This document provides instructions for Assignment 1, which involves observing children at the SFSU Children's Campus and writing a report analyzing the observations based on an article by Garcia (1994) about gender differences in motor skill development. Students are asked to observe for 1 hour, record examples of behaviors that support or contradict Garcia's four assertions about gender interactions, and discuss their findings in relation to Garcia's study. The assignment is due October 19th and must follow APA style guidelines.

1. 10/21/2011 9:50:00 AM
ASSIGNMENTS
Assignment 1: Due Thursday 10/19 at 4 pm (turitin) This
assignment is worth 15% of your final grade Naturalistic
Observation at SFSU Children’s Campus
To complete this assignment you will have to sign up for a 1-hour
observation time at the Children‟s Campus. The sign up process is completed
online. Be certain to download and read the Guidelines for Observation at
the Children‟s Campus before you complete your observation.
http://childrenscampus.sfsu.edu/
This project is based on the article available on iLearn by Clersida Garcia
(1994) titled, “Gender differences in young children’s interactions
when learning fundamental motor skills.” It is important that you have
read the article before the observation is undertaken.
Record the following and include it at the beginning of your written
assignment:
On the following page is a table that you can use to record specific examples
of behaviors that either support or contradict the assertions made by Garcia
(1994). Use the table to organize and record your observations. Then
describe the evidence you found for and against Garcia‟s assertions and
discuss what factors might have contributed to the similarities/differences
between your findings and those of Garcia. Keep in mind that it is highly
unlikely you will be able to observe the children in a context that involves
learning fundamental motor skills. You can use additional information found
in Chapters 12 and 13 of the text as well as information from Cintas (1995)
or other references to enrich your discussion.
The assignments must have a cover page with the title of the assignment,
your name, your student ID#, and the exact word count (excluding
references). The assignment must be double spaced, typed in 12 point font,
and the headings and referencing style must conform to the guidelines set
out by the American Psychological Association (APA):
http://www.apastyle.org/index.aspx
The assignment must be submitted via the Turnitin link in iLearn. Late
assignments will not be graded.
Date and time of observation: October 21, 2011 @ 10:00 a.m.
Location of activity observed: Children‟s Center Owl Room
Age of the children observed:

2. General activity in which children were engaged:
Length of observation: 1 Hour Observation
1
Use the table below to record examples of behavior that support or
contradict the four assertions made in the article. Number each incident of
behavior you observe, indicate the time that it occurred, and write a brief
description of the behavior.
Observations that support the assertion. Observations that
contradict the assertion.
First assertion: Girls interact in a cooperative, caring, and sharing manner.
- One little girl was talking to the teacher that she didn’t want a particular
object in a way of asking for permission
- Girl one (Blue shirt) constantly follows and asks teacher question wanting
to help.
- little girl sofia doesn’t have any girls to play with so she decided to play
trains with the teacher.
- little girl started drinking out of this tub with water, teacher catcher her
and the teacher tells her that she cannot drink that water. Little girl crys but
the teacher tells her that its not right and the girl cooperates and obeys.
- two little girls are wearing tutu’s but noticed earlier that they were sitting
and playing with each toher.
Second assertion: Boys interact in a competitive, individualized, and
egocentric manner.
- One little boy kept saying “NO NO NO!” and was telling another little boy
“Only I can say NO NO NO! but you say YES YES YES!”
- One little boy seemed to play in a very cooperative and nice manner with
the little girls. Also he’s the one that would play by himself.
Little boy seemed to be observant and seemed intimidated.
- Two little boys happen to take the same hat and took some plastic knives
and started to stab each other in a playful manner saying “I‟m going to poke
your eye out!”
After child one „poked‟ the other kid, child 2 did the same thing in a
more competitive manner.
Same two children went to the other side of the room after „poking
each others eye out‟ and started to play blocks with each toerh in a
less aggressive manner.

3. -Wyatt and Parker are playing hide and seek earlier, teacher tells them that
they cannot play inside and to take it outside. The two go outside but later
come in after 4 mins and defys teachers orders.
Child one (Green shirt) constantly looks over at child two‟s (Brown
Shirt) block tower.
o Child one mimics child two‟s block tower
o Child one carefully observes child two‟s construction of his
block tower. But child one makes his “more better” by
constrcting a long pathway.
Little boy wyatt was talking to a grown up and saying that hes
going to make the teacher a prtty pictures. Wyatt is focused and
talking to his blocks in a humming manner.
Little boy asks sofia if he can play with her butterfly wings. Sofia
gets cautious and says no in a calm manner saying that her
butterfly wings are pretty and precious to her and he doesn‟t want
her wings broken.
Third assertion: Asian children had a social interaction style based on
cooperation and support.
Little asian boy runs over to teacher crying and asking for his
mommy. Teacher asks why hes crying but doesn‟t tell teacher
whats wrong.
Fourth assertion: Boys and girls tried to maintain their interaction style
with the opposite sex.
- One little boy happen to push a little girl in a slightly aggressive manner
- three little girls and one boy is playing house but the little boy pushes a
little girl away from the refridgerator, boy is being slightly dominant.
- one little girls and one little boy is playing house. Little boy stacks different
objects like apples and cheese and pots and pans on top of each other while
the little girl sits and observes. When the stacks falls, little girls helps little
boy to stoack them together so they don’t fall.

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