Direct observation of classroom behavior

Summary In this paper we have examined the uses to which direct observation has been put in the study of classroom processes, and taken note of several observation systems possessing a variety of distinct attributes. Problems encountered in the use of observation, chiefly those of obtaining accurate and stable measures, were explored.Future developments in direct observation procedures seem likely to center around several foci. Knowledge about classroom behavior, its correlates, and its effects requires replication and comparison among studies. Inventing new systems prohibits these comparisons. Therefore, users of direct observation are likely to become more interested in the basic dimensions underlying their observational data. This should facilitate the development of sound, behaviorally based instructional theories.Basic instructional dimensions can also be used to generate new observation systems, which are syntheses of the major components of existing systems and which therefore will allow comparisons to these systems. However, these dimensions will be delimited only if researchers take the trouble to investigate and report them.Finally, the use of observation in research and evaluation should increase particularly to measure process variables intervening between the application of a treatment or a new program and outcome variables. As more educators become aware of the potential information available from observation, and as our knowledge of observation system variables increases, observation seems likely to become a standard procedure in classroom evaluation studies and field research.

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Die Direkte Beobachtung von Klassenverhalten

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Observation directe du comportement en classe