Running head: OBSERVATIONAL CASE STUDY 1

Observational Case Study

Bob Gronotte

Vancouver Island University

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For the purposes of this assignment, the student that I chose to observe will be referred to as Jim.

Background Information

Jim is a grade 9 student in a woodworking 9/10 class at Dover Bay High School. The

class has 24 students that are all actively working on woodworking projects that they have been

assigned or have developed on their own. Lessons are generally centered around equipment use,

woodworking techniques, or specific operations that pertain to the construction of assigned

projects. Due to the nature of the woodworking class, the student teachers give short lessons or

demonstrations that last 10-15 minutes and then continue to work one-on-one with students on

the machinery in order to facilitate safe operation. Because of this dynamic, I had limited time to

observe Jim without risking a shop injury. My observations of Jim are based on personal

interactions, one-on-one instruction, and class instruction.

Student Selection

The choice to observe Jim for the purpose of this case study came after class that required

the students to fill out a safety worksheet on the operation of a piece of machinery in the shop.

The purpose of the worksheet is to document the students’ knowledge of the machinery to protect

from liability concerns if an injury were to occur. During this class I observed Jim sitting across

from his partner blankly staring at the worksheet. His partner had completed the worksheet and

had moved on to reviewing the project plans for the first class assignment. I approached this

student and asked how he was doing. I made it my intention to not ask about the worksheet

specifically but rather ask about the first few days of school and what he did over the summer.

Unfortunately, instead of gaining some background information about the student, he

immediately turned the conversation back to the worksheet and expressed that he was “too dumb

to find the answer” (Jim, P.C. 2018) in the textbook. However, when I directed him to a specific
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page that contained the pertinent information, he read it out loud with confidence and solid

literacy. At this point I decided that Jim would be the right student to observe for this case study

because he clearly was not too dumb to find the answer and I hoped that I could help him find

the confidence or motivation to move past this frame of mind.

Knowledge of the Learner

Through my limited one-on-one interactions with Jim, I was able to find out that he is of

strong intelligence. He is quick witted and makes eye contact when speaking to peers and adults.

I ventured to find out Jim’s capabilities in his other classes but was unable to do so. The most I

could gain from talking with him was that he enjoys all of his other courses more than

woodworking and that he only took the course because his best friend was also in the class. I

would venture to guess that much of Jim’s motivations within the school environment are based

on his peers’ perception of him. His ability to make others laugh seems to guide his behaviour

even though he often uses himself as the butt of the joke. If more time were available, I would

like to have the opportunity to gain further insight as to what motivates Jim to seek approval of

his peers and find a way to tie that into his work within the woodworking classroom.

As time passed over the course of the semester, Jim would spend most of his class time

sitting at his work table joking around with the people around him and partaking in very little of

the class activities. I would often check in with him to see if I could help him move forward with

his projects but he never took my offer and to this point has not completed any of the

assignments. He finally confided in me that he only took the class because he thought that he

wouldn’t have to do anything and that him and his best friend would just work on projects

together. He was unaware of the individual component of the class.

Supporting the Student’s Learning

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After receiving little to work with when it came to Jim, I decided to approach the

situation through his best friend. Jim’s friend is a talented woodworker and seems to enjoy the

class so I asked him if he would be willing to work with Jim to help get on track with his

projects. He agreed and said that Jim had been asking him for help but he was worried about

getting his own projects finished due to the limited capacity of the machinery in the shop.

Once under the wing of his best friend, Jim seemed to make leaps in progression. He was

gaining momentum in the assignments while at the same time, proud to show me his work when

he had completed a task. It seems to me that Jim simply needed a More Knowledgeable Other

(M.K.O.) that was closer to his zone of proximal development (Crain, 2016, p 245). His friend

was able to explain things in a more relatable way to Jim’s level of knowledge than myself or our

sponsor teacher were able to. We simply were putting Jim in a position to learn material beyond

his zone of proximal development. Beyond the explanation of the course concepts, Jim’s friend

was able to spend more time with him then we could due to shop safety concerns and therefore

acted as more of a guiding figure then we were able to be.

Future Support for Student’s Learning

I believe there are two concepts that would help to improve Jim’s success in the

woodworking class. First, would be to establish what motivates Jim to learn in a dynamic

environment like the woodshop and second would be to ensure that Jim’s learning is scaffolded

to ensure that the lessons are within his zone of proximal development.

Motivating Jim to complete the work he is assigned in class seems to be more difficult

than motivating him to complete his self-designed project. I believe this is largely due to the fact

that he had very little interest in building a small curved “jewelry box” as opposed to the coffee

table he is making from reclaimed pallets. I would venture to guess that much of what motivates
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Jim is his ability to display his creative abilities which is evidenced by his wit, humor, and pride

in his completed projects. To support this, I would like to give Jim more creative control over the

assignments that he is required to complete. He would be required to complete specific

techniques as determined by my sponsor teacher, however, in the projects that I teach and

introduce in the upcoming practicum I will allow more creative control over the design and

function of the students’ projects. Hopefully this level of autonomy will allow Jim to express his

creativity and motivate him to continue to be productive in the shop.

In order to be a more effective M.K.O. for Jim I need to ensure that he has the foundation

of knowledge to build the next level upon. This requires a scaffolding approach that lends itself

well to trades based skills. However, it will require a concerted effort to put myself in the

position of a beginning woodworker. This will require some practice as I have been

woodworking with for over 25 years and sometimes can forget some of the things that come

automatically for me. Once I am able to accomplish this frame of mind, I will be more effective

at understanding any student’s zone of proximal development (Crain, 2016, p245) and therefore

be able to deliver more defined and specific instruction.

Implications for Teaching and Learning

The experience of observing and working with Jim has allowed me to discover that most

importantly, you cannot judge any student by the first interaction you have with them. Students

are often guarded in their initial interactions and their true colours are often more interesting than

they let on at first. This reiterates the importance of relationship building with students, the way

to go about building relationships can be different for every student and that it can take a

significant amount of time and energy. This exercise has also taught me that being the most

knowledgeable person in a subject within a given room does not make me a student’s most
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significant M.K.O. An M.K.O. needs a strong understanding of the learner’s zone of proximal

development in order to be effective. Finally, due to this exercise, I believe it is increasingly

important to keep assignments flexible and dynamic to the needs, curiosities, and motivations of

the students. Worksheets, textbook questions, and step by step instructions often do not spark

curiosity in students and without curiosity it is very difficult to learn life-long skills.
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References

Crain. C.W. (2016) Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications. New York. Routledge.