ANECDOTAL RECORDS

What Is an anecdotal record?

An anecdotal record (or anecdote) is like a short story that educators use to record a significant incident
that they have observed. Please see the Observing section for a short discussion of what educators
might consider significant. Anecdotal records are usually relatively short and may contain descriptions of
behaviours and direct quotes.

Why use anecdotal records?

Anecdotal records are easy to use and quick to write, so they are the most popular form of record that
educators use. Anecdotal records allow educators to record qualitative information, like details about a
child’s specific behaviour or the conversation between two children. These details can help educators
plan activities, experiences and interventions. Because they can be written after the fact, when an
educator is on his break, for example, or at the end of the day, using anecdotal records allows the
educator to continue to work (this is often referred to as the “participant-observer role”) without having
to stop to write down his observations.

How do I write an anecdotal record?

Anecdotal records are written after the fact, so use the past tense when writing them (click here to see
an Exercise that will help you – the 3rd set of questions will help you practice your verb tenses).

Being positive and objective, and using descriptive language are also important things to keep in mind
when writing your anecdotal records. Click here for related exercises.

Remember that anecdotal records are like short stories; so be sure to have a beginning, a middle and an
end for each anecdote.

Anecdotal Record for Students | Education

1. Meaning of Anecdotal Record:

It is a well known fact that most of the times are being spent by the student in the school with teachers
and peers etc. It is natural that certain significant incidents or happenings occur in the life of students
which are to be noted as they are based on some sort of experiences. Keeping these things in the mind
teachers are subject to record these happenings for the purpose of data collection.

So that teachers should advise the students to write down this concerning facts on a piece of paper or
they should record this matters by tape recorder after asking the facts about incident of students
without their knowledge.

Here students should not know that the facts written or asked are not going to be recorded by teachers.
But one thing should be kept in the mind of teacher that the questioning or writing facts must be
selective and factual in nature.

Now-a-days this type of data collection is required for the purpose of guidance services. Really the
technique bearing the process is called record.

To make the meaning of anecdotal record, some definitions are needed to be explained here:

R. Louis:—

“An anecdotal record is a report of a significant episode in the life of a student.”

J.D. Willard:—

“An anecdotal record is a simple statement of an incident deemed by the observer to be significant with
respect to a given pupil.”

A.J. Jones:—

Anecdotal record may be defined as a “on the spot descriptions of some incident, episode or occurrence
that is observed and recorded as being of possible significance, when these reports are gathered
together, they are known as anecdotal record.”

Froehlich and Hoyt:

“An anecdotal record consists of an objec­tive description of pupil behaviour in a particular
environmental setting, an interpretation of the be-haviour by the observer writing the description, and a
recommendation for further action based on the incident and its interpretation.”

2. Characteristics of a Good Anecdotal Record:

The following characteristics of a good anecdotal record have been suggested by Prescott:

(i) Anecdotal record gives the date, place and situation in which the action occurred. This is called the
setting.

(ii) It describes the actions of the individual (pupil/child) the reactions of the other people involved and
the responses of the former to these reactions.

(iii) It quotes what is said to the individual and by the individual during the action.

(iv) It states “mood cues” postures, gestures, voice qualities and facial expressions which serve as a cue
to help understand how the individual felt. It does not provide interpretations of his feelings but only
the cues by which a reader may judge what they were.

(v) The description is inclusion of and extensive enough to cover the episode. The action or conversation
is not left incomplete and unfinished but is followed through to the point where an aspect of a
behavioural moment in the life of the individual is supplied.

3. Suggestions for Improving Quality of Anecdotes Record:

Brandt (1972) has given following suggestions for improving the scientific quality of anecdotes:
1. Write an anecdote soon after viewing the incident. If some time lag is necessitated by the situation,
jot down a key word or two to aid your memory during the more complete writing.

2. Include the basic action or statements of the chief person in the episode, that is, what he did or said.

3. Include enough setting details to indicate where and when the behaviour occurred, under what
conditions, and who are involved.

4. Responses or actions of others to the chief person’s behaviour should be included.

5. Use direct quotations wherever possible in order to preserve the flavour of how things were stated.

6. Anecdotes should preserve the sequence of actions and responses of the original behaviour incident.

7. Anecdotes should be objective, accurate and complete as far as important details are concerned.
Good literary style; correct grammar and spelling and even complete sentences are in-consequential.
Words chosen should be precise and unambiguous, nouns and verbs primarily; subjective terminology
exemplified by most objectives and adverbs, should be used sparingly.

8. If research resources are sufficient, use of tape recorder and typist to transcribe anecdotes into
written form generally increases the amount of the detail that can be included over simple stenographic
of hand written recording.

4. Types of Anecdotal Records:

The following classification of anecdotal records has been made on the basis of contents included in it:
First Type:

This type of anecdotal record contains objective description of a pupil’s behaviour recorded from time
to time.

Second Type:

This type of anecdotal record includes description of behaviour with some comment or interpretation.

Third Type:

This type of anecdotal record takes into account the record of a pupil’s behaviour comments by the
observer and the treatment offered to the pupil.

Fourth Type:

This type of anecdotal record includes descrip­tion of a pupil’s behaviour along with the comments as
well as suggestions for future treatment of the student.

5. Uses of Anecdotal Record:

The uses of anecdotal record is as follows:

(i) The anecdotal record is useful for the guidance worker and teacher as it present dynamic picture
about the pupil in different situations.
(ii) The anecdotal record is used by teachers to know and understand the pupil on the basis of
description of happening of student’s life.

(iii) The anecdotal record enables teacher and guidance worker to understand the personality pattern of
students.

(iv) The anecdotal record enables teachers and guidance worker to study and understand the
adjustment patterns of the students.

(v) The anecdotal record is helpful for the teachers and guidance worker in assisting the students for
solving their problems and difficulties.

(vi) The anecdotal record is better means of data collection which is helpful to improve relationship with
teachers and peers etc.

(vii) The anecdotal record is helpful for the students to get rid of mental tensions, anxieties and so on.

(viii) The anecdotal is useful for the parents to know about the child clearly and they will try to help their
child in various ways.

(ix) The anecdotal is useful to improve teaching standard after knowing comment of the students
through anecdotal technique.

6. Limitations of Anecdotal Record:

The anecdotal record has following limitations:

(i) The anecdotal records are of no value if the proper care is not taken by the teacher in the context of
data collection about student’s behaviour.

(ii) The anecdotal records are of little use if objectivity in data collection is not followed and maintained
strictly.

(iii) In some cases anecdotal records are merely confined to exceptional children as a result of which
average students are seriously neglected.

(iv) The anecdotal record is a technique of data collection for the purpose of guidance services which
provides some partly information’s about the students.

(v) The anecdotal record is of no use if the incidents and its description is not properly recorded.

(vi) The anecdotal record sometimes in some cases invites disappointment and tensions of students
which are not desirable from the part of the teacher.

(vii) It is not possible in the part of teacher to detect a observable incident as because an incident may
be important and memorable for the student may not treated important in case of teacher.

(viii) Sometimes students being more sentimental, reactive and tensional do not respond or answer or
write correctly as a result of which the anecdotal records do not bear weightage so far its uses and
importance’s are concerned.

(ix) The preparation of anecdotal record is nothing but the unnecessary wastage time and money.

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/india-2/education-india-2/anecdotal-record-for-students-
education/90051/

Essential Qualities of a Good Anecdotal Records

Anecdotal records provide a variety of descriptions of the pupil’s spontaneous behavior in various
situations. They uncover problems and raise questions to further study of the individual.

Furthermore anecdotal records may provide the necessary validating evidence for other evaluative
instruments. For instance when the results of a personality inventory indicate that certain individuals
are high in emotional maturity and others are low, the anecdotes of these individuals may be analyzed
to find out whether or not the personality inventory scores tally with the observations of behavior.

Thus anecdotal records help the school workers see the student as a changing growing individual with
many facets. It supplies information useful in helping the student to understand himself.

Hence a good anecdotal record possesses the following characteristics:

Objectivity- the anecdotal record must be objective, disregarding personal emotional reaction of the
reports to the incident observed.

Specific- it must include specific actions, direct conversation and a fairly complete sequence of incidents.

Singularity- it must be one of many about the student

Adequate background information – a good anecdotal record gives adequate background information
regarding time, place and person involved. It must mention name, age and the situation in which he is
most frequently observed.

It presents many different views of the students. This begins to seek certain kinds of information not
considered important before; seeks opportunities to observe students in different situations.

Selectivity- a good anecdotal record is very selective. Pertinent and meaningful incidents are the ones
recorded. Teacher trained in psychology, mental hygiene and guidance write the most significant
anecdotes because they know the types of behavior that are important at variable growth levels.

http://mycreativepanda.com/_hermosa/?p=635