Monitor and Intervene Preparing for and Recording Observations
When there is a desire to identify and record the extent to
which groups display specific behaviors during the cooperative
learning exercise, a number of key steps help to facilitate the
process. - Decide which behaviors, attitudes, and/or skills will
be observed. Broad categories of these attributes would include
academic learning and performance, reasoning, social skills,
attitudes, and work habits. - Decide who will be doing the
observation: the instructor (you) or selected student or others.
You can have more experienced students (seniors, teaching
assistants) roving the room, checking in with the reasoning
behind groups' arguments. You can also draft any visitors to
your class into helping observe. - Train the observers in the
proper procedure. This involves explaining the role they will
play and the procedure they should follow, along with practice
using the form or checklist they will use. It is also important
to process with your observers