Researchers have developed two forms of observations, structured and unstructured. Structured observations have most frequently been used in classroom studies, in educational research (Johnson, 1994).
Structured observations are where the researcher doesn’t observe everything but will only observe that which they have decided in advance to watch, trying not to influence the environment or setting they observe. Structured observations can take one of several forms, but a common form is the checklist. A checklist allows the researcher to record whether or not a given behaviour occurs. One advantage of structured observation is that it is an excellent method of collecting data. Many more subjects can be observed, in less time, than with unstructured observation, and the data analysis is much simpler. Since taking results from a checklist simply involves having to count how many times a particular behaviour occurred. Another is that it provides a helpful focus to a potentially overwhelming experience. There are disadvantages to the use of structured observations, and these are especially related to continuous monitoring, since this is required in order to gain fair results. Another disadvantage is that the observation is “constrained”, since it only focuses on a behaviour decided on prior to observation (Lynch, 2003). This leaves the possibility that things that are not identified prior to the research will be missed out.
And unstructured observations are where researchers attempt to provide as complete and non-selective a description as possible. It is generally used to record behaviour of a group, whether in a meeting or in less formal activities. It is important to recognise that it can be extremely difficult to record everything that occurs, although a rich depth of material can be gathered from unstructured observation, which may never result from the use of structured methods. Unlike structured observations, unstructured are much more uninhibited, which means the observer wont miss any other forms of behaviour and will be able to record these. This gives the observer the opportunity to record behaviour as it occurs. A disadvantage of unstructured observations in terms of data collection is that it is very time consuming. The results consist of quantities of descriptive data, since the observer was trying to record everything that happened. This data then needs to be sorted in order to find any patterns to the observed behaviour (Johnson, 1994).
Sometimes observations can be used to gather information for other forms of research. For example, in some case studies, observation may be a better method of data collection than an interview would. Classroom studies, or studies of informal groups, usually have to be based on observation, whereas interviews for example would disrupt the natural interaction being observed, and possible introduce an artificial element to the situation.
It is important to remember to sustain good ethical practice when carrying out any sort of research. The ethical and social research council released a “Research Ethics Framework (REF)” to ensure the implementation of such practice (REF, 2005). Researchers should ensure that the risks to participants are minimised by research procedures that don’t unnecessarily expose them to risks, that the rights and welfare of participants are adequately protected and also that informed consent has been obtained from all participants and this has been properly documented (Anderson, 1999). When seeking consent researchers need to inform people with; an explanation of the purpose of the research and procedures that will be used, a description of any risks, a description of any benefits, a disclosure of any alternative procedures that may be advantageous to the participant and a statement that participation is voluntary (1999, p19). However, sometimes receiving informed consent from children can be difficult, especially if the children have either special educational needs or communication difficulties due to English being an additional language. It is important to realise that participants also have the right to withdraw their consent at any time during the research. In the process of observations, consent isn’t always required. Such examples are when the observer doesn’t have any contact with the participants (complete observer). Another thing that researchers need to bear in mind is that with observations, especially in “complete participant” and “participant observer”, it can be difficult to record whilst in the field or situation, and since most recording must be done by memory, it can be difficult to recall all the information. In these cases, researchers need to ensure that they don’t sway the results in order to fit their hypothesis, as this would be unethical. Another factor to remember when dealing with observations of children is that the surroundings or setting aren’t threatening to the child. Researchers must ensure that the child isn’t stressed by the situation.
Observations can be used in educational contexts, to help explore areas and improve our understanding of academic practice. Much research has been done using observations to research into the area of inclusion of special educational needs children in mainstream classrooms.
Researchers can use observations in a number of ways within the school environment. For example, a researcher may observe the interaction between children with special educational needs and the other class members. This observation would help them to develop areas of inclusion, if necessary. It could also be used to research the difficulties special needs children may have in communicating with others, and thus could result in them being shown and introduced to different methods of interaction, in the attempt to improve the situation for them.
Sehaba, Courboulay and Estraillier, three researchers from Universit´e de La Rochelle, France, carried out an investigation with autistic children (2006). Their aim was to create educational games suitable for children with special educational needs. They observed autistic children and drew conclusions related to the child’s behaviour, and then provided, in “personalized ways”, adequate activities. They considered the childrens’ behaviour, in particular the facial expressions, their interaction with the applications in order to provide an adapted education for each child. They intended to create a system able to understand the behaviour of children with autism and to react, in real time and in a personalized way, by providing personalized activities.
Sehaba, Courboulay and Estraillier made their observations on the actions carried out by the children on the peripherals: mouse, touch screen, keyboard and by cameras for the gestures, movements, eyes orientations, emotions etc. However, though they themselves were observing the activities taking place, these researchers had designed their own system that was intended to do most the recording for them. The system recovers the child’s actions and associates to them some state words that characterize behaviours. It then goes on to provide the child with activities that a re suitable for that individual child’s particular needs.
This system created by these researchers, helped enhance educational games for autistic children, and is one example of how observations can be used to carry out research and help improve academic practice.
Another example of when observations are used in research of children with special educational needs can be found in “Spontaneous Play in Children with Autism: A Reappraisal”(1998). Four researchers, Libby, Powell, Messer and Jordan looked at the ability of children with autism to engage in spontaneous play. They studied children with autism, Down Syndrome and typical development with verbal mental ages of approximately 2 years. By doing this they found that it was possible to distinguish the autistic childrens’ patterns of play behaviour from the others. In their investigation, the researchers set up a range of activities for the children to undertake and observed their reactions, behaviour and language. They did the test three times, revisiting a couple of months after each test, in order to gain fair results. They found that the type of play produced by the autistic children didn’t change much over the three-test period, whereas the other two groups performances did. By observing many aspects of play behaviour a dominance of sensory motor play was identified. This helped them understand the best ways in which autistic children learn and play. This research can be used to help aid teachers with classroom planning as it shows the best ways to aid the autistic childrens’ learning.
Research has also been carried out on children with Down Syndrome, looking at the impact of verbal and non-verbal scaffolding on their learning. In this study 40 children with Down Syndrome and 40 classroom teachers participated. The teachers were split into three groups. One group of teachers were to use “speech only” scaffolding, another were to use “speech and gesture” scaffolding and the third were to use “gesture only” scaffolding (Wang, X., Bernas, R., Eberhard, P., 2001). The childrens’ responses to the three types were observed and recorded. Wang, Bernas and Eberhard found that the children were more responsive to the teacher’s directions when the teacher used a form of gesture in her scaffolding (either joint “speech and gesture” and “gesture only”). They found that teachers’ spontaneous hand gestures are very important in scaffolding students with Down Syndrome in everyday classroom activities. The children were no only more responsive but focused longer on tasks and activities and were also more likely to succeed at their task.
This particular piece of research could be extremely helpful to classroom teachers, and could aid them in enhancing their teaching techniques and improving their ability to teach children with Down Syndrome.
Observations can be carried out in a number of areas to help improve understanding of children with special educational needs, aiding the inclusion of these children into the mainstream classroom. Areas that can be researched through observation involve; their social interaction with peers, or with teachers, play between special need children and that of their peers, the effects of special needs children on other class members, the behaviour of special needs children, the environment on the special needs children, the list is vast.
Observations are a particularly useful method of collecting data. This research method provides researchers with many opportunities to interact with the participants and gain first hand experience of their behaviour, which may not have been possible through the use of questionnaires or surveys for example. However, if this method were to be used to collect information a number of factors would need to be taken into consideration. First of all I would need to consider how to approach the observation (complete observer, participant…etc) and then I would have to find a way to tackle the disadvantages of the method. For example, the participant observer seems the best option to take, as it is a middle ground between the other two poles, however, this raises the issue of missing out on possible behaviour whilst stepping back to make notes on what was observed during the activity. I could consider recording the activities as well as participating in them, this way I could ensure that I was gaining as much first hand evidence as I could and also had the information backed up, so that I could recall and observe the data at a later date and ensure I viewed everything. Through this close examination of researching through observations I do believe that this method is the most appropriate for my chosen topic of children with special needs. As mentioned earlier there are many areas that can be observed within this topic, through hands on experience, and since it focuses on dealing with children with special needs I feel observing the children is a much better option than interviews would be, since the children would be prone to feeling stressed by being put into that situation.
Bibliography
Libby, S., Powell, S., Messer, D. & Jordan, R. (1998) Spontaneous Play in Children with Autism: A Reappraisal. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Vol. 28, No. 6, 1998 pp. 487-497.
Sehaba, K., Courboulay, V. & Estraillier, P. (2006) Observation and analysis of behaviour of autistic children using an interactive system. Technology and Disability. Vol. 18, Issue 4, pp.181-188.
Wang, X., Bernas, R., Eberhard, P. (2001) Effects of Teachers’ Verbal and Non-verbal Scaffolding on Everyday Classroom Performances of Students with Down Syndrome. International Journal of Early Years Education. Vol. 9, No.1, 2001 pp. 71-80.
Johnson, D. (1994) Research Methods in Educational Management. Essex, Longman Information and reference.
Anderson, G. (1998) Fundamentals of Educational Research. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, The Farmer Press.
Lynch, B. (2003) Language Assessment and Program Evaluation. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press.
Author Unknown. (2000) Degree of Structure [Internet]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://cbdd.wsu.edu/edev/NetTOM_ToT/Resources/Other/TOM614/page61.htm> [Accessed 10th April 2008].
Economic and Social Research Coucil (2005) Research Ethics Framework [Internet]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/Images/ESRC_Re_Ethics_Frame_tcm6-11291.pdf> [Accessed 10th April 2008].