In this study we created an environment for peer learning, where students teach students by making oral presentations in groups about solving mathematical problems and explaining the theoretical background in mathematics, during the first year of an undergraduate engineering programme at the Norrkoping campus of the Linkoping University. In order…

This paper focuses on the difficulties of assessing multi-year team projects, in which a team of students drawn from all three years of a full-time degree course works on a problem with and for a real-life organization. Although potential solutions to the problem of assessing team projects may be context-dependent, we believe that discussing these…

This paper discusses the issue of learner participation in a net-based higher education course. With the starting point in recent educational policies formulated by the European Union and the results of an evaluation report from the Swedish Net University, I raise the question of which pedagogical aspects need to be considered in order to support…

The attitudes and behaviour of 1040 pupils aged 12-14 years have been measured at the beginning and end of the school year with a battery of attitude, motivation and personality tests in an investigation of the differential effects of group work compared to whole-class learning. A total of 44 secondary teachers of English, mathematics and science…

This study aims at highlighting the collaborative activity of two high school students (age 14) in the cases of modeling the complex biological process of plant growth with two different tools: the "paper & pencil" concept mapping technique and the computer-supported educational environment "ModelsCreator". Students' shared activity in both cases…

This article discusses the relationship between procedural and conceptual problem solving in a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment designed within the field of science education. The contribution of this article, and our understanding of this phenomenon, is anchored in our socio-cultural interpretation, and that implies…

Women are making progress in many areas of science, but a gender gap still remains, especially in physics, computer science, and engineering, and at advanced levels of academic and career achievement. Today's teachers can help narrow this gap by instilling a love for science in their female students and by helping them to understand and develop…

The effectiveness of a behavior modification program combining cooperative learning with peer and self-evaluation was field tested with a group of 20 students in a 9th-grade class in beginning small engines. The students represented a mix of racial/cultural and economic backgrounds, were of average intelligence, and exhibited a variety of poor…

This curriculum guide shows how to develop a cooperative learning, interdisciplinary unit on self-esteem, coping skills, and healthy lifestyles. It offers teachers, using a team-teaching approach, instructions and activities for helping children to become successful in life. The emphasis is on cooperative learning methods. The matrix of lesson…

These six newsletter issues include special features on: (1) the spectrum of giftedness; (2) technology; (3) recognizing gifted young children; (4) secondary gifted students; (5) exploring creativity; and (6) mutual education. Examples of articles are: "Six Steps to Academic Damage Control: Beginning the Climb toward Higher Standards" (Linda…

A three-year program to bring together third-grade students in a self-contained bilingual classroom and a mainstream classroom is described. The project was designed to reduce the isolation of the bilingual students and prejudice toward them shown by mainstream students. During the first year, gym and music classes were combined, students were…

The "silent" classrooms of yesterday are no longer appropriate for today's educational needs. Students require a learning experience rich in oral language, and schools are being asked to educate them for work that requires analytic competence and collaborative interactive skills. A revised curriculum and new teaching strategies are…

This paper discusses what teacher education programs can do to prepare teachers for diverse classrooms. One approach is through cooperative learning, since children come to school with various orientations to cooperative behavior. Many teachers, however, jump into cooperative activities with little thought of the behaviors needed by students to…

A professional development model for teachers of literature (K-13) was conceived in the context of the current disjunctions between literary theory and pedagogical practices in the teaching of literature on the one hand, and a different set of disjunctions between teaching practices in literature and in composition on the other. Recent…

Using Gardner's multiple intelligences (verbal, logical, musical, bodily, interpersonal, and intrapersonal) and Fogarty's 10 curriculum integration models (fragmented, connected, nested, sequenced, shared, webbed, threaded, integrated, immersed, and networked), this book includes activities for building teams, exploring how to put power into…