AN ANALYSIS OF CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES, A FINAL REPORT.

THIS REPORT OF A THREE-YEAR RESEARCH PROGRAM ON PUBLIC SCHOOL CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES CONSIDERS THE CLASSROOM TO BE AN INTEGRATED SOCIAL SYSTEM. ITS CONCERNS ARE WITH EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES THAT MAY BE OBSERVED IN THE CLASSROOM, WITH THE CONCEPTUALIZATION OF CLASSROOM EVENTS, WITH THEORY ABOUT THOSE EVENTS, AND WITH DATA BEARING ON THAT THEORY. EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION IS BASED ON VIDEOTAPE RECORDINGS OF LIVE CLASSROOMS. OF THEORETICAL CONCERN ARE CLASSROOMS AND THEIR ACTIVITIES, AND ANALYSIS OF THOSE SOCIAL EVENTS THAT TIE TOGETHER TEACHERS, PUPILS, THEIR TASKS, AND THEIR EQUIPMENT. THIRTY-TWO SEPARATE CLASSROOMS WERE STUDIED, AND THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN THEIR ACTIVITY PATTERNS ARE REPORTED. CLASSROOM EVENTS ARE FOUND TO BE DIFFERENTIALLY AFFECTED BY FOUR INDEPENDENT VARIABLES--SEX AND AGE OF TEACHER, SUBJECT MATTER, AND GRADE LEVEL. FINDINGS FOR THESE INDEPENDENT VARIABLES ARE BOTH CONTRASTED AND INTERRELATED. FINDINGS ARE ALSO PRESENTED FOR GENERAL ACTIVITY CHARACTERISTICS, COINCIDENTAL ACTIVITY PROPERTIES, AND SEQUENCES OF ACTIVITY EVENTS. (HW)