Neoliberal ideology has transformed higher education timescapes in profound ways. However, research has given limited consideration to how pedagogical practices can create a space for students to reshape these timescapes. By drawing upon empirical material, I will first explore how students reflect upon timescapes in an interdisciplinary course.…

In this study, the use of the mobile instant messaging (MIM) tool "GroupMe" was explored in the higher education context. The tool was used to facilitate online course discussions, small group work, and other course communications in face-to-face and online sections of two graduate educational technology courses. Over 900 postings were…

The aim of this study was to explore how learners operating in a small group reach shared understanding as they work out joint research questions and build a theoretical framework and to identify the resources and tools they used in the process. The learners' own interpretations of their group activities and learning were also taken into account.…

The focus of this paper is on knowledge-building in a technology-supported learning environment in higher education through a longitudinal study of a graduate course from 2003 to 2007. The primary question is: how do learning conditions designed into a graduate course contribute to collaborative knowledge building? In particular, two major…

Investigates the effect of cooperative completion of a cloze passage with subjects who are relatively sophisticated in both language use and group interaction strategies. Finds that groups produced more responses than individuals; gave fewer idiosyncratic or illogical responses; attended to larger chunks of text; and used every available clue. (RS)

This case study investigates the participant structure of leadership in online course environments and helps instructors design and facilitate high-quality lessons. Researchers used course experiences that were authentic, collaborative, and computer-based to collect student data: assignments, discussion transcripts, and interviews. Analysis of the…

There is a growing interest among organizations in identifying and nurturing Communities of Practice. Delineating what is and what is not a Community of Practice (CoP) is not a clear-cut task. One specific area of difficulty is distinguishing between a team and a CoP. Because there are strong similarities between the two, it is often helpful to…

This study examined the use of online argumentation scaffolds to engage and support coherent argumentation. Participants were students in an undergraduate economics course. Results showed that providing a constraint-based argumentation scaffold during group problem-solving activities increased the generation of coherent arguments and resulted in…

James Berlin has idenitified three common ideological approaches in rhetoric in composition courses crucial to an understanding of how collaborative learning works in writing courses: the expressivist, cognitivist, and social-epistemic. One of the primary distinctions among these rhetorics is how the subject is perceived. In an expressionist or…

Offers teaching tips on thematic writing assignments, student resubmission of papers, sharing memorable sentences from students' writings, and nontraditional grading policies in writing classes. (RDS)

The group strategies that are discussed include brainstorming, problem solving, debate, games, the lecture forum, open forums, panel discussion, question and answer sessions, role playing, quizzes, roundtable discussions, success-storytelling, and the symposium. (RL)

Describes how a community college teacher of an essay-level developmental writing class improved the quality of writing groups in the class. Discusses how she researched writing groups and cooperative learning; developed lesson plans for several class meetings; revised the structure of the groups after observations and feedback from students; and…

Discusses movement toward interagency cooperation for service delivery for handicapped, emphasizing importance of preservice education. Describes special education course at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Course designed to encourage communication of knowledge, attitudes, and coordination of skills in service delivery. Suggests new directions…

Because teachers often do not use the small group mode, believing its academic performance is of poorer quality than that of individuals, a process has been developed that compares small group and individual performances. The procedure, which utilizes an objective test, group and individual responses, and teacher, self, and group evaluation, is…

Applies results from field and laboratory studies about business usage of electronic meeting systems (EMS) to the classroom setting. Argues that it transforms the classroom from a traditional instructor-centered environment to a student-centered environment in which students participate, participate more equally, and report a highly satisfying…