What if we could truly engage high schools students in learning by actively involving them in research and discussion leading to concrete actions on issues that interest them? Lent describes her experiences working with student study groups composed of high school students and teachers or adult community members. Study groups differ from…

Although it is unspectacular in appearance, dead wood is one of the most ecologically important resources in forests. Fallen logs, dead standing trees, stumps, and even cavities in live trees fulfill a wide range of roles. Prominent among these is that they provide habitat for many organisms, especially insects. Fourth-grade students at Fox…

Concepts of voice, meaning, mutual construction of knowledge, and transfer of learning are presented in this paper as critical ingredients that support the teaching of group work from an ecological perspective. Examples of these concepts are given to illustrate their application in group work classes. (Contains 1 table.)

Although students read about relational turning point analysis in some interpersonal communication textbooks, they regard it as an abstract concept until required to apply it to their own lives. Through group discussion, as other group members supply important events that an individual student might not consider, students are able to carefully…

Human sexuality courses are common across many college/university campuses. The methods of instruction typically encourage discussion to increase knowledge and critical thinking about self, relationships, and professional pathways. However, often the pedagogical practices do not include methods to draw out students with a range of personalities,…

Recent discourses embedded in higher education policies advocate institutional collaboration and globalisation, while inter-professional learning and student-centred learning have each found favour as good practice in educational delivery. In this article, we detail the process of developing a novel innovation that operationalized components of…

The handbook, an outgrowth of a project involving 8-13 year-old siblings of handicapped children and their parents, describes ways to implement sibling programs. Problems facing siblings are reviewed, including overidentification, resentment, and embarassment. Guidelines for conducting "sibshops" are offered with information on five goals, such as…

A computer bulletin board system (BBS) called "A Place with No Name" was developed for the gifted and talented community in the greater New Orleans (Louisiana) area. The BBS values warmth, responsiveness, and intelligence; has a system of user classes to reward users who contribute most to the quality of discussion; and currently offers…

Presents four Dutch teachers' experiences with concept mapping, identifying features of the concept mapping task that helps it provoke and support a productive student discourse and explaining that the design of the task can affect the quality of student interaction. The paper describes the concept mapping task, student articulation of feelings,…

In this article I discuss an excerpt from a group discussion between five 15-year-old boys who, in the presence of an adult moderator, engaged in the act of "slut bashing" while telling a minimal story about an incident of female promiscuity. The analysis proceeds microanalytically in a three-step procedure that details the positions taken by the…

This article briefly describes a role-playing exercise designed to break the ice in a classroom literature circle from The Ultimate Small-Group Reading How-To Book: Building Comprehension through SmallGroup Instruction, written by Gail Saunders-Smith. The members of a literature circle participate in the group discussion according to the…

This is a summary of some of the issues raised in a recent online discussion forum organized by the IATEFL Young Learners' Special Interest Group. To mark the close working relationship between IATEFL and ELT Journal, and to give our readers access to these discussions, we are planning to publish more summaries of this kind from other IATEFL SIGs…

In this article, the author presents the dangers in group work. He states that one common dilemma is when groups tend to come to agreement too quickly. Another dilemma is when the team is getting bogged down and becoming defensive or adversarial when members express new ideas or introduce new data. Finally, a very common danger is group members'…

Out-of-school time programs can provide valuable supports to the positive development of children and youth. These programs can help cultivate social and emotional skills, and further students' academic achievements. Furthermore, the safe environment provided by out-of-school time programs can offer children and youth, especially those living in…

This is an experiment in conversation on the topic of "a post-occidental globe". It emerges from a moderated discussion group where members of a class--master's and PhD students--reflected upon a set of resources provided as part of a course in Global Studies in Education at the University of Illinois. The conversation threads were moderated and…