Concentrates specifically on the experience of using "Maus" (a narrative in comic strip form) with one class which met in spring 1996, after the accidental killing of a Black child by a Hasidic Jew in Crown Heights, New York. Uses the text at Medgar Evers College in a freshman composition course which also functions as an introduction to…

Argues that the computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) community should adopt a stronger orientation to other social science disciplines, particularly psychology. Greater attention to psychological literature provides three benefits: well-validated principles about human behavior in group and organizational contexts relevant to CSCW research;…

Based on a five-year ethnographic study of the activity of an online, international academic community of practice supported by ListServer technology, this article covers selective findings pertaining to patterns of communication deemed crucial to community building. Implications of learning and collegial support are discussed. (Author/AEF)

Shares a participant-observer's close look at small group experiences in a course called "American Experience" taught at an urban university. Considers the issue of how race can be discussed in the classroom when even collaborative approaches with emphasis on student contributions can be undone by the power of the dominant discourse. (TB)

Explores the co-shaping of public and private discourse and some of the circumstances under which one occasions the other in the evolution of mathematical thinking by pairs of 13-year-olds. Provides evidence that adolescents within novel problem situations can experience some difficulty in making their emergent thinking available to partners in…

Explored in two studies disparities between how students with different degrees of extroversion and introversion engaged in small-group discussions requiring construction and critique of arguments. Found that extroverted students exhibited a greater tendency to use conflictual discourse, whereas introverted students worked with one another…

Presents a case study of one classroom teacher's attempt to develop critical discourse in students, focusing particularly on the ability of language-minority students to participate in critical discussions. Suggests that allowing students to explore topics of personal relevance--as may occur in a critical literacy curriculum--is one way of…

Explores the ideas and reasoning students use to make a collaborative environmental management decision. Compares students' discussions with scientists' guidelines for making environmental management decisions. Finds that whereas across groups students touched on all of the themes that scientists consider to be important for making environmental…

Examines gender features in eighth-grade students' writing in terms of the relationships among characters and the use of violence, comparing the analyses to perspectives offered by the students in small group conversations. Finds evidence of competitive relationships within sports and romance stories, as well as elements of violence and metaphors…

Presents ways that daily circle time can help build a community of learners in early childhood settings. Notes the importance of involving children in circle time routines, and building shared rituals, such as greetings and recognition. Discusses the use of circles at midday and the end of the day for reflection and community building. (KB)

Describes how the authors introduced and organized small-group literature discussions in a first-grade bilingual class. Discusses the four most frequent types of student responses in discussions: living through the experience; looking closely at text and illustrations; exploring social issues; and making connections (to other books, life…

Examines reliability issues in the large-scale assessment of speech communication through authentic techniques, used recently in Saskatchewan. Performance-based approaches enable educators to evaluate the integrated, interpersonal communication skills of large student populations, thereby modeling best professional practice. However, decentralized…

Describes a study of a graduate level online course that investigated whether the systematic use of instructor-initiated audio emails, as a supplement to regular textual forms of communication, would increase students' participation in group discussion and result in more favorable student perceptions of student/faculty relationships and quality of…

The paper reports a small-scale research on the predisposition of adult ESOL learners in a further education college to the components of autonomous learning. The research is based on the perception that there is an untested assumption that all students will react positively to the concept of autonomous learning and by implication are positively…

Constructivism is the philosophy that has been cited most frequently in the past 20 years in education. It has been argued that a constructivist philosophy offers a means of education that would result in knowledge generation and creation; therefore, it is superior to other views. Making the shift toward a constructivist philosophy, however,…