Small group learning monitored by tutors is an essential ingredient of medical education at Limburg State University. Tutor functioning was assessed by students and found to be related to tutor expertise in subject matter under discussion but not to tutor age or experience. (Author/MSE)

Investigated the impact of electronic discussion group coding on student teachers' learning processes and experiences, examining whether coding provided a scaffold for critical thinking. A hierarchical series of discussion codes, applied to students' discussion contributions, acted as a procedural facilitator for critical thought processes.…

With the advent of the Internet, and more specifically the use of email discussion groups or listservs, physical educators have a new resource to assist them in overcoming the challenges to their professional development. One such resource is the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) listserv. NASPE-L is a physical…

Fourth semester students of Spanish as a foreign language at the university level in the US participated in two kinds of comprehensible-input based instruction, an extensive reading class that combined assigned and self-selected reading, and a "Reading-Discussion" class that consisted of assigned reading, debates and discussions. Students in both…

Advocates of computer-mediated instruction have pointed to the potential of online teaching for facilitating students' active learning behavior. Small-group online discussion can have a role in meaningful student interaction. Yet, what is less known are the conditions under which students actually engage in interaction in online discussion groups…

Observations of 90 lessons reveal the limitations of the whole-class discussion, the dominant teaching method in elementary and secondary schools. In addition to producing a low percentage of student involvement, rarely more than 50%, teachers' questions and answer techniques do not usually stimulate critical thinking. Besides most often asking…

The study circle concept, now almost a century old, is by far the most popular form of adult education in Sweden. Swedish study circles are sponsored by 10 national educational associations that receive substantial annual subsidies from the national government. Together with 140 folk high schools (residential adult programs), university short…

This is the final report of a three year program for preventing dropout attitudes from developing in the middle schools in grades 6,7, and 8. The project plans focused on three major goals: staff training for leading the project activities the development of materials for assisting teachers in the project activities, and the provision of…

This paper describes and analyzes the experiences of an inquiry group that was part of a National Science Foundation-funded elementary mathematics teacher enhancement project, the "Mathematics for Tomorrow Project." Inquiry group meetings focused on discussions and interpretations of data that teachers have brought from their classrooms. A…

This study examined how children, drawn from K-6 grades in 3 primary schools in southwest Sydney, use computers in their homes and the physical and social environments within which they use them. Key issues explored were diversity of access, range of uses, and factors which influence use, including gender, age, and parental and sibling role…

Studied the effects of computer-oriented undergraduate research on student's cognitive and affective development. Findings indicate students in research or conventional discussion groups didn't differ on cognitive development; mandatory activities have a negative impact on attitudes; voluntary participation had a positive effect only on…

A study investigated how teachers and learners negotiated meaning in three teacher-led whole-class and nine peer-group prewriting discussions in a pre-university English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program, analyzing interaction features such as comprehension/confirmation checks, clarification/feedback requests, self/other corrections, and…

Survey data from 174 university students are presented, on a scale designed to measure preference for absolute knowledge and perspective in instruction, including online discussions. Results demonstrate a strong effect of class level such that students in lower grade levels reported a greater preference for instruction involving unambiguous…

We examine the effect of online Argumentation Vee Diagrams (AVDs) on the quality of students' argumentation during asynchronous, online discussions. With AVDs, students develop arguments on both sides of a controversial issue and then develop an integrated, overall final conclusion. In this study, students used AVDs individually before composing…

Questions about the necessity of tutors' content experience and what skills are required to make tutor behavior effective have received increased attention in the literature about problem-based learning. The present study attempts to examine the effects of context-specific variables through analysis of the generalizability of tutor behavior and…