Learning Through Observation

Abstract

Preservice teachers conducted observational research to counteract stereotypes of low achieving students in the language arts. Student teachers observed 288 elementary students in Grades 1 through 6 during 30 minutes of language arts instruction. Expected behavior and actual behavior were noted during 1-minute intervals. Student behavior was further classified as definitely and completely involved in work, probably involved in work, or definitely not involved in work. Results showed that high achieves spent about twice as much time as low achievers definitely involved in their work, while low achievers spent about three times as much time as high achievers definitely not involved in their work. A second phase of this investigation was to examine the types of curricular tasks that produced a good fit between real and expected behavior and the types of tasks that did not.