As part of an ongoing study of The Mediation Project at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst a mediation process was observed and recorded, followed by a group interview including both disputants and mediators. The two disputants had lived together for two years and had made several purchases together. They participated in the mediation…

Uses the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear plant accident to illustrate the communication problems embedded in a crisis. Describes the reactions created by the stress related to crisis. Suggests business communication strategies for improving communication to the public. (SR)

Defining "idols of communication" as widely-held ideas that obstruct progress in the development of interpersonal communication theory, this paper identifies three principles deserving of the title. The identified principles are: (1) the idol of coorientation, the belief that mutual understandings are the essential grounds for the coordination of…

Develops the notion of "layers" of information within a table and discusses how such layers are typographically distinguished on paper and in a viewdata system. Presents a case study of the difficulties facing a British government department wishing to communicate regularly updated tabular information to the agricultural community. (FL)

This paper offers a plan for increasing communication effectiveness in organizational setting through a team building approach. The first section of the paper provides a scenario that places team building in an organizational development context and presents a detailed description of a team building process used to increase communication…

It is often assumed that online collaborative learning is inclusive of diversity. In this exploratory paper, I challenge this notion by developing a theory which proposes that inclusion occurs through congruence between learners' social identities and the identities implicitly supported through the interactions in a particular community. To build…

The problem of change in the character of the United States Supreme Court between 1969 and 1975 is examined, in this paper, in the context of group decision making and organizational communication. Based on information from "The Brethren," a behind-the-scenes account of the Supreme Court justices by Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong, the…

This case study evaluates the potential of synchronous chat for deep learning in the context of a distance education program between two universities in different cultural contexts, with a focus on interaction and facilitation. Three rubrics--functional moves, social construction of knowledge, and teaching presence--were applied in a longitudinal…

The accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant resulted from a communication failure. Following an incident at an Ohio plant a year and a half earlier, B. M. Dunn, manager of Emergency Core Cooling Systems Analysis at Babcock and Wilcox (engineers), wrote a memorandum making specific recommendations on written instructions for nuclear…

This case study of the early development of a communication structure tested strategies designed to confront traditional barriers to school-university collaboration. It examined the development of CDNET, a consortium of 35 libraries of multitype educational institutions in northwest Pennsylvania which is providing CD-ROM access to library patrons.…

A study looked at an agricultural extension project in south India to examine comprehension of the extension team's intentionality by the poorest farmers. Subjects, 50 farmers in the village of Porandla in the state of Andhra Pradesh, were interviewed and measured to see if their knowledge and comprehension approximated a constant across all…

It has been widely acknowledged in language acquisition research that cultural learning is an inseparable part of language learning. However, insufficient attention has been paid to the culture of classroom learning which involves both teachers' and learners' cultural values, beliefs, roles, expectations, and conceptions of teaching and learning.…

Using an evaluation of a hospital-based hospice as a case study, this paper analyzes problematic issues surrounding health care teams (HCTs) in light of findings revealed in the literature concerning HCT structures and processes. The factors of coordination and role definitions in HCTs and their manifestations in a particular hospice HCT in terms…

Changing from a teacher-centered to a student-centered approach and trying to use the principles of critical pedagogy are not enough to teach writing--both male and female students need to go beyond prescribed gender roles and social roles. Some women students in peer response groups act as though they have composed a secret etiquette guide: they…

A case study examined the similarities and differences in the background characteristics, the nature and causes of the English language-based problems, and the coping strategies of two foreign students at Indiana University, Bloomington. Subjects were selected because they represented two different nationalities (Malaysian and Indonesian),…