Designing an Observational Situation - Research Paper Example

The teacher should show them the importance of the skill, describe it using a T-chart, establish practice circumstances in which students can utilize the skill and make certain that student get a response on their utilization of skill, and reflect on the way to advance the skill. The teacher should make sure the students keep trying to undertake the skill before it grows to be automatic. Structuring cooperative learning should follow this, so that the students can utilize the classroom and social skills, and the teacher can monitor their undertaking.

The teacher should intervene in co-operative learning groups to make sure students are utilizing the skill correctly and see them doing so. The student should then complete questionnaires or checklists to self-identify their mastering of the set skills. In using everyday class activities to establish that students are demonstrating skills and understanding, teachers should have observation checklists or notes; recording things they see as well as the sort of learning demonstrated. The next step should entail assigning students to set improvement targets for enhancing their competency followed by assessment of student knowledge of learnt skill.

The final step should entail reporting on the level of students’ skill to the concerned parties, such as parents and students. B. Issues Anticipated in Conducting the Observation The teacher will generally focus on isolated skills and behaviors without concern for the subsequent and preceding actions, which might offer the meaning and context of the behaviors. Methodological issues can also interfere with the drawing of proper conclusions (Adelman & Walker, 2005). The observation effects can occur, as the students are aware that their behaviors are being observed.

The presence of the teacher can change the student’s behavior resulting in reactive effects. The other issue relates to the actual amount of time needed to acquire valid observation duration and the correct number of observations needed to acquire valid and reliable results. There is the issue of the appropriate level of the analysis (student, the class, or students in the class) the teacher should use when analyzing observation data. The student may also fail to demonstrate all the required learning outcomes (Koth et al., 2009). The demonstration of a learning outcome may not be demonstrated because the attention of the teacher may be elsewhere and thus fail to notice it.

The student can also derive unintentional signal prompts. Students do not perform similar tasks under similar conditions and thus some of the teacher’s judgment of student demonstrations of learning outcomes can be undependable. The teacher’s judgments are also prone and subjective to inconsistencies (Koth et al., 2009). Too much is left to the teacher’s discretion. Subjective judgment may allow the teacher to stereotype students in terms of other characteristics and performances. It may also allow the possibility of unconscious and conscious bias for or against groups or individuals. C. How to Address the Challenges The teacher can address the learning outcome issue by deliberately prompting learning outcomes.

The assessment should be incidental and planned. The teacher should also ensure that the assessment is all-inclusive. Over time, the teacher has numerous opportunities of observing the demonstration o