ten teacher‐student verbal behavior categories. Data collected by observers are entered into a matrix which reveals ratios of the categories. Moskowitz's modification of interaction analysis (Foreign Language Interaction or Flint) expands Flanders to twenty‐two categories. Both systems are deficient in accuracy, reliability, and practicality. Many be‐ havior categories are open to multiple interpretations. The number of categories observed, the rapid decisions made about frequently changing behaviors, and the necessity of recording data while verifying the passage of time make the observers' tasks difficult. The manner in which the data reliability is obtained is questionable. Researchers neglect instance by instance interactions; rather, by using Scott's coefficient, only summary data are considered. The time required to master these systems, the complexities of the category ratios and matrices, and the personal biases of teachers who observe themselves are all issues of practical concern. Further, there are serious methodological weaknesses in the research done thus far to evaluate these systems. Practitioners of interaction analysis and FLint must recognize the various problems of these methods before using them in research and training programs.

Classroom Observation of Children with Learning ond Behavior Problems

Twenty-four boys under evaluation for school learning or behavior problems were observed in their public school primary classrooms over a period of six days each. Observable behavior was compared with that of male peers in the same reading or math group. Findings indicated that target subjects were significantly different in on-task behavior and in frequency of teacher response to their behavior. Results suggested certain uses of systematic classroom observation as a screening technique.

Convergent and discriminant validation of three classroom observation systems: A proposed model.

Convergent and discriminant validation of three classroom observation systems: A proposed model.