Purpose: In a classroom, the teacher and other students play an important role in regulating individual and group learning. However, the sudden shift to remote and online learning, as a result of social isolation during COVID-19, has created a social disconnect, making these immediate regulatory supports less accessible. A need was identified for…

Groups with a strong sense of collective efficacy set more challenging goals, persist in the face of difficulty, and are ultimately more likely to succeed than groups who do not share this belief. Given the many advantages that may accrue to groups who are confident, it would be logical to advise groups to build a high level of collective efficacy…

The purpose of this study was to explore group forming strategies by examining participation behaviours during whole class discussions associated with active participation in a following small group activity. Written communication data, posted in class discussion forums (843 messages/70,432 words) and small group forums (732 messages/59,394…

In this article, the authors describe a class activity that uses a combination of strategies to overcome obstacles students face when learning about the reproduction of inequality in everyday life. Based on Schwalbe et al.'s (2000) piece on "generic social processes," and following the idea of "making the strange familiar and the familiar…

This study examined the effects of a unique form of team competition involving competition among individuals and teams on a variety of classroom group processes. A 3 x 2 (treatment x teacher) design was employed using intact high school social studies classes over a 12-week period. When compared to individual competitions, the team competition…

Whenever group work takes place, rules and norms are established by group members. Rules are typically written and formally stated by group members, whereas norms are more informal and are implicitly stated. But regardless of how rules and norms are established, they enable group members to develop procedures from which the group can function.…

The film "Stagecoach," a 1939 Western epic, was used in a 200-level small-group communication course as an instructional resource to illustrate the emergence of group norms and roles, the treatment of deviance and conflict, and the influence of external threats, interdependent goals, and shared history on the development of cohesiveness…

A group leadership exercise that incorporates the elements of leadership and other aspects of interaction within small groups can be useful in a basic communication course. The exercise is designed around three basic leadership styles: laissez-faire, democratic, and authoritarian. The exercise is conducted in the following way: (1) the class…

Describes a class exercise in which student teams answer questions about meetings, after which the class discusses and analyzes results. Shows how this leads students to understand how the interplay of ideas, personalities, and environment--the ecology--of a meeting contributes to productivity in group process, and understand the need to…

A group-contingency behavior game significantly decreased disruptive classroom behavior after five weeks. The classroom observers gradually phased themselves out of the program, while training the teacher to continue the game unaided. Further analysis of the relative influences of peer pressure and competition v social reinforcement is needed. (CP)

The shift at the beginning of the year from the summer at home to the fall at school can be both an exciting and an anxious time for young children. Often, there is a fine line between the two emotions, with one considered positive and other negative. Awareness of how to manage these feelings in a teacher's group is essential to creating the right…

While a number of feature films can be used in group-process instruction, "Twelve Angry Men" and "The Breakfast Club" are particularly valuable for analyzing group communication patterns and strategies. "Twelve Angry Men" demonstrates that persuasion in groups can take place through a variety of methods. Exercises…

Relationships among peer social interaction rate, classroom activity, and teaching style were investigated to determine whether teaching style could be defined in terms of differential student interaction rates across various classroom activities. Peer interaction rates were determined in three primary level classrooms representing various…

Investigates whether social loafing (the tendency for individuals to reduce their input when performing as part of a group) existed in a collaborative educational task employing groups of three and eight participants. Indicates that individuals working in smaller groups were more productive than those working in larger groups. (CMK)

A study examined the effectiveness of an experiential learning exercise in a speech communication classroom setting. Participants were 62 students in communication classrooms in a large southwestern university. The exercise, entitled "The Ace, Incorporated Hanging Tray Company Exercise" was done as a group communication exercise…