Exam 6: Methods of Observing and Recording
All published checklists are valid and reliable.
False
What are the strengths and uses of the event sampling method?
Mapping available space can help teachers find out how the space is being used, where the children and adults are moving, how traffic flow could be better regulated, what is of interest to individual children, or how much time children spend in different areas of the space. Mappings can help resolve difficulties such as adults and children colliding with one another, noise that interferes with quiet activities; messy play materials spreading to "clean" areas such as book corners, accidents occurring because of slippery floors, or a variety of other safety issues. Teachers can draw furniture and materials on a bare plan of the room to try to configure an ideal arrangement to promote safety and improve access to important activities and learning centers.
A detailed map of the whole area and its contents can be copied and tracking lines added to indicate the movements around the room of some or all of the children. Alternatively, acetate sheets can be overlaid on the map and used to draw what was tracked. Layering the acetates can then show the spots where the greatest activity is occurring; frequently, these are the places where accidents occur. Adults can assess the environment based on the results. When individual children are tracked on the map, information about their interests, movement within the group, gross motor skills, and concentration span may become evident.
Write a list of behaviours that you think are typical of most four-year-olds. Use your list of behaviours to create a mini-checklist. With a child who is four years old check-off each of the behaviours that you see demonstrated. Your observation should be undertaken over two to three hours. After this evaluate your efforts and determine the strengths and weaknesses of your mini-checklist.
Note: Review the assessment rubric for this task. It offers details that will help you prepare for the task and be successful as you carry it out.
List of typical behaviors of most four-year-olds:
1. Constant movement and high energy levels
2. Short attention span and easily distracted
3. Developing independence and wanting to do things by themselves
4. Emotional outbursts and difficulty controlling emotions
5. Engaging in imaginative play and creating their own world
6. Curiosity and asking a lot of questions
7. Testing boundaries and pushing limits
8. Developing social skills and wanting to interact with others
9. Difficulty with sharing and taking turns
10. Developing language skills and expanding vocabulary
Mini-checklist:
- Constant movement and high energy levels:
- Observed
- Not observed
- Short attention span and easily distracted:
- Observed
- Not observed
- Developing independence and wanting to do things by themselves:
- Observed
- Not observed
- Emotional outbursts and difficulty controlling emotions:
- Observed
- Not observed
- Engaging in imaginative play and creating their own world:
- Observed
- Not observed
- Curiosity and asking a lot of questions:
- Observed
- Not observed
- Testing boundaries and pushing limits:
- Observed
- Not observed
- Developing social skills and wanting to interact with others:
- Observed
- Not observed
- Difficulty with sharing and taking turns:
- Observed
- Not observed
- Developing language skills and expanding vocabulary:
- Observed
- Not observed
After evaluating the checklist, the strengths include its simplicity and ease of use. It allows for quick observation and assessment of the child's behaviors. However, the weaknesses may include the subjective nature of some behaviors, such as "emotional outbursts," which may vary in interpretation. Additionally, the checklist may not capture all the nuances of a four-year-old's behavior. Overall, the mini-checklist provides a basic framework for observing and assessing a four-year-old's typical behaviors.
Evaluating a child's use of the English language against a normative profile may be unfair if the child's first language is Spanish.
Focus your attention on one child within a group. Prepare an ABC format for Event Samplings. On this prepared chart record every time a child makes a bid for attention or initiates any communication. Afterwards see if you can determine a pattern and what it might mean.
Note: Review the assessment rubric for this task. It offers details that will help you prepare for the task and be successful as you carry it out.
What responses might you make to a checklist that indicated that a child did not demonstrate all the creative skills typical of a child of her age?
If a checklist is used and all the items are checked off, it means that the child is very intelligent.
Checklists can be quick and effective ways of recording a lot of developmental information.
What do we need to be mindful of when attempting to implement good practices?
The "severity" of a behaviour recorded in an event sampling refers to
What kinds of things might you look for if you were selecting a checklist for use with a culturally diverse group of children?
Making your own checklist criteria may offer you information you are seeking.
A checklist of preschoolers' skill development will be suitable for all 4-year-olds.
Rather than record everything you see, how might you choose which of a child's behaviours to record?
If you had to observe and record using a ready-made checklist comprising gross motor and fine motor skills, how would you know if the checklist was any good?
How could you record behaviours quickly when you are looking to see whether the child exhibits a particular skill?
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