Observation Lab Research

Jordan Spitler
September 30, 2013
FCS 400

In the observational tasks of the children I conducted the experiment with only
one child; a four year old. I first started with the bag of toys and pulled out the pink and
yellow bear and asked her if she thought that was a girl or boy toy and she answered with
a girl toy because the bear as a duck on it and ducks are for girls. Then I asked if the blue
sock with Minnie Mouse on it was a girl or boy toy and she said girl because it has
something on it. The next toy was a ball that was blue and had dark colors and she said
that it was a girl toy because it has stars on it. I found it very interesting that Alyia said
that the toys that had items on them were girl toys and the bland color toy without
anything on them were boy toys. Many students would just say the toys are girl or boy
by the colors that they saw. The next test was the water test where you fill two glasses
that are the same size and fill them with equal amounts of water and ask which glass has
more water. Alyia thought that the one on the right had more by the way she was looking
at the glass. After that you pour the water out of one of glasses into a long, tall glass and
ask which glass has the most water, and Alyia answered the tall glass because the glass
was taller. Toddlers do not have the sense of perception fully developed at this point in
their lives. The next experiment was seeing which ball of play dough has more play
dough in the ball. Alyia answered that the one on the right has more since there was a
crack in play dough ball. Then I smashed one play dough ball flat and Alyia said that the
one was still in the shape of a ball had more play dough. The coin activity where the
same number of coins was laid out Alyia counted both of them and said that the top row
has six even though it only had five. Then I took one row and spread them out with the
same amount of coins still in each row, and Alyia said that the row that was spread out
had the most coins. The last activity was to ask what she thought would be in the egg

carton and she said eggs. After that we opened it up and paperclips were in the egg
carton box, and then I asked what do you think your friend would say is in the egg
carton box? Alyia said she would think paperclips, which is interesting because she is
taking on the role of another persons perspective according to Piaget in the
preoperational stage. I feel that a three year old would pretty much answer the questions
the same except for the egg carton one and the gender toy experiment. A three year old
would probably say that their friends would say paperclips would be in the egg carton. If
you showed the toys to the three year olds they would state the gender by the colors of
the toy. I feel that if I would ask a boy to answer to questions they would answer the
questions a little differently that would show the different perspectives and also in ages.
Bandura theorizes that behaviors are learned. While observing the class, I saw the
behaviors of imitation and modeling. The children watch each others movements and
actions and mimic each other and want to be like each other. It is so easy at that age to fit
in and have not a worry in the world. The children also use modeling and act like the
teacher and follow by example from the teacher. As I watched the children, the social
interactions were following what other people said and repetition. Imitation and
modeling were the two main theories of Bandura that I observed.
The main play stations that were used during free time consisted of the kitchen
set, puzzles, building blocks, and trucks. There were gender patterns in the playing
stations such as Jackson playing in the kitchen, which is unusual that a male would be
playing with a kitchen rather than the females. Brady was playing with the trucks, which
is reflected as a normal act for boys by society.

The teacher interacted with the children by asking them questions to stay engaged
with the information and focus on what they are doing at that moment. The teacher
showing them examples and using their names while speaking help keep the children
intrigued and excited about what is going to happen next. I would be careful as a teacher
of what questions are asked and ensure that they are easy enough for them to understand
and answer. I feel that as a preschool teacher you have to put yourself into the mind of a
three or four year old to connect with them at a level that they comprehend. Then
stepping back and looking at the classroom as a whole they were listening intently, all of
them want to be involved, and raising hands to be called on. Besides some of the
children calling out randomly, they were really well behaved and involved with the
lesson.
There were a few course concepts that I noticed during lab. Environment was one
of them and how they interact with one another and the teachers. This a different
environment for some of these children because it is their first schooling experience
which can have a impact on the behaviors of the children. Another concept is seeing the
parents actions and personality coming out of the children by their responses. For
example, Jackson kept on say What are you guys talking about? when all of us teachers
were talking; this is how you can tell that he has heard this at home. The last concept I
noticed was during outside time kicking and throwing the balls their fine motor skills
were not fully developed. The children could not catch the small balls and could not
determine how far to throw the balls.