Research & Analysis
Chapter One
Classroom Life
Key Terms
• Subject-matter
knowledge
• Action-system
knowledge
• Motivation
• Classroom
Management
• Instruction
• Expectations
• Qualitative approach
• Quantitative approach
• Reliability of
observations
• Anecdotal records
• Running records
• Time sampling
• Event sampling
Five Dimensions of Teaching and Learning
Multidimensionality- records & schedules/single
event…..many consequences (waiting helps
motivate---can cause loss of interest)
Simultaneity-many things happen at one time
Immediacy-events happen rapidly and need a
response
Unpredictability and Public Nature of
Classrooms- attitude & response affects climate
History- common understandings develop early
& can influence rest of year (what you think of
your students; what they think of you)
Types of Knowledge
• Subject-Matter knowledge----Knowledge about
major concepts of the curriculum content being
taught (e.g., math, history, English, art).
What you know
Action-System knowledge----Knowledge about
major theoretical frameworks and concepts for
motivating and managing students,
communicating clear expectations, presenting
content clearly, and responding to individual
differences.
= Pedagogical Content knowledge!
How you teach
Teach Us Something
• Who has something to teach us?
• I’m going to teach …
Action Systems
• Endogenous
• Exogenous
• Constructivist
– What do you believe?
– What does your classroom look like?
Four Constructs for Analyzing Teaching
Motivation- that which prompts, induces, or moves
students toward action
Management- rules, procedures, and techniques
used to establish and maintain an orderly
learning environment
grading, questioning, being human
Expectations- inferences teachers make about the
future behavior and academic success of their
students
Instruction- strategies used to present information
and involve students in activities – stage
presence
Rules for Your Classroom
KISS – Keep it short & simple
1. As few as possible – 3 or 4 good ones
2. Positive – instead of “don’t run” try
“always walk”
3. Never personalize rules – “don’t act like
Charlie, be more like James”
4. Imagine rules for adults, would it be
something you’d use with your friends?
5. Consider consequences.
Sally Turner Case Study
1) Motivation
a) Personalizing the lesson
b) Feedback to incorrect responses
c) Focus on positive learning goals
d) Active student role
2) Classroom Management
a) Materials
b) Negative comments
c) Credibility (consistency?)
d) Rhetorical questions
(continued)
(pgs. 4-7)
Sally Turner case study (cont’d)
3) Classroom Instruction
a) Teacher questions
b) Teacher questions after student response
c) Controlling classroom interaction
d) Student questions
4) Teacher Expectations
a) Gender equality
b) Teacher sensitivity to cultural diversity
c) Reaction to spontaneous comments
Identify strengths & weaknesses related to:
Introducing the lesson
Presenting the mathematics
material
Types of questions and feedback
Classroom management
Teacher expectations
Sensitivity to cultural diversity
Teachers’ Awareness of Their
Classroom Behavior
 Teachers differed widely in the extent to which
they stayed w/ students in failure situations
(repeated or rephrased a question or asked a
new question) or gave up on them (gave the
answer or called on someone else).
 Teachers need to be sensitized to some issues
(gender, race, ethnicity, culture) that may be
vastly different than the teacher’s background
experiences.
 Teachers need feedback mechanisms
(supervisor observation or videotaping)
Two Approaches for Observing Teaching
QUANTITATIVE
QUALITATIVE
Narrow focus
Broad focus
Checklists or coding
schemes
Detailed descriptions of
events
Records certain categories
of events (time or event
sampling)
Analysis emphasizes how
events unfolded and how
they were experienced by
the participants
Focus is closed (dictated in
advance)
Interviews with teachers and
students to get their
interpretations of behaviors
Reliability of Observations
***Objective observations vs. personal biases
interfering with your observations
Ex. If 2 observers are watching a videotape and coding the # of
academic questions a teacher asks, one observer may tally 16 and
another tallies only 10.
Agreement can be estimated if observers achieve 60-90% agreement
by using this formula from Emmer and Millet (1970):
1-
Agreement =
A-B
(A is always the larger number)
A+B
1-
16 -10
16+10
=
1-
6
26
=
1- .23
=.77
Narrative Strategies:
 Anecdotal Record- Brief
notes identifying a student’s
behavioral pattern
 Running RecordDetailed, ongoing descriptive
account of the behavior and
context
Anecdotal
Records
Shorter Less
periods detail
No
environmental
context
Running
Records
Enviornmental
context
important
Longer More
periods detail
Frequency Counts
TIME SAMPLING
For frequently occurring behaviors
EVENT SAMPLING
When selected behavior occurs, it is
recorded
Time Sampling Assignment
• Time Sampling – observing for events
during a specified period of time
• Event Sampling – observing for an event
and not tied to a specified period of time.
• Pick a partner. Assignment will be done
as a team.
1. Identify a topic that interests you-10 pts.
• A management issue -– out of seat behavior
– Speaking out behavior
– Aggressive behavior
– Leadership behavior
– Etc.
• A teaching behavior
– Movement about the room
– Questioning – divergent, convergent
– Who gets called on?
– Who gets managed?
– Length of time between questions – wait time.
– Interruptions
– Etc.
• Student Behavior
– On task time
– Off task time
– Interactions with others
– Selection of choice options
– Etc.
Select a topic – 10 points
• With your partner –
1.Choose a topic
2.Do the research – find out, in the literature
what has been done in the past.
•
•
•
At least three sources
At least two pages
Include a summary paragraph and a research
question
3. Get your “prospectus” approved by
your teacher and by me.
4. Identify if you are using a time
sampling, or an event sampling
technique.
5. Describe in detail, how you will conduct
your study – 10 pts
6. Conduct your study by gathering your
data independently from your partner.
7. Check for reliability – 6 pts
Agreement =
1- 16 -10 =
16+10
1- A - B
1- 6
26
(A is always the larger number)
A+B
=
1- .23
=.77
8. Report your results – 10 pts
• Report your data using a table or graph
• Describe in narrative format what the data means in the table
– don’t make conclusions here, just say what you found.
9. Report your conclusions – 10 pts
• What does it mean
• How can you use your data
10. Bibliography. – 5 pts
• Include bibliographic information (APA style) for
anything that you might have used in your
literature review.