Things to consider when observing:

• Who or what will be observed
• Where the observation will take place (observing a range of situations where the student operates is recommended)
• When the observation will take place (a number of observations at different times is also important)
• How the observations will be recorded²⁵

Different ways to observe

Anecdotal: recording general notes from observations seen throughout the day or over the week. The observations can be noted by one practitioner or by a number of practitioners. They are subjective and recorded any time as seen applicable by practitioners.

Event recording: practitioners look for specific behaviours or skill challenges. These events are recorded as they are observed or over a specified time period (i.e. over two weeks in a classroom environment or over six one-to-one tutoring sessions).

Timed observation: recording an event over a specified time period and noting the frequency. For example, a tutor may note how many times a learner loses focus over a ten minute period while working on an oral reading task. Or an instructor may note how many times a learner gets out of his/her chair over a ½ hour period in a small group environment. This form of observation is generally used when trying to observe behaviours that may be interfering with adults' abilities to learn.

Duration: the length of time or the number of attempts it takes for an adult to complete a task. If a learner is utilizing strategies to work on increasing his/her reading comprehension speed in preparation for the GED, then observations of the number of times the learner needs to reread the passage before he/she is able to answer the questions could prove useful. This observation may be tracked over a period of time to see if the strategies are helping the learner's comprehensive speed.