PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION STUDY

Participant observation study

[Name of the Institute]

Participant observation study

Introduction

Data were collected from three sources: participant observations in the classroom, artifacts from the classroom, and informal chats and an interview with the classroom teacher at Temple University. Triangulation was achieved through analysis and comparison of observations, work samples created during the observation periods, and comments from the teacher regarding the events during the observation.

The data are recorded in the form of the field notes, which have to be written down as soon as possible after they are collected. Field notes usually include an account of events, description of how people behaved and reacted, what was said in conversation, physical gestures and some other relevant details

Given this framing, prospective English language arts teachers at University Village in this work as "Old State" have conducted qualitative research as part of a methods class, English 492: Teaching Writing and as a community out-reach program to a nearby urban learning center for disenfranchised students.

Participants

Students

Five students aged between 22-24 in Ms. Walker's class participated in the study. The students were all White and from families of middle to upper middle SES. Each student has been assigned a pseudonym for the purpose of reporting in this study.

Teachers

The university has number of teachers, all of whom consented to be part of the study. All of the teachers were White and of similar SES as the students under observation in the study.

Field Notes Analysis

Our data included field notes based upon our participant observation over four weeks, interviews with students, student writing, and informal surveys and writing inventories. Tutors were required to draw maps of the rooms where instruction occurred to interpret ways in which these configurations might reflect how district- assigned instructors understood learning and knowledge. They also were instructed in how to observe and write field notes with "thick description". In her field note, Ashley describes a conversation she has with Mr. Mills, a district-appointed instructor at Hope House, as she and her English 492 partner, Tom; wait for their students, Joann and Raymond.

9/14/11

On our first day, we went to an economic/civics PLC, where teachers that teach economics and civics come together in the mornings and discuss plans of what they will do for the coming week, and when they talk with paraprofessionals about students with special needs.  The students under observation contributed our knowledge to the subject of credit card uses and debt.  I talked with Tabori Bouhl, Ellie and another economics teacher named Tyler and they were very helpful and brought up some good questions about the curriculum.  We had someone from the school's administration listen in on our meeting and offer feedback.  When he left, the faculty voiced their displeasure with his presence and some of the techniques he would like to see, claiming what he offered was simply impossible for the teachers to accomplish.  In Mrs. Davine's class and Ms. Kravitz's class, students under observation began to incorporate me into interacting with the class, passing out reading materials and quizzes and handing ...