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Tricia Slusser
Rubio
EDU 360
3-14-16
EIST
Preparation:
My student for the EIST was in eleventh grade and the subject area we
focused on was English, particularly on the development of characters in a literary
work. This was a topic that the class had focused on earlier in the year and could
be applied to any book that they were currently studying. I chose to use the book
that the class is currently studying, Jane Eyre, as my aid during the interview. In
preparation for the interview, it was necessary to answer some preliminary
questions regarding my own understanding of the topic.
1. What is your own understanding of the topic?
Character development is necessary in literary works because different
things influence characters and alters them; thus, also altering the story.
Character development is also useful in that it shows the morals, themes,
and ideas that are prevalent in a work. Without any character development
all of the characters would be static and the story would not progress very
well.
2. Consider the students age, background, and experiences in your subject
area. What are your anticipations about what the student might be thinking

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about the topic?

This is a topic that has been reviewed several times in previous grades for
this student. The student should be able to explain the use of character
development as well as relate it to an example of some type of character
development. Although it will be more complex and there might be some
struggle, the student should also be able to apply the concept to new
material that the class is reading.
3. Consider the topic from alternative perspectives, especially those that
may be held by your student. List potential questions to ask your student to
elicit their understanding.
My student may at first be confused with the idea of character development
as a novel progresses and developing a character as one begins to write. It
may become necessary to explain the difference between these types of
character development. In order to understand what the student knows
about the topic I can ask how he would explain it to someone else. Another
question I can ask will refer to the importance of character development in
a novel so that I can find out if the student understands why it is important
to study how a character develops over the course of a book.
Lastly, in preparation for my interview I will need to prepare questions regarding
the topic that will lead to a better understanding of what the student understands
about the topic.
1. Do you give your consent to be interviewed and have it recorded?

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2. What is character development?

3. Why is character development important in a book?
4. Can you give an example of character development in the book youre reading
in class, Jane Eyre?
Interview and Reflection
In order to complete my EIST interview I needed an eleventh grade student
who was willing to be interviewed and also had the time to be interviewed.
Because of the small class sizes at the school I was visiting and the scheduling of
classes, there were very limited options; however, one student in eleventh grade
had a study hall hour in which we were able to complete the interview. I
introduced the topic before the recording started so the student would have a
minute to recall what he knew regarding the topic and he seemed to understand it
quite well. The problem arose when I turned on the recorder. As soon as the
recorder came on the student became difficult to converse with, using very short
replies and struggling to engage in a meaningful conversation regarding the
subject. Within the first few seconds I could see the student was obviously
struggling as he began to fidget and look nervous. The interview did not last very
long because the student was clearly uncomfortable; however, once the interview
was over and the recorder was off the student began to speak more about the topic
and how it related to the material that was being studied in his eleventh grade

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English class.
The students understanding of the topic was rather foggy at first. He was
able to give a general description of what character development is but did not
elaborate and did not respond well to the prompts I was giving him. After
speaking with him once the recorded interview was complete it became more
apparent that he did see the usefulness of having a character develop throughout a
book so as to keep the plot interesting as well as to show what things changed the
character. He said that the teacher had reviewed the information earlier in the year
but that he did not really see the relevance in all of their readings. During the
recorded interview the student was unable to provide any connection between the
topic and an actual situation where it occurred in literature; however, later he
began to explain how there were several characters that attempted to change the
protagonist and in the process actually made her more resistant to the influences of
other people. Once he mentioned this occurrence in Jane Eyre I began to see that
he did have a grasp of the concept of character development, even if it was only a
light grasp. It seemed that a lot of the confusion about the topic came from an
inability to connect the information directly to what was being studied and focused
on in class.
Overall the recorded interview with the student was really rough. The
student was difficult to engage with and it seemed that the recorder created a fear
of being wrong because the answers were permanently saved as opposed to having

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a conversation that is not saved word for word. I think I could have done a better
job with leading the student to talking points regarding the topic but I did not want
to be too direct; rather, I wanted him to get to the resolution by himself. It may
have been better to start the interview recording and simply have it record
everything, including my introduction to the student and everything like that.
I had predicted that the student might have trouble with the topic but my
prediction was still slightly off because of the way in which my student struggled
with the topic. The student understood the basics of the topic; however, he had
difficulty verbalizing his understanding in a way that connected the information to
a real example like Jane Eyre. While I often times also find it difficult to
articulate my thoughts, my understanding of the content area was much deeper
than the students understanding. If asked the same questions that were asked of
the student I would be able to answer them as well as give examples of the
information. It was interesting to get another perspective on some ideas while
talking to this student though. For example, it had not occurred to me beforehand
to explore if the transitions in character is always a good thing or if it can also be
considered bad so opening up that line of discussion allowed me to explore new
ideas regarding the topic as well.