Faculty committees wrote educational objectives for all 23 courses in their undergraduate medical school curriculum. The objectives were used for evaluation of curriculum, student knowledge, and attitudes. (CP)

Describes a system utilizing teacher-made worksheets and guided group discussions which allows middle school students to constructively critique each other's projects. (SJL)

Criticizes the variable analytic approach to small group communication currently being used by many social science researchers and suggests some alternative ways of doing research based on a human action perspective. (JMF)

The study involving 339 third through sixth graders investigated the application of the group discussion paradigm as a vehicle to improve nonhandicapped children's attitudes toward mentally retarded children. (SBH)

Usual student seminar classes involve students presenting papers to the class. Alternatives to this approach are offered that maximize student audience involvement. The suggestions incorporate variations of sub-grouping, idea generation, discussion of important statements, and the refining, clarification, and evaluation of key statements. (JMD)

An investigation of the verbal "following behaviors" of 245 third-grade children indicated that selected role-taking groups of children chose, or were chosen by the teacher, to talk following the verbal contributions of certain role groups of children while avoiding talk following the contributions of other role groups. (Author/DS)

Describes how a fourth grade teacher used themes in children's literature to develop higher levels of reading comprehension. (TJ)

A format for a small-group teaching session is described that could be modified for any subject in a medical curriculum. The technique discussed uses subgroups and a simple recording chart that have been successful in teaching microbiology to medical students. (LBH)

Presents exercises designed to make argument and discussion easier by situating them in institutional events where argument could be expected to happen: the governmental commission, the school board meeting, the congressional hearing. Shows how these imaginary places allow for creating three role play situations for different college classes. (PA)

Presents a description and qualitative case study of three high school classrooms, in two of which the teachers actively elicited student dialog and thereby improved writing. Draws on M. Bakhtin, R. Rommetveit and Y. M. Lotman to suggest that a combination of writing and dialogue (spoken interaction) lead to more chances to learn than either…

Contains a number of short testimonials from writing educators about the value of computers. Discusses macros, key-word searching, cutting and pasting in electronic mail, online discussions, and the distance classroom. (TB)

Talks about how a teacher has changed her ideas over the course of her career and learned to grow with the times. Describes the process of professional growth and what is necessary for it to happen. (TB)

Discusses the challenge of assessing collaborative work, such as literature circles. Suggests the best way to evaluate literature circles is a legitimate performance assessment created by the students. Concludes that the rubric-creating exercise itself is a review of good reading and discussion habits. (PM)

Discussion of research traditions in education focuses on an analysis of the effectiveness of two research strategies, an individual debriefing interview and a group colloquium. Explores the results within two literatures: the literature of interviewing, including focus groups; and the literature of higher education on the relation between…

Considers how the "Readers Are Survivors" program encourages students to become lifelong readers, and focuses on the value of providing families with a way to actually communicate about something other than homework, chores, and curfews. Presents a description of what has evolved over the past three years in this program. Suggests that…