Observation Procedures

Times You Can Observe at the CDL & ECDL

  • CDL Building: 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM and 3:00 AM–4:00 PM
  • ECDL Building: 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM and 3:00-4:00 PM

Please Note: All students must be enrolled in a course or sponsored by a faculty member.

Both the ECDL & CDL buildings require all personnel and visitors to wear a mask.

Observation Policies

  • All student observers must sign in at the building they will be conducting observations at.
    • Child Development Laboratory (CDL) Building – First floor at the table next to the door that leads you to the 2nd floor observation galleries.
    • Early Child Development Lab (ECDL) building – at the front desk.
  • All student observers must sign out prior to leaving the facility.
  • All observers must be wearing an orange observer tag.
  • All observers must be wearing a face mask.

Observing at the CDL

The observation galleries are located at the 2nd floor of the CDL. You must sign in before observing inside or outside at the CDL.

Observing at the ECDL

All visitors must sign-in at the ECDL’s front desk before observing inside or outside at the ECDL. Please bring headphones with an aux cord to connect to the speaker system in the observation booths.

Observation Rules

  1. Quiet Please: Children can hear you through the mesh screening of the CDL observation galleries.
  2. Confidentiality: Never use children’s names when you discuss at the CDL out of respect for the confidentiality of CDL families.
  3. Food and Drink: Eating and drinking is NOT permitted inside the observation booths/galleries.
  4. Please Do Not Sit On The Counters: The counters at the ECDL are not designed to support human weight. Mirrors are located around each classroom to facilitate observations in hard-to-see corners of the room.
  5. Photographs and Videos: Requests to photograph or video during an observation must be completed at the same time the Class Project Request is submitted by the course instructor

Observation Information Procedure Sheet

Resources for Observers

Who’s Who

“Siblists” in observation booths/galleries provide children’s observation numbers, nicknames, birthdates, sibling information, and number of semesters at the CDL.  You can identify children by matching siblist information with older children’s name/number tags and with the pictorial directories in infant observation booths.

Classroom Schedules

Toddler-preschool observation booths/galleries have general classroom routines (outdoor play, snack, rest time, etc.) posted to assist students in planning their observations.

 Sound Ports

Plug your head phones into ECDL observation booth sound ports and dial to different stations to hear all classroom sounds.