Using Video Surveys to Compare Classrooms and Teaching Across Cultures: Examples and Lessons From the TIMSS Video Studies

The video survey is a promising new approach for studying classrooms and teaching across cul-tures. Drawing from experience in working with two cross-cultural video surveys, the Third In-ternational Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and its follow-up study (TIMSS-R), this article presents some of the challenges of studying classrooms across cultures and some of the ways that the video survey can deal with these challenges. The article begins by identifying some of the issues in cross-cultural research and classroom surveys that led to the creation of the video survey. Examples from the TIMSS and the TIMSS-R video studies are then used to illus-trate some benefits and limitations of video surveys and to share some of the lessons that were learned about studying classrooms across cultures. STIGLER, GALLIMORE, HIEBERT Studying classrooms and teaching across cultures is fraught with challenges, yet ripe with opportunity. First, this article considers the opportunities afforded by cross-cultural studies of teaching. Next, we lay out what we see as some major meth-odological challenges posed by such research and outline a new method that we are developing to address some of these challenges. This new method, which we call the video survey, evolved over the past 5 years in our work on the Third Interna-tional Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and its fol-low-up study (TIMSS-R; the R stands for repeat). Using examples from these studies (the TIMSS-R is still in progress), we identify some advantages and disadvantages of video sur-veys and share some lessons we have learned about studying classrooms across cultures. WHY COMPARE CLASSROOMS