ANECDOTAL RECORD

DEFINITION.

‘’Anecdotal record is a record of some significant item of conduct, a record of an episode in

the life of student, a word picture of the student in action, a word snapshot at the moment of
the incident, any narration of event in which may be significant about the personality.’’

Randall.

Anecdotal record, as the name implies, involves setting down an anecdote concerning some
aspects of student behavior which seems significant to the observer.

CHARECTERISTICS OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS;-

Anecdotal records must possess certain characteristics ‘as given below.-

1) They should contain a factual description of what happened, when it happened, and
under what circumstances the behavior occurred.
2) The interpretations and recommended action should be noted separately from the
description.
3) Each anecdotal record should contain a record of single incident.
4) The incident recorded should considered significant to the students growth and
development.

MERITS OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS;-

 These records help in clinical service practices.

 They provided factual record.
 They stimulate teacher to use the records and contribute to them.
 They record critical incidents of spontaneous behavior in natural selling.
 They provide the teacher with objective description.
 They are very good for young children, who are unable to prepare pencil test.
 They direct the teachers attention to a single student.
 They provide commutative record of growth and development.
 They provide specific and exact description of personality and minimize
generalizations.
 The new members may use these records and acquaint themselves with the student.

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DEMERITS OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS;-

 They tend to be less reliable than other observational tools as they lent to be
less formal and systematic.
 They are time consuming to write.
 It is difficult for the observer to maintained objectivity when he/she records
the incident observed.
 When incidents are noted and read out of context, they may lose.(meaning.
 They do not reveal the cause.
 The observer tends to record only undesirable incidents and neglect a positive
incidents.

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FORMAT OF THE ANECDOTAL RECORD.

Name of the school/college :-

Name of the student observed :-

Class :-

Subject:-

Name of the observer :-

Date & place :-

Objective description :-

Comments of the observer :-

Interpretation :-

Recommendations :-

Signature of the observer :-

Signature of the student ;-

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 SAMPLE ANECDOTAL RECORD

Child’s name : Priya

Date of birth: January, 3, 2007

Age: 4 years 2 months

Observer Name: Suresh

Date: March 30, 2011

Time: 2:30 p.m.

Setting: Priya plays alone in the water table under the tree in the back yard

during

outdoor free play.

Priya is playing with a boat at the water table under the shade tree. She
slowly pushes the boat down and looks as the drops of water gradually fill it. She watches it
sink, whispering, “Come up now.” She lifts it up. She collects small rocks and bark chips
from the base of the tree and fills the boat with six large bark chips. “Here you go – Toot!
Toot!” she adds three rocks and the boat slowly begins to take on water. Quickly, she piles on
two more rocks and the boat sinks. The rocks go down with the ship, but the bark chips come
floating to the top. “Pop! Pop!” Priya pushes one of the chips down again and watches as it

pops up as soon as she lets it go.

Conclusion:
In this anecdote it seems that Priya is curious about the concept of sink and

float.

This is a good point from which to plan play experiences for Priya that reflect

her interest, extend her learning and will challenge her thinking skills. One play

idea that comes out of this anecdote is to introduce all kinds of objects into the

water table, ex. sponges, corks, driftwood, foam blocks, sea shells, buttons, etc.

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so Priya can continue exploring the sink and float idea. A further idea is to set

out materials for her to chart her discoveries.