Collecting Data - 3

only 30 lines of print at any one time, I have to scroll up and down in linear fashion, I cannot
draw or sketch, and it is less spontaneous. I suggest you choose the method that you will most
likely continue using.
Field Notes—Your Observations
Field notes are the written observations of what you see taking place in your
classroom. Beginning action researchers are often unsure of what they should record. My
advice is to stop thinking and just write what you see. Once you start recording, you begin to
see things that are interesting or important. In this way field notes help you notice details you
might not otherwise have noticed. And as you make many observations over time, patterns
begin to emerge from the data. Also, as stated in the previous chapter, a review of the
literature may give you clues as to what kinds of things you might attend to in your field
notes. Field notes can be of either of three types: thick descriptions during, quick notes
during, and notes and reflections after.
Thick Descriptions During. The first type of field notes involves taking notes while
teaching is taking place. However, few teachers are able to check out during their teaching to
become an objective observer recording thick descriptions of ongoing classroom events. Most
need to be fully engaged in the teaching process and thus are not able to enter an effective
researcher/recorder mode during teaching. Also, by becoming a researcher during your
teaching, you run the risk of becoming a nonteacher and thus becoming a foreign entity in
your research environment. That is, by transforming yourself from a teacher who regularly
responds to students’ immediate concerns into an impartial researcher who observes and
takes careful notes, you introduce something into the classroom environment that does not
reflect what is normally there.
You can, however, observe another teacher’s classroom or observe your own when
somebody else is teaching. I have spent considerable time observing classrooms and taking
field notes as both a researcher and a supervisor of preservice teachers in their field
experiences. In this process I have learned much by watching master teachers at work.
Providing training in some basic action research techniques and creating opportunities for
teachers to do this each year is a very economical and effective form of teacher development.
Here are five tips for observing a classroom and taking field notes:
1. Enter the classroom as quickly and quietly as possible. Move quickly to a spot in
the classroom that offers the least distraction and sit down. Usually this is in the back or to
the side.
2. If students ask you who you are, answer them. “I’m Mr. Johnson. I’m here to look
at interesting things happening in your classroom.” Students will attend to you for a short
time, but you will quickly begin to fade from their consciousness.
3. Begin taking notes without looking directly at students. A person writing with his or
her head down is much less distracting or imposing than a person staring and recording. Also,
it is not always important that you see to know what is going on. It is possible to observe by
listening and still get a good sense of a classroom setup, feelings, general impressions, and
emotional tone. You can also record interesting or important dialogue by the teacher or
students simply by listening.
4. Smile. A person smiling is much less threatening.
5. Do not think—write. Start by recording the time in the margin of your notes and
then simply describe what you see happening. Whenever a new event or circumstance
appears, record the time to provide a sense of chronology. Then write quickly without
thinking. Working memory has a limited capacity, and it is difficult to perceive, record,
process, and analyze information simultaneously. Writing quickly without thinking or
analyzing frees up space in working memory and enables you to perceive more things.

© Andrew Johnson, Ph.D.

A SHORT GUIDE TO ACTION RESEARCH
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