Collaborative problem solving (CPS) is a 21st-century skill essential for learning gains, workplace success, and tackling increasingly complicated global problems. Group diversity plays a vital role during collaborative activities, especially in a digital space. Although CPS involves dynamic communication behaviors, few studies have considered the…

The Common Planning Time Project of the Middle Level Education Research Special Interest Group (MLER SIG) of the American Educational Research Association provided an avenue through which researchers from throughout the United States could investigate numerous aspects of common planning time in schools. Although several studies have investigated…

A rural land use project originated in the early 1970s when a landowner approached the University of Montana's Department of Geography asking for assistance in planning the use of more than 10,000 acres. The planning process evolved into four phases; the first three phases (biophysical assessment, capability analysis, and master planning) have…

Six introductory educational psychology classrooms were differentially taught. One experienced an individually competitive structure (n=39) and five other sections experienced three different cooperative goal structures: one using intergroup competition (n=29), two without intergroup competition (n=29 and n=36), and two using Sharan's Group…

Colleges of business are particularly known for assigning large-scale team projects as a means of enhancing learning. Though students may assemble in one location for "traditional" classroom-based learning, time and distance may create challenges as students attempt to fulfill requirements associated with large-scale team projects. This study…

Each of four instructors was assigned two sections of introductory psychology, one experimental and one lecture/control. Experimental sections were divided into teams of five to eight students and complied with the following schedule for each of seven two-week unites. In the first class meeting, subject matter was introduced and discussion topics…

This paper briefly describes two projects--one in the United States, one in England--that studied professional learning communities (PLCs). Part I of the paper describes the two projects. The American project is called the Creating Communities of Continuous Inquiry and Improvement project. The purpose of this study was to document and examine…

This symposium on conflict management and decision making is comprised of three papers. "Two Approaches to Conflict Management in Teams: A Case Study" (Mychal Coleman, Gary N. McLean) describes a study that provided conflict management training to two employee teams using the traditional lecture method and cooperative learning (CL).…

Since information technology amounts to half of the typical U.S. firm's capital expenditures, a key concern is how AACSB (American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business)-accredited MBA (Masters of Business Administration) programs are educating their rising executives in technology management. This study details a content analysis of 45…

Interviews with teams of teachers at two Australian technical and further education (TAFE) institutes (the Lawson Institute of TAFE Motor Mechanics and the Franklin Institute of TAFE Disability and Aged Care) were used to examine the theoretical and practical tensions experienced by TAFE teachers when making assessment judgments within the…

This document contains three papers on action learning. "Action Learning: Case Studies of Most Valued Learning and Application" (Suzanne D. Butterfield) reports on a qualitative study in which longitudinal data was collected from document analysis and first-line consulting managers who had participated in action learning. The study…

This study investigated the impact of a sequence of social relationship activities on regard for classmates and teammates in middle school (grade 7) mathematics classes using cooperative learning. The sample consisted of 184 students (55% Hispanic American, 27% White, 14% Black, and 3% Asian American) in a city in Los Angeles County (California).…

This research used three groups in a quasi-experimental approach to assess the combined impact of teacher teaming and computer technology on student grade point averages (GPAs). Ninth-grade students' academic achievement in each of four different subject areas (algebra, biology, world cultures, and English) was studied. Two separate treatments…