Biophysical_template

Home : BioPhysical Module : Assignment 1

PEPSI Observations

To complete this assignment successfully, you should:

Study the observation and reflection sheets carefully.
Enter your response(s) in the space(s) provided. Do not feel you must reproduce the observation sheets, but rather share the data and insights gathered.
Fill in your Name and Email address
Send the Assignment
Tally up 's for completion of this assignment.

Assignment

When an educational system is content oriented, we tend to look at teacher behavior and measure progress in mastery of content. This tells us a great deal about the teacher, and much of our data about good teaching comes from observing teacher behavior.

What if we wanted to know about how effective children find a classroom setting? We could look at scores on achievement tests, but again, we are attending to content.

When a classroom is a systemic blend of teacher, student and content, we begin to look more closely at what students are doing. In this assignment, you will be looking at students and the interaction of student and teacher to learn more about development.

The five areas to observe and reflect upon are: Physical, Emotional, Philosophical, Social and Intellectual, or PEPSI.

Here is a short cut to move back and forth between the response box and charts. Click on the Observations and Reflections

Please plan on observing in at least three (3) of the areas. Maybe you have access to a classroom but you may not. You can observe children in a church program, in scouting or a party at a Pizza Palace. If a public school does not agree to have you come, there are many preschools and private or charter schools that might acquiesce. Find a way to observe and think about what you are seeing, even if you stake yourself in a mall for a while.

To get the most out of this assignment, plan to observe and reflect on each of the five PEPSI areas. There is an observation page for each area and a reflection page that goes with the areas of observation to strengthen your reflective work.

Each observation takes about 20 or 30 minutes and each reflection take a short time to fill out, but you may still be thinking about what you see for days. It is surprising just how much there is to see and how much it can change how we approach and work with children.

You may choose to report your observations, reflections and synthesis of the experiences in the dialogue box, discuss findings in WebCT and email the number of points you acquire, or share your insights with the instructor and peers.

1. Enter findings from your first observation and reflection here.

2. Enter findings from your second observation and reflection here.

3. If you observed and reflected in a third PEPSI area, enter your experiences or conclusions here.

4. You may choose to do a fourth and fifth PEPSI area, but it is not a requirement. Remember to give yourself a green jewel for each observation and reflection. I you did all five reflections and observations, you would have ten added to your tally sheet.

Feel free to share suggestions on changes to the observation forms with the professor Janne.Ellsworth@nau.edu or share specific grade level concerns that might sharpen the experience for others and insights gained through this exercise.

Remember, if you do not have an opportunity to observe in a classroom, you can do so in a family setting, in a department store, grocery store, or community park.

The objective of the assignment is to really watch children and to sharpen awareness of the different kinds of developmental data that we tend to overlook. It is meant to add to your acuity and sensitivity during child-adult interactions.

For grading purposes, please provide the following information:

Your Name:
Your Email address:

Once you have filled in the areas above, click the Send button below to send your response to the instructor. If you wish to send the first observation and reflection before going on to the second set, you may wish to send the additional observations and reflections via E-mail, noting the assignment. For example, 2nd PEPSI observation and reflection

E-mail J'Anne Ellsworth at Janne.Ellsworth@nau.edu

Course Created by J'Anne Ellsworth & Center for Technology Enhanced Learning