This article discusses the potential of mixed-method social network analysis (MMSNA) as a methodology for designing and conducting studies that address questions of interplay between human agency and social structures in educational settings. First, we discuss a rationale for using MMSNA referring to the theoretical calls for better understanding…

Collaborative problem-solving (CPS) involves the interaction and interdependence of students' social and cognitive skills, making it a complex learning process. To delve into the complex dynamics of CPS, previous research has categorized socio-cognitive roles, providing insights into social-cognitive frameworks. However, despite the specific…

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…

In this paper we address the obfuscation surrounding the concept of learning communities by operationalizing "community" according to four characteristics that serve as boundaries for defining a community: access, relationships, vision, and function. Although these community boundaries sometimes overlap, they represent distinctive…

Many universities in the United States and Europe offer honors programs to meet the demands of gifted and intelligent students. One of the standard goals of these programs is to build an intellectual learning community. Establishing a community can be difficult because it requires that students show an active attitude and initiative. Many…

This research study examined student perceptions of group experiences in the classroom. The author used cooperative learning and team-based learning to focus on three characteristics that are critical for the success of groups: structure of activities, relationships of group members, and accountability of group members. Results indicated that…

This article examines the process of adults and students collaborating in school-based learning communities. Drawing on interview data from youth and adults participating in student voice initiatives in the San Francisco Bay Area, this study examines contexts that enable "youth-adult partnerships" in schools, including (1) fostering…

The purpose of this research was to study the characteristics of the intragroup relations between the middle-status adolescents in a student group and the other status categories. It is assumed that the social and psychological portrait of an open adolescent student group, the character of the orientation and the level of its development, and the…

This paper investigates the effects that different patterns of similarity among group members have on a group's performance on a problem-solving task. I discuss and test hypotheses on the effects of similarity on group performance derived from two literatures: balance theory and research on homophily. In an experiment I found that the relative…

Within the literature on group counseling and psychotherapy, the structure of therapeutic group processes is frequently described in terms of stages of the group process. Numerous group stages have been proposed to describe the social interaction and change in social interaction that is characteristic of group therapy. This study examined the…

The results suggested group space boundaries increased with group size (from groups of one to two to four) if group members were strangers, but not if group members were friends. The only nonspatial variable found to correlate with boundary size was personal identity. (Author)

Results of this study demonstrate the importance of the level of psychological risk and the quality of the interpersonal orientation of structured group exercises. (Author)

The authors sought to test Homans' proposition that small groups inevitably generate a social structure which combines subgroups (cliques) and a ranking system. We present a graph theoretical model of such a structure and prove that a necessary and sufficient condition for its existence is the absence of seven particular triad types. Expected…

Findings indicate that interpersonal compatibility in work groups and its relationship to goal achievement is not a unidimensional or unidirectional phenomenon. Rather, compatibility appears inextricably related to other aspects of group problem solving, including the methodology of decision making. (Author/IRT)

This study first investigates the effects of group structure on collective projections in groups, then examines how collective projections feed back and affect group structure. It examines the effects of having a deviant in a group on group projections and responses. (Author)