The National Issues Forum's Literacy Program uses study circles and group discussion to promote empowerment and enhance adult literacy through civic education. The program has helped the Westonka (Minnesota) Adult Basic Education project accomplish its mission and has expanded the staff's view of adult learning. (SK)

Examples are given of how spontaneous discussions of school and home problems enabled fourth grade children to seek solutions to difficulties in an open and cooperative way. (JD)

For interdisciplinary teams to function effectively, members must be cognizant of the effects of group dynamics on team decision-making. Individual characteristics, group characteristics, and situational factors are discussed as they relate to the processes teams use in carrying out their goal of providing early intervention services to children…

Describes how students can help evaluate each other in discussion groups and how this improves their writing. Asserts that students appreciate the scrutiny of the conferences and take their own writing much more seriously as a result. Describes this technique in the context of a high school writing workshop. (PRA)

Offers a summary of a focus group discussion in which a small group of writers discuss samples of their students' work. (SR)

Effective group discussion needs to involve as many students in the classroom as possible. This article describes split information tasks, their design, and their usefulness in the classroom, with particular reference to mathematics vocabulary. (Contains seven references.) (LB)

Describes the development, implementation, and assessment of a faculty study group program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The study group was designed to foster teaching as a reflective, collaborative activity and encourage interaction of faculty of different disciplines, age groups, ranks, and teaching experience. (DB)

Considers how many students find speaking in large group, whole class or "public" contexts intimidating. Explores what constitutes an effective "public" speaker at GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) level, and suggests various teaching strategies as starting points. (SC)

An overview of the experience of the opening two years of an institution-wide project in introducing electronic voting equipment for lectures is presented. Eight different departments and a wide range of group size (up to 300) saw some use. An important aspect of this is the organizational one of addressing the whole institution, rather than a…

Expulsion is commonly schools' last resort to maintain discipline and keep schools safe. But increasingly, educators are turning to "restorative justice"--an alternative method from the field of criminology--with promising results. According to Randall Comfort, assistant upper-school director, Mounds Park Academy, St. Paul, Minnesota, using this…

In an effort to combat racism, antiracist activists often use the structure of dialogue groups for interracial and transcultural discussions. The assumption that spoken English is an equally accessible language can pose barriers to participation in such groups. The use of art processes in interracial dialogue groups can shift the power dynamics…

For students, theory is often one of the most daunting aspects of sociology--it seems abstract, removed from the concrete events of their everyday lives, and therefore intimidating. In an attempt to break down student resistance to theory, instructors are increasingly turning to active learning approaches. Active learning exercises, then, appear…

On January 19, 1921, Albert Mansbridge, founder of the Workers' Educational Association and a member of the Ministry of Reconstruction's Adult Education Committee, chaired a meeting at 20 Tavistock Square, London, to consider the formation of a British Institute of Adult Education. The Institute was to be a branch of the grandly--and somewhat…

It is possible that the pedagogical benefits of a discussion board or any asynchronous communicative tool may not be realised as inscribed in terms like "collaborative learning environment" or "discussion board" due to two things: first, as instructors, we focus on what the technology can do and should do and ignore "what…

This paper provides an illustrative example of an approach to creating and reporting individual profiles of engagement in particular behaviours in an online asynchronous discussion (OAD). Individual results of analysis of transcripts of an OAD can provide insights different from those gained by focusing on aggregate measures of group behaviours.…