Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of three types of observations on students in early childhood education courses. The three types of observation were an involved performance-based type, a non-involved performance-based type, and a non-involved type without performance-based criteria. Three areas were evaluated in order to determine the effect of these three types of observation. These areas were knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Procedures: The students involved in the study were 52 students enrolled in the first course in a sequence of three Early Childhood Courses at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas during the fall of 1972. The students were divided into three groups according to their grade point average, previous observation, age, and presence of preschool children in the home during the past four years. Each of the three groups observed for seven weeks according to their group assignments. The Group I students were in the involved, performance-based type of observation. The Group II students were not involved but had a performance-based type of observation. The Group III students were not involved and had no performance-based criteria. They observed from an observation room through a one-way mirror. The three groups were pretested and posttested with three instruments, the "Early Childhood Education Test," of the Teacher Education Examination Program, a Classroom Management Instrument developed by the author, and the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory..
Pattillo, Janice Sue Anderson (1973). The effect of observation upon Early Childhood Education majors' knowledge, skill, and attitudes. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -157598.