The purpose of this study was to explore how team members identify the social loafers on their teams and how they explain and manage social loafers' behavior. The participants (n = 49) in the study included members of student teams participating in a service project as a part of their coursework. We collected multiple sources of information:…

The ability to address and solve problems in minimally familiar contexts is the core business of research mathematicians. Recent studies have identified key traits and techniques that individuals exhibit while problem solving, and revealed strategies and behaviours that are frequently invoked in the process. We studied advanced calculus students…

This paper presents the proposition that a variety of differing hierarchies exist in an action learning set at any one time, and each hierarchy has the potential to affect an individual's behaviour within the set. An interpretivist philosophy underpins the research framework adopted in this paper. Data were captured by means of 11 in-depth…

This study investigated why and how principals selected members for their instructional leadership team (ILT) and how this selection criteria and process may have impacted team members' understandings of, and behaviors on, the team. Qualitative methods, specifically interviews and observations, were used to explore team members'…

Groups are central to problem-based learning (PBL) and educational and professional outcomes relevant to clinical education. However, PBL groups in practice may differ from theoretical conceptions of groups. Therefore, this study explored students' understandings of the purpose and value of PBL groups for their learning. We conducted a…

The literature on the use of problem-based learning in K-12 settings has traditionally focused on gifted and average students. However, mainstreaming is placing increasing numbers of students with special needs in general education classrooms. This case study examined how members of a small group in a mainstreamed seventh grade science class…

The Motivation of Teachers to Assume the Role of Cooperating Teacher This study explored a phenomenological understanding of the motivation and influences that cause experienced teachers to assume pedagogical training of student teachers through the role of cooperating teacher. The research question guiding the study was what motivates teachers to…

Purpose: This paper seeks to explore the effect of leadership style of a team leader on team-member learning in organizations, to conceptually extend an initial model of leadership and to empirically examine the new model of ambidextrous leadership in a team context. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative research utilizing the case study method…

Falun Gong emerged as spiritual social movement after being outlawed by the Chinese Communist Party authorities in 1999. Since then, Falun Gong practitioners have made heavy use of information and communication technologies, particularly the Internet, to further their movement's activities. This dissertation systematically examines the role of…

This article reports the group equivalents to deep and surface learning approaches by individuals. The learning behaviour of out-of-class student groups was examined through 57 individual and 15 focus group interviews with university students in Hong Kong. A number of types of learning activities were identified and most had variants with…

This study compares two intake procedures designed to prepare adolescents for subsequent group counseling: an individual interview and a group-administered questionnaire. The only significant difference was that the questionnaire group spoke with greater personal involvement in, and more responsibility for, their problem or concern. (SJL)

Improving the quality of out-of-school time activities and creating effective learning environments is of keen interest to practitioners, funders and policymakers. Funded by The William Penn Foundation, "Quality Time After School" identifies characteristics of after-school activities that are linked to youth engagement and learning…

Framed within the psychosocial context of the sport ethic and social-approval goal orientation, 10 female and 11 male current collegiate or former high school athletes participated in individual interviews about their hazing experiences. Data analysis resulted in seven lower order themes and two higher order themes. The higher order theme of the…

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY WAS MADE OF THE INFLUENCE OF HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING DESIGN UPON THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY AT STUDENT INFORMAL INTERACTIONS, AND THE NATURE AND CONTENT OF SUCH INTERACTIONS. THREE HIGH SCHOOLS WERE STUDIED, AND QUESTIONNAIRES AND INTERVIEWS WERE USED WITH THE 1631 STUDENTS IN THE TOP TWO GRADES. CONCEPTS WHICH WERE IDENTIFIED…

This study investigated the ways in which families operate as a unit while presenting a story to an interviewer, and the ways in which they interface with the outside world, as represented by the interviewer. A description of the study is preceded by an overview of relevant literature, including studies that concerned microsocial analyses, shared…