In this application briefing we describe an inductive learning activity designed for an executive-level leadership development session on leadership networks. We separated participants into nine teams of different sizes and varying access to collaborative networks among the teams. Each team was given the same word association challenge consisting…

Much like traditional dyadic mentoring experiences, group mentorship has been practiced since time immemorial. Benjamin Franklin, for example, as a young entrepreneur created the Leather Apron Club, a group mentoring experience for a select group of Philadelphia tradesmen. Since the late 1990s, when group mentoring became a serious focus of…

Researchers have shown the benefits of mentoring in both personal and professional growth. It would seem that group mentoring would only enhance those benefits. This work represents a literature review of peer-reviewed articles and dissertations that contribute to the theory and research of group mentoring. This work reviews the articles that…

Farrell's (2001) theory of collaborative circles provides a useful frame for analyzing the interpersonal dynamics that enable creative collaboration in small groups, but it leaves contextual factors of collaboration undertheorized. Using ethnographic data on freestyle BMXers in Greenville, North Carolina, this article demonstrates how resource…

Professional organizations exist to provide specialized networking and development opportunities to a specific profession, group of individuals or field of study. These organizations are generally broad in scope and may have a wide range of interests among its members. To support specialized research and communication, smaller subgroups within the…

For more than a decade practitioners have promoted professional learning communities (PLCs) as an effective structure for providing teachers with professional development (Chappuis, Chappuis, & Stiggins, 2009; DuFour, Eaker, & DuFour, 2005). These collaborative networks are believed to be effective because they expose teachers to new ideas…

Professional learning communities (PLCs)--teams of educators who get together regularly to exchange ideas--have sprung up to meet school districts' growing interest in promoting professional development that engages teachers and administrators. PLCs meet to develop lesson plans, monitor student progress, assess instructional effectiveness, and…

Background/Context: The type of professional development provided for teachers has been undergoing change from a one-time workshop approach to a more embedded, long-term, reflective, and collaborative structure. Although findings on the impact of new forms of professional development (PD) are beginning to emerge in the literature, there is little…

In this article, we explore the challenges--and benefits--of conducting collaborative research on an international scale. The authors--from Australia, Canada, and New Zealand--draw upon their experiences in designing and conducting a three-country study. The growing pressures on scholars to work in collaborative research teams are described, and…

A study explored the nature of collaborative learning as a method to prepare future nurses for collaboration in health care. Qualitative research data collection and analysis methods were used. A constant comparative method occurred during and after the data were gathered. Semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and document review were the…

Knowledge production and learning in engineering is a local, situated, negotiated, and thoroughly social process. Although engineering work entails the construal, production, and application of artifacts and technical devices belonging to the "object world," the process of designing is a process of achieving consensus among real or…