This paper discusses how the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) can be adapted for use in online instruction. The four basic stages of the NGT (listing, recording, collating, and prioritizing) are described, and modifications for online delivery are detailed, including: (1) the instructor posts the Socratic question or problem to be posed; (2) students…

This paper stresses the importance of collaborative evaluation and discussion for helping preservice teachers develop the disposition and skill to engage in self-evaluation. Participation in the action-research process can enhance students' abilities to analyze different types of teaching experiences. (Author/PP)

Discusses Louis Ormont's theory of group experience and the effectiveness of the Group Meeting and Triad Resolutions processes--part of his Group Process--in modifying the behavior of kindergartners. Suggests that children learn to take charge of their own behavior and are strengthened by feelings of group membership and personal empowerment.…

Explores what focus groups are, how they have been utilized by researchers, and some of the practical and theoretical implications for incorporating focus groups in the design of educational research. Includes verbatim transcripts from interviews and specific examples of various focus groups. (MJP)

Presents three activities to promote participation in group discussions about books. Activity one involves displaying pictures of characters and having students describe them, citing specific actions from the book as proof. Activity two entails listing a story's actions into a flow chart. Activity three involves making a line graph indicating the…

Describes the use of a local area network for synchronous, real-time communication in a second language using a facilitating software package, the Daedalus Integrated Writing Environment, composed of modules to enhance process writing in English. Describes five modules adapted for use in French as a second language classes: InterChange, Invent,…

Proposes the use of the oral activity "pyramid discussion," involving students in stimulating small-group problem-solving tasks that encourage the practice of both listening and speaking skills, in order to increase advanced English-as-a-Second-Language students' seminar and discussion skills. (CB)

"Teacher Roundtables," associated with Michigan State University, consists of elementary, middle, and high school teachers who focus on literacy and learning and meet regularly outside of school. This article focuses on teacher resistance to texts, curriculum, reform proposals, and other elements of school culture that are insensitive to…

About two-thirds of all psychiatry residents are foreign-born medical graduates. Discusses the operation, content, focus, challenges, and benefits of a training group experience for the psychiatry residents at Bronx Lebanon Hospital. The goals are to aid acculturation, improve group psychotherapeutic skills, encourage self-awareness, and promote…

Next year, Congress will begin the process of reauthorizing the Higher Education Act, which governs the major student aid programs and other categorical support for colleges and universities administered by the Education Department. Major reauthorization issues include degree of access in Pell program, aid based on manpower planning, etc. (MLW)

Describes a strategy for designing an introductory course in cultural anthropology for "nonelite" students. Discusses the thematic approach to teaching anthropology. Emphasis is placed on the importance of using the culture concept as an analytical tool to understand culturally different behaviors. (JS)

A first-year course in the computer-based educational media design curriculum at the University of Twente (Netherlands) uses the World Wide Web as an integrated course environment; collaborative group-based learning is the basis of the instruction. The Web is used to make evaluation-oriented activities part of the ongoing student experience.…

Examines the scope of pedagogic discourse, which involves the operation of a set of principles by which persons are apprenticed into ways of working valued in a culture. A pedagogic discourse is realized in two sets of language choices: (1) those connected with the goals of the teaching-learning activity, and (2) those concerning the content to be…

Addresses issues surrounding teaching, specifically how within higher education individuals, including librarians, gain the skills and confidence required. Suggests that developing as a teacher happens when teaching and learning are the subject of serious dicussion and inquiry among practitioners. Discusses specific objectives for the teaching…

A school-based environmental field project "What Happens Around You and Your School Area?" was designed under the School-based Curriculum Project Scheme (2001-2002) supported by the Hong Kong Education Manpower Bureau (formerly the Education Department). This school-based environmental field project, with heavy inclusion of environmental…