Scholars have put a great deal of effort into studies focused on the undergraduate student experience, during this time the empirical literature on graduate and doctoral student experiences has been largely ignored; specifically studies on the positive aspects of Black women's doctoral journey. Hence the purpose of this qualitative study was to…

Purpose of this study was to identify factors contributing to the successful group performance from the perspective of business students. The in-depth interview was done followed by a survey derived forty-five items variables, after some tests 21 items variables removed due to low item remainder coefficient resulted in 24 items questionnaires. A…

New technologies transform research specialties and potentiate new fields. Sociometers--wearable electronic sensors collecting quantitative, dynamic data about embodied social interactions at hyperfine scales--represent such a possibility for small group research. This article introduces this new method and its distinctive qualities and…

Grassroots organizations have a critical role in supporting learning within many urban communities (Sobeck, Agius, & Mayers, 2007). Unfortunately, many informal organizations are short-lived as funding disappears and volunteer participation wanes. The Unspun Heroes, an informal fibre arts group committed to learning and developing skills…

This article reports on a focus group study of newly qualified early childhood teachers' experiences during their first year of teaching. It argues that focus groups have the potential to invite dialogical engagement in ways that support teachers' exploration of their own identities, and it emphasises the significant role group context plays in…

This paper explores how a youth-adult team's partnership shaped their participatory action research (PAR) on youth engagement in educational change. Findings revealed that their experiences of partnership shaped their research by: 1) enhancing their relations with participants; 2) improving their capacity to navigate research complexities; 3)…

Research has shown that educators may be reluctant to implement group work in their teaching due to concerns about students partaking in off-task behaviours. However, such off-task interactions have been shown to promote motivation, trust, and rapport-building. This paper details a study in which student groups were video recorded as they engaged…

The authors present an efficient and easy-to-implement experiential exercise that reinforces for students key concepts about task groups (i.e., group cohesiveness, conflict within groups, group effectiveness, group norms, and group roles). The exercise, which uses a documentary about the making of Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" album to demonstrate the…

Despite the swift spread of social network concepts and their applications and the rising use of network analysis in social science, there is no book that provides a thorough general introduction for the serious reader. "Understanding Social Networks" fills that gap by explaining the big ideas that underlie the social network phenomenon.…

Decades of studies show that children's behavior is shaped by relationships in the "social ecology" of family, peers, school, and community. But in recent decades the prevailing scientific dogma was that genes determine destiny. Now it is clear that experience changes genes. For better or worse, environmental experiences including nutrition,…

Asserts that all behavior is result of individual-group interaction, determined by attachment to and identification with various groups to which one belongs. Presents this social cohesion as a function of member's levels and types of group involvement. Describes types ranked according to degree of involvement (identification, alienation, autonomy,…

A field study of a naturally functioning group (N=125) was conducted to identify common group problems. Trained observers attended group meetings and described the problems encountered. Difficulties of cohesion, leadership, sub-group formation, and personality conflict were identified. (RC)

Effects of a group eontract specifically calling for self-disclosure was investigated. Frequency and depth of self disclosure were increased but level of intimacy of topics discussed was not. Group cohesiveness was enhanced by the contract but it decreased members' mutual liking. (Author/EAK)

A conceptual approach toward more effective small group functioning is undertaken in this paper to provide a basis from which empirically relevant hypotheses can be drawn and tested. This analysis views actualizing individuals as possessing the unique ability to perceive and utilize the types of behaviors which are conducive to personalizing group…

Group members tend to like other members of their own group more than members of groups to which they do not belong. This paper focuses on some of the initial determinants of this own-group preference and on the isolation of factors which increase or decrease it. The major finding appears to be that the mere anticipation of cooperation or…