Collaborative learning is something that all students will employ once they finish their formal education, and while it isn't something that can be objectively tested by standardized exams, it is something that can be taught. Learning to work in groups is simultaneously a way of learning and a skill worth learning. Teachers should acknowledge that…

In a group situation, something goes wrong but no individual feels personal responsibility. This is called the "pie" phenomenon because everybody has a piece of the action, but all believe they are innocent. Each contributes to contagion and chaos but all say, "We didn't do nothing." In this article, the author, a pioneer in work with troubled…

A conflict resolution exercise has been developed for use in leadership training in small groups. The objectives of the exercise are to provide a decision-making experience in an environment that requires numerous applications of conflict reduction, to enable participants to apply strategies for dealing with specific conflict disruptions that…

Discusses the advantages of group work in mathematics classes, and raises questions about appropriate assessment of such group work. (PK)

The Minnesota Project on Ethnic America inaugurated an experimental program to explore the problems of a culturally diverse college population in a small setting. The program utilized techniques borrowed from related programs and reflects recent social sciences findings on the continued impact of the ethnic factor in American society. The…

This paper describes the method adopted in a short course to improve group interaction in the foreign language classroom by giving students the opportunity to engage in group interaction and in this way sensitizing them to group dynamics. It provides the outline and rationale of the course, a detailed description of one unit, and evaluation…