During your time at Manor, you will need to conduct a child case study. To do well, you will need to plan ahead and keep a schedule for observing the child. A case study at Manor typically includes the following components:
Within this tab, we will discuss how to complete all portions of the case study. A copy of the rubric for the assignment is attached.
Remember your observation notes should provide the following detailed information about the child:
You should observe the child a minimum of 5 hours. Make sure you DO NOT use the child's real name in your observations. Always use a pseudo name for course assignments.
You will use your observations to help write your narrative. When submitting your observations for the course please make sure they are typed so that they are legible for your instructor. This will help them provide feedback to you.
Qualitative Observations
A qualitative observation is one in which you simply write down what you see using the anecdotal note format listed below.
Quantitative Observations
A quantitative observation is one in which you will use some type of checklist to assess a child's skills. This can be a checklist that you create and/or one that you find on the web. A great choice of a checklist would be an Ounce Assessment and/or work sampling assessment depending on the age of the child. Below you will find some resources on finding checklists for this portion of the case study. If you are interested in using Ounce or Work Sampling, please see your program director for a copy.
Remaining Objective
For both qualitative and quantitative observations, you will only write down what your see and hear. Do not interpret your observation notes. Remain objective versus being subjective.
An example of an objective statement would be the following: "Johnny stacked three blocks vertically on top of a classroom table." or "When prompted by his teacher Johnny wrote his name but omitted the two N's in his name."
An example of a subjective statement would be the following: "Johnny is happy because he was able to play with the block." or "Johnny omitted the two N's in his name on purpose."
For this section, you will collect artifacts from and/or on the child during the time you observe the child. Here is a list of the different types of artifacts you might collect:
Potential Qualitative Artifacts
Potential Quantitative Artifacts
Here you will find a number of examples of components of the Case Study. Please use them as a guide as best practice for completing your Case Study assignment.
The Narrative portion of your case study assignment should be written in APA style, double-spaced, and follow the format below:
Make sure to NOT to use the child’s real name in the Narrative Report. You should make reference to course material, information from your textbook, and class supplemental materials throughout the paper.
Same rules apply in terms of writing in objective language and only using subjective minimally. REMEMBER to CHECK your grammar, spelling, and APA formatting before submitting to your instructor. It is imperative that you review the rubric of this assignment as well before completing it.
Here is a list of the biggest mistakes that students make on this assignment: