Purpose: Founded in sociocultural theories of learning, the authors argue that engaging learners in collaborative knowledge building is critical. When responding to others' ideas, research shows that learners in online settings more frequently focus on surface-level aspects of colleagues' contributions -- sharing, comparing and praising -- rather…

This article examines major trends in research on the teaching process, emphasizing two models for studying classroom interactions--process-product and descriptive. Also discussed is interpersonal interaction as it is studied in social psychology. (CB)

This paper argues for connecting two domains that have remained relatively isolated within their respective disciplines--research on thinking and the social origins of cognition. Both enterprises have become enmeshed in education. Neither have considered in any serious way the power and implications that an integrated perspective could contribute…

New trends in language teaching have resulted in a move towards research in the language classroom. A brief overview of classroom research reveals three distinct but inter-related research paradigms: classroom-centered research, classroom process research, and qualitative research, respectively.

A review of research on teaching social skills to severely handicapped persons discusses training procedures, domain, generalization, maintenance, cost efficiency, reliability, social interaction partners, social validation, research design, and simulation. Evaluation of nine studies affirms that severely handicapped persons can learn to interact…

The Stanford Research International (SRI) classroom observation system provides a description of the classroom environment with emphasis on interactions between teachers and students and among students. Included in the SRI observation system is the Five Minute Observation (FMO), which records classroom interactions into "frames"…

The article reviews recent theoretical and empirical research related to the role of communication in effective strategy training for instilling stable and general cognitive strategic skills in learning disabled students. Among implications discussed is the need for increased focus on the interactional dynamics of the strategy training situation…

This paper develops a working definition of teacher engagement, a definition based upon an understanding of how underlying assumptions about the goals of teaching affect what and whom teachers are engaged with, as well as how researchers' conceptions of proper power and authority in the school context influence what they see. Different dimensions…

This review of current research on teaching focuses upon studies of teaching behaviors and their relationship to student performance. In considering research on classroom climate, examples are presented of studies which used the Flanders Interaction Analysis System (FIAC) to investigate relationships among student achievement and teacher-initiated…

This paper reviews the various matching model (aptitude-treatment-interaction) strategies that might be used in human relations training (HRT) settings. The introduction provides a definition of matching models, discusses the need for a matching model approach in HRT, identifies certain assumptions about HRT, and provides an overview of the rest…

This paper reviews selected findings from two traditions of educational research--process-product research and sociolinguistic research. The first research method generally focuses on the teacher and identifies teacher behaviors (processes) that correlate with student outcome measures (products). Sociolinguistic research focuses on communicative…

This paper examines aspects related to the validity of process-product research involving classroom observation and teacher effectiveness. Differences in categories, terminology, and definitions of five classroom observation instruments are delineated and discussed in relation to their various effects on the validity of process-product research…

Suggests links from research to practice in key areas of inclusive early childhood education including teachers' knowledge base and beliefs, communication, physical environment, activities and materials, social interactions, and curriculum and instruction. (DB)

Studies and practices in which parents help children with oral reading are reviewed. The paper argues against techniques which focus on only the mechanical aspects of reading. The paper describes a program for training parents as tutors which uses transcripts of parent/child interactions during the reading process to show reading development.…

A review is presented of research concerning physical education instruction, focusing upon those studies which use interaction analysis as a method of systematically observing the instructional process. A brief overview of the development of interaction analysis systems in physical education cites instruments which were designed for focusing on…