In higher education, multicultural education courses are often required in teacher education programs. Instructors feel a great deal of responsibility to effectively expose students to relevant issues regarding the increasingly diverse society in which we live. In this study, the instructors incorporate book discussion groups within their…

One management class read a literary text and wrote answers to the teacher's questions. Another class discussed the text in small and large groups. Group discussion stimulated better and more creative insights than private reading. The teacher's questions inhibited responses. Discussion groups understood the relevance of literature to management;…

The devising of sets of multiple-choice questions on a poem or prose passage can be a useful exercise for teachers and students, because it obliges them to confront the question of what a reader must deal with in a text in order to arrive at an understanding of it. (MLW)

This study investigated the effects of computer-based technologies on literature discussions between preservice teachers and eighth graders. Most participating preservice teachers were preparing to work with students in literacy development. Over two semesters, eighth graders were paired with college students taking a young adults literature…

Three teachers (one university professor, one secondary teacher, and one K-12 language arts coordinator) formed a writing group to generate texts about the phenomenon of student autobiographical writing in the classroom. The paper discusses the benefits of autobiographical writing to students and describes teachers' experiences with student…

Based on analysis of discussions of fiction using Dedalus Interchange in literary analysis classes, it was found that synchronous electronic conferencing exposed students to more viewpoints, deemphasized traditional authority, increased metalinguistic awareness, decreased inhibition and gender barriers, and facilitated increased social…

Before students are able to write fairly original, successful, critical essays on literature, they need to become experienced members of the audience for whom they will write, sharing fully the social context of critical writing by becoming part of an interactive, interpretive community. This reader-response technique appears to be the best…

Describes the group intermix procedure, a prediscussion strategy in which students work in groups to process the content of a single book. Suggests classroom applications. (FL)