Surfacing student voices is of utmost importance in higher education institutions. However, the use of large-scale student surveys may not represent the most effective method of eliciting meaningful student perspectives. Focus groups have the potential to elicit a more authentic student voice through greater engagement with students. Furthermore,…

A common global perception of group work in the higher education context is that it has the potential to act as a platform which can enable student learning by means of interactions, shared diverse experiences, deep engagement with subject concepts and the achievement of tasks collaboratively. Indeed, in different socio-economic, historical and…

Group counseling is an important treatment modality used to support clients in a variety of therapeutic settings. This article highlights the results of an exploratory study that examined site supervisory factors that predicted group leader self-efficacy for preservice school counselors. Results of multiple regression analyses suggest meaningful…

Collaborative assessment has well-recognised benefits in higher education and, in online distance learning, this type of assessment may be integral to collaborative e-learning and may have a strong influence on the student's relationship with learning. While there are known benefits associated with collaborative assessment, the main drawback is…

While collaborative learning and collaborative writing can be of great value to student learning, the implementation of a technology-supported collaborative learning environment is a challenge. With their built-in features for supporting collaborative writing and social communication, wikis are a promising platform for collaborative learning;…

In early models of online instruction, learning activities and assessments relied primarily on threaded discussions or papers. But advances in online technology, and a growing trend to incorporate collaborative learning strategies, have lead to the emergence of online group projects. While student-centered learning activities such as group…

A survey of the participants explored the competing interests involved at a national debate tournament, including: (1) how the desire to maximize competitive prowess trades off against socialization among students; (2) how increasing the number of elimination rounds for reasons of judge equalization adds another round to an already crowded…

Investigates whether students who had access to Internet study rooms would make use of them for out-of-class group study and how students perceived their online group study experience in comparison with face-to-face group study in an introductory biology class. Survey results indicate that 47 students used online study rooms. (Author/SOE)

Research on cooperative learning has been conducted primarily in elementary education. R. E. Slavin (1991) however, notes that researchers are beginning to investigate the effectiveness of cooperative learning at the college level. A study examined cooperative learning at the college level from a communication perspective. The approach considers…

A forestry and agronomy course at Iowa State University incorporates problem-based team projects on real-world situations as a means of providing students with integrative and meaningful experiential learning. Student evaluations of these courses indicate that students recognize and appreciate the integrative nature of the problem-based team…

Undergraduate and graduate computer information systems students were surveyed regarding the effectiveness of various teaching formats and aids. Results revealed that small group projects and traditional formats are both very effective learning methods; group size impacts teaching effectiveness; and resources should be directed toward providing…

This paper examines the integration of instructional technology (IT) in a Web-assisted, first-semester composition course at Middle Tennessee State University, particularly the use of interactivity tools for in-class and cross-class collaboration. Beyond the benefits of making course materials available 24-7 and linking students via email, IT…

This case study examined the ways a groupware tool, TWISTER (Talking - Writing - Information access - Solving problems with Technology for Education and Research), was used to create a learner-centered distance learning environment in a telecommunications in education class. Data were collected using learner participant surveys, observation field…