Current studies on group work illustrate the importance of student collaboration for enhancing conceptual understanding and participation in science. Research also documents the roles students adopt within group work, with some studies illustrating the underlying power relations. This study sought to expand on prior research literature to…

This article investigates how group speaking test candidates manage group talk during assessed, time-limited tasks. Drawing on recorded and transcribed data, it explores how higher-scoring learners manage spoken assessment tasks through their talk, moving conversations on or slowing them down in order to perform and complete the tasks'…

In this article, we explore how adults in a community shared reading group discuss the notoriously difficult poem 'The Emperor of Ice-Cream' by the American poet Wallace Stevens. Drawing on Hannah Arendt's notion of action, we explore how participants negotiate the poem, actively constructing meanings from their shared personal experiences rather…

One benefit of working in groups is that group members can learn from each other how to perform the task, a phenomenon called group-to-individual transfer (G-I transfer). In the context of quantitative judgments, G-I transfer means that group members improve their individual accuracy as a consequence of exchanging task-relevant information. This…

What is it like to be a gifted adolescent girl in today's world? Situated in the context of a five-session group activity, called Gifted+Grounded, the purpose of this qualitative inquiry study was to better understand how two groups of gifted adolescent girls (Group 1 = 11, Group 2 = 14; Ages 13-16) made meaning of being "gifted." The…

The author discusses how to teach students to extend economic models using in-class scaffolding assignments, supported by discussions and workshops. Methods include discussions of a model's strengths and weaknesses; small group, in-class assignments that provide steps toward model extension; informal presentations of the work resulting from these…

In this study, we assessed the communication structure in an educational online learning environment using social network analysis (SNA). The communication structure was examined with respect to time, and instructor's participation. The course was implemented using ELGG, a network learning environment, blended with face-to-face sessions over a…

Collaborative learning is something that all students will employ once they finish their formal education, and while it isn't something that can be objectively tested by standardized exams, it is something that can be taught. Learning to work in groups is simultaneously a way of learning and a skill worth learning. Teachers should acknowledge that…

This study investigated the negotiations and challenges experienced by five Chinese ESL (English as a second language) students of Commerce through their engagement in an academic presentation in a regular content course at a Canadian university. Multiple sources of data were collected, including interviews, class observations, group discussions,…

Presents five principles for conducting effective, successful meetings, which include: address only one topic at a time, use only one process at a time, achieve interactive and balanced participation, use cognitive conflict productively, and have all understand and agree to meeting roles. (SM)

The purpose of this study is to investigate teachers' learning improvement through participation in study groups. In particular, this study examined how two second grade active participant teachers' classroom practice changed over time and how their changes were related to changes in their study group meetings, which they called Professional…

If a small group is conceptualized as a communication system the operation of which generates discussion, that discussion is a stationary process to the extent that its parameters do not change significantly over time. This research casts some doubt on the nonstationarity conception of discussion. (Author)

This document provides a rationale and suggestions for the use of small-group instruction in the classroom. It is argued that participatory education, in general, places the teacher in a position of being a coordinator of learning rather than a dispenser of knowledge. The following benefits to be gained from this are noted: a) by relating his…

Compares the assumptions, strengths, and weaknesses of seven approaches frequently used in the public sector to involve large numbers of people in planning and implementing change. The approaches are real-time strategic change, search conferences, future searches, strategic options development and analysis, strategic choice, technology of…

Subjects discussed or studied situations involving conflicts between universalistic and particularistic obligations, or they discussed items dealing with physical education. A shift toward greater universalism was obtained only in the condition where subjects discussed the conflicts. (RB)