This report analyzes the moment-by-moment construction of interaction by language minority children in a cooperative learning activity. The interaction occurred among students in a Spanish-English bilingual 3rd grade classroom as part of a cooperative learning curriculum known as Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC), which was…

During the academic year, psychology students at Wytheville Community College are exposed to many aspects of psychology and psychological research. After students complete several minor research projects, they undertake a psychology symposium. Students are divided into small groups, and each group presents a research idea to the instructor. When…

Merging the related but typically distant fields of reading education and special education, this book is for teachers, teacher educators, and administrators at all grade levels and in all subject areas who want to know what the fields of reading and special education say about teaching and reaching high-risk learners. Chapters in the book discuss…

At a public community college located in a Southeastern state, an innovative curriculum, including contracting, individualization and cooperative learning, was tested in two sections of a History of Western Civilization course. Contracting refers to an agreement between teacher and student, specifying student goals and objectives.…

In successfully establishing and having students complete group tasks within a cooperative learning framework, 14 essential elements must be present. The elements necessary for cooperative learning are: (1) a clear set of specific student learning outcome objectives; (2) all students in the group accept the targeted outcome; (3) clear and complete…

Reading is an area of the curriculum that contains many opportunities for students to develop self-esteem. Three common procedures used in the classroom, however, are likely to threaten students' self-esteem: required oral reading; team selection and the aspect of competing and declaring winners and losers; and question and answer procedures.…

This guide for using computers in the whole language classroom provides teachers with practical ideas for the use of computers to promote group interaction and cooperative learning, including: (1) software webs to assist theme development; (2) pre-computer activities to motivate students; (3) computer activities to develop software competence; (4)…

This study sought to examine the group dynamics of children working and learning collaboratively on a computer-based instructional writing task. Standard 3 and 4 children at two urban primary schools in the Dunedin area of New Zealand were assigned the task of producing illustrated interactive stories using the "Twist-a-plot" program.…

In a study of peer collaboration among children, the case is made for treating the dyad, rather than the individual, as the unit of analysis. Subjects included 154 children aged 5 to 9 years from a broad range of social classes. Children worked in 14 problems (representing 6 types of problems) predicting the movement of a balance beam. Children…

This study investigated the effect of the study skill strategies of concept mapping and cooperative learning on students' academic achievement. Forty fifth grade students were placed in three groups: (1) cooperative concept mapping groups (N=9--3 students in each of 3 small groups); (2) a standard concept mapping group (N=11); and (3) a control…

This conference proceedings reflects the views of participants on competencies that need to be taught in employee preparation for outdoor recreation. The conference addressed the following recommendations made by the President's Commission on American Outdoors: (1) assessing professional outdoor recreation education and training needs; (2)…

A practicum addressed the failure of 85% of tenth-graders in an urban school to complete the research paper required by the Palm Beach County (Florida) curriculum. The target population consisted of 28 students from each of two classes. The practicum's three main objectives were to: (1) encourage students to work in teams and utilize peer…

This paper presents the results of a qualitative study of the interaction between computer assisted instruction (CAI) and cooperative learning. The constructivist perspective is discussed in relation to other learning theories, and is emphasized as the theoretical basis for the study because of its focus on prior learning, student characteristics,…

Originally developed as part of a project for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on the role of grammar and the teaching of writing is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes an overview of the project; a comprehensive search of the ERIC…

Our paper describes the important role of virtual education in the process of building a unique cross-border educational environment between Finland and Russia. Against a background of the latest trends in international virtual education, we propose a realistic solution for equal collaboration between two different systems. The final model strives…