Systematic Observation in Teacher Training

• Observation is important in both initial and ongoing teacher training due to its wide range of educational applications.
• Observation can be used as a rigorous research method or as a tool to gather information about students' learning, attitudes, and personalities.
• Basic knowledge of observation is essential for teachers, requiring an understanding of its theoretical basis and practical classroom applications.
• The LOGSE recognizes the value of observation in evaluating students' attitudes, values, learning processes, educational programs, and teachers themselves.
• It is important for students to delve into the various dimensions of systematic observation.
• Systematic observation, registration techniques, and natural classroom settings are some key words related to this topic.
• Observation is key for teachers to gain knowledge of their students globally.
• Teachers have daily information about their students but may need to learn to capture it effectively.
• Systematic observation and data analysis are crucial skills for educators.
• Observation in a natural environment allows teachers to achieve various goals:

Objectives of Observation

• Discern significant events. e
• Detect classroom dynamics and interactions.
• Establish behavior patterns to determine attitudes in specific situations.
• Gain insights into students' development, personality, and challenges.
• Detect individual risk situations.
• Discover learning strategies, especially among younger children.
• Adapt instruction to students' needs and assess its impact.
• Monitor students' progress, prevent developmental issues, and identify the cause of problems.
• Systematic observation is valuable in evaluating attitudes, learning, educational processes, and teachers.

Importance of Observation in Teaching

• Training in observation is needed for discerning meaningful events in the classroom.
• Observation can trigger systematic investigation.
• It is essential to analyze and compare observation work individually and in groups to maximize its potential.
• Observation must be systematic, objective, and periodic, demanding suitable techniques and tools.
• Teachers need objective knowledge and training to differentiate between casual and planned observation.
• Observation requires voluntary and intelligent attention, guided by an objective to obtain information.
• Systematic observation is an indispensable tool for gathering information and evaluating student progress.
• Observation allows for the improvement of teaching by adapting learning tasks to students' progress and challenges.
• Evaluation is defined as the analysis, measurement, or estimation of behavior to describe, predict, or explain it.
• Observation relies on human perception and interpretation.
• Scientific observation is different from ordinary observation because it seeks to quantify behavior in unprompted situations.

Scientific Observation

• Serve a formulated research objective.
• Planned systematically.
• Optimize the data collected.
• Adapt the strategy to the analysis based on the objective
• Challenges exist in achieving the requirements due to the unpredictability of observation situations to facilitate external control.
• Observability and space-time coordinates are important to the concept of scientific observation.
• There can be confusion, in some contexts, so some authors make a methodological distinction.
• Observation as a data collection technique in non-observational studies.
• Observation as a distinct method for obtaining scientific knowledge through non-intervention and spontaneity
• Observation is used as a method for gathering data about children in different school related situations: classrooms, playgrounds, etc...
• Observational methodology involves perceiving reality, interpreting it, capturing its meaning through objective and specific recording of spontaneous behavior, and finding results within a knowledge framework

Methodologies

• Consider all observable actions and external indicators.
• Clarify how to plan an observational study.
• There should be a base of deductive theory to guide it.
• The unit of analysis should be defined as behavioral events observed in specific situations.

Factors in Observable Units

• The continuum of behavior
• Attributes
• Manifest behaviors
• Interactions
• Determine the units of measurement: occurrence, frequency, order, and duration.
• Study aspects such as intensity and adaptation through ordinal scales and comparisons.
• Determine techniques and instruments with attention to structure.

Types of Recording

• Narrative records
• Appreciation scales
• Behavior catalogs or lists
• Field formats
• Category systems
• Define the timing, frequency and duration of the observation, the starting, ending, interval, the situations, and the number of subjects (time, situation and subjects)
• The degree of involvement of the observers with the situation matters.
• The observers should be trained prior.
• After the data collection you can proceed with analyzing the data.
• Conducts must be documented for effective data collection
• Data collection requires recording and coding, often conducted simultaneously.
• Conducts can be noted to a data sheet which makes the data assigned to a category
• The codification is effective with constant review with observation, to reduce any subjective or unorganized errors.

Types of Records

• Continuous record: The observer has to notice any relevant fact and/or any change to the codifiable status
• In the records, there might be relevant facts, and they could indicate the conducts of the people involved
• Sequential record: the presence is recorded along the order of the conducts -Chronological record: same as sequential, but with the duration of the conducts as well.
• Discontinued record: Utilizes temporal capture, in shape of intervals or periods of time- It provides information of the conducts, and it’s easy to apply.
• Recording devices: technical ways of note-taking. Its main purpose is to conserve the raw information, and to ease the documentation. Devices such as microphones or recorders or common for capture
• Modern recorders also use digital databases to organize the material captured
• The methods of research are constantly improving with increased use of technology. With that, the bridge between education and technology slowly shortens.

Important Factors

• Educators commonly use casual non-organized empiricism as a tool to get information from its students.
• It is important for there to be a structure made to avoid any loss of detail.
• A scientific investigation might be organized for statistics and is detailed but unorganized to its users.
• Educators are commonly the most familiar people to the system
• Interpretation and data analyses: The scientific phases must be done with data registering, and optimization, done accurately.
• The sort of analysis to utilize might vary with the sorts of data it possesses. It's important that it provides a specific and objective answer to a particular question.

Time

• It's essential for all data to be organized in an idiographic study (minimal unit)
• Note that what can be referred as "follow up" it's not the same as evaluation of learning tactics.
• Several tactics can stem with categories that were created over a period of time
• The analytic tactics derive with the characteristics in context, or in the design
• It requires the observer to be qualified in the subject matter, whether it's a familiar persona or a collective
• The pattern of conduct will allow, with repetitive evaluations, to allow for an observation of a trimester or school year
• Retardance analyses will show how an interaction in context is working and to provide the needed data to detect the effectiveness of the topic.

Advantages and Benefits

• The benefits of observation involve cases that are accumulated over time for data to have meaningful assumptions
• The methodology is commonly reserved for difficult situations.
• By using no internal control provides a natural and realistic view.
• This works in tandem with what is known as scientific systematization, as said by Fraisse in 1970. This is an ideal method for studying individuals who cannot communicate through other techniques like mentally challenged individuals.
• Provides an advantage to the school to have methods of evaluation in the field

Benefits and limitations

• Lack of regularity from facts, when shown without any real data to back it.
• A potential of the study itself is commonly prevented with no system around the study, as to limit what can be understood as a real pattern.
• Another is, by implementing it, will allow a time restriction to which it might hinder the codification.
• When talking about ethics it is a risk to have assumptions out of context (especially with private data)
• It can expose vulnerability of the data, especially if not observed in person.