"Reading in Pairs" is a peer tutoring program designed to improve oral fluency and reading comprehension in English as a Foreign Language. In this program students work in pairs, using an established relationship framework and the support of their teacher. This article outlines the main conceptual foundations of the program: peer…

This paper presents first results from a research project aimed at combining two theoretical frameworks, one concerning explanations and one related to rationality. The two theoretical lenses are used to understand one episode from a teaching experiment carried out in grade seven, concerning the construction of rectangles with a given perimeter.…

The significance/importance of relationships and connection of women in working through emotional distress and building personal empowerment is illustrated in the process model. The group process model of empowerment draws from both the current theories of women's psychological development and social interaction theory in illustrating the process…

The social and collective aspect in human activities has become one of the main issues in Vygotskian analyses of learning and development. The study assumed that this aspect presupposes some feeling of belonging together and having a shared commitment on the part of the participants. Asserting that relatively little attention has been given to…

A study examined the relationship between participation and performance in groups to determine whether increased communicative activity brought about through participation in groups resulted in the acquisition of specific types of organizational knowledge and increased motivation which positively affected performance. Subjects for the study were…

This research describes an observation study of 100 children, ages 9-13 years, on the island of 'Ua Pou, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia. The children were in a French government boarding school in the main valley of the island. Complex, sophisticated group processes among the Marquesan children were observed. The role structures of the group…

This report, the third annual study of primary program implementation, outlines case study observations of learning groups and of teachers relations to groups. The learning atmosphere of a learning group is determined by presence of conducive or disruptive elements, input of children, and relation of the group to the teacher, in addition to good…

This research summary reports on a 4-month long study of 30 children, ages 10-13, who live at the elementary boarding school on the island of 'Ua Pou, Marquesas Island, French Polynesia. Of the sample of 15 boys and 15 girls, 20 of the children are from a single small valley. Follow-up studies also were done of the families of these children. The…

The idea of using groups, rather than individuals, as the basic building blocks for an organization is suggested in this paper. Although this idea is not new in theory, it is new in practice. To design an organization from scratch around groups appears to violate the American value of individualism. Groups, however, have advantages over…

In order to study the theory and practice of collaborative writing, a three-stage research project was initiated. The first stage of research involved a questionnaire sent to 200 randomly selected members of six major professional associations. On a separate sheet accompanying the first questionnaire, respondents were asked to indicate whether…

In the history of small group studies (in the field of communication theory and research), two factors contributed to the changes that led to Ernest Bormann publishing in 1970 his work questioning the value of the knowledge being reported and the appropriateness of the methods by which it was being generated. First, prior to 1965, a limited amount…

Observers are known to form inferences about an actor on the basis of the actor's behavior, regardless of the external forces contributing to that behavior. Two studies were conducted to determine whether this inferential error would also occur at the level of group activity. In the first study, 70 undergraduates read about a decision made by a…

The use of groups in both the workplace and schools has been increasing. In the workplace, groups reflective of a growing trend toward worker participation in management have been variously referred to as self-managing work teams, self-directed work groups, quality circles, autonomous work groups, and cross-functional teams. Schools have used many…

This study examined the effects of differential time pressures on small group members' rankings of one another based on vocal activity. Vocal activity was operationalized as observed frequency of interaction. Time pressure was manipulated by allowing either six minutes or no time limit on a group problem-solving task. Main effects were…

The Reagan Administration's allegiance lies with the advocates of individual rights, not the protectors of group entitlements. This stand is based on the belief that defense of individual rights is the only appropriate basis for achieving a consensus on civil rights in a pluralistic society. Group preferences, which have been imposed by the…