A weekly discussion group for first-year medical graduate students to discuss stress in their lives revealed three major sources of stress: (1) high expectations of themselves under conditions of high time and professional pressure; (2) loss of control over one's life; and (3) ambivalence about dependence versus independence. (MSE)

Small-group, self-directed, problem-based learning can be conducted with or without a faculty tutor. Groups without a tutor are trained to manage problem solving, change, group process, critical thinking, and independent learning skills. Processing issues are very different for tutorless and tutored groups; some issues are experienced by both.…

Examines the interlanguage (IL) phonology of Malay-speaking Brunein college students by focusing on final and initial consonant clusters and the voicing contrast. The study found no significant difference between the IL phonology of the less and more proficient students when lexical roots were examined, suggesting that the IL phonology has…

Studies the effects of listening to and discussing different qualities of children's literature on fifth grade students' writing. Finds that stories written by children who heard and discussed higher quality literature were rated significantly differently on traits related to literary quality and genre development than those written by children…

Examines four fifth-grade students' stances and their responses to a narrative text in three classroom activities--a peer-led discussion group, a story map activity, and written responses. Investigates issues regarding the accessibility of shifts in stance for the students. Calls into question L. Rosenblatt's construct of the aesthetic-efferent…

Intended for use by health education professionals, teachers, parents and others interested in the health status and health risk behaviors of young persons in Maine, this report describes the results of three concurrent studies of adolescent health. Data were obtained by written and telephone surveys taken from parents and adolescents in Maine.…

This report synthesizes the findings of a week of focused group discussions during which Australian health care workers currently caring for people with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and tertiary educators involved in designing/delivering curricula in various health and social disciplines shared their…

This report is a description of Israeli experimental parent-teacher discussion groups (KEDMAH) which were developed to promote a closer relationship between parents and their children's kindergarten teachers. Background information on the project describes the ideological basis of such a program, the importance of including parents in their…

This study compared the effectiveness of two interventions that differed in the nature of dialogic interactions among teachers and students in reading groups. Teacher-interns (n=35) instructed 109 children with mild disabilities in special education resource rooms. Analyses indicated that the intervention featuring dialog, social interactions, and…

Using collaborative critical reflection as an index, this study examines the asynchronous and face-to-face discourse of 28 suburban Chicago elementary teachers developing problem based learning (PBL) curriculum. Statistical analysis of the corpus produced by the 2 mediums shows that the asynchronous online network emerges as the medium of choice…

This study investigated ways in which regular group discussion might promote reflective teaching. Subjects were three experienced teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Korea who came together in weekly meetings to reflect on their work. Two were college teachers, and one taught in a private company. The study examined what the…

This study was designed as an effort to understand how student-directed small-group discussions can further student thinking about issues related to social studies. The study utilized participant observation to collect data two to three times weekly as students engaged in a literature-based reading program called Book Club. The specific questions…

This study examined how adult graduate students made use of technology to mediate group interactions and processes in an online learning environment, also noting why individual groups of students chose particular tools and methods. The online course was delivered using a third-party course management tool. The structure of the course and the use…

This paper presents three case studies of collaborations with student teachers in a college course on the Psychology of Teaching in which they reflected after class on class events. The paper traces the development of the reflective laboratories through the three cases, which illustrate the process and content of collaborative reflection. The…

Reports on a study that examined undergraduate student pairs carrying out an electronic discussion task in a synchronous computer mediated communication system. Discusses collaborative argumentation; focusing; knowledge construction; learning processes; comparative analyses of dialog between tutor and student; and peer coaching. (Contains 33…