Assesses Supplemental Instruction (SI), a voluntary academic assistance program aimed at improving at-risk student performance through small-group work. Analyzes data collected from a political science class supported by SI. Reports that SI has a positive short- and long-term impact on conditional students, and no impact on traditional students.…

Seattle Central Community College has developed a coordinated studies program, a flexible, interdisciplinary curriculum emphasizing cooperative learning, team teaching, experimental instruction, and faculty development. The approach focuses on the active and cooperative process and allows faculty to acknowledge diverse student talents and learning…

The article and response to a critique (EC 232 395) discuss how cooperative learning (emphasizing group goals and individual accountability), the limited use of acceleration by extremely able learners, and differentiation within classes can reduce tracking and separate enrichment programs while meeting the needs of gifted students in the regular…

The emphasis of middle school philosophy on heterogeneous grouping is examined in relationship to the needs of gifted learners. Arguments supporting such grouping based on developmental needs of young adolescents, social discrimination, and the need for positive role models are considered. Cooperative learning is seen to be an unproven…

This theme issue is devoted to teachers and teaching and includes nine articles on teacher communication, classroom environment, teacher effectiveness, student learning styles, successful programs, teacher commitment, cooperative learning, teaching strategies, agricultural education in the middle school, teacher behavior, and classroom management.…

Described is an instructional strategy that has incorporated a form of cooperative learning. The three parts of this method are presented as a multimodal discussion cycle. The use of this method with students having special learning needs in mathematics has been found to be particularly effective. (KR)

Reviews the literature supporting cooperative learning as a means to promote social and cognitive growth among handicapped children in a classroom environment. In an analysis of three studies, cooperative learning strategies were shown to increase the chance that mainstreamed children would be accepted by classmates and show positive gains in…

Develops the two-level small-group model based on cooperative learning seminars for inservice science teachers. Describes procedures to construct materials for the two-level group and suggests a teaching sequence. Summarizes research results about the two-level model and suggests implications of the model. (YP)

This research commentary offers a rationale for focusing on individual students with learning disabilities (rather than teacher beliefs and behaviors or general achievement) in elementary grade cooperative learning settings. This focus resulted in the finding that many of these students were not having successful experiences and identified…

Describes a two-year professional development program in which teachers used collaborative inquiry to study, develop, and use alternative and authentic assessment to improve teaching and learning. The paper examines curriculum and assessment changes teachers made, presents insights from the experience, and discusses implications for professional…

Corporate leaders have provided advice on competencies and traits they want schools to develop in students. The paper summarizes the teaching practices, strategies, and objectives that, in some schools, have translated the corporate expectations to the educational domain, focusing on academic, social, and leadership skills. (SM)

This report, abstracted from a larger research study on children's emerging literacy, focuses on the use and influence of computers in the education of children seven years old and younger. Highlights include placement and introduction of computers in the classroom; benefits of working in groups; keyboarding; and research on program effectiveness.…

Presents a cooperative-learning lesson in which high school students visit stations equipped with different tools to establish the midpoint of a Pixy Stix, a brand of candy-filled straw. Provides solutions for two potential stations, suggestions to extend the activity, and two activity worksheets. (MDH)

This paper urges educators of deaf students to make a greater effort to teach science conceptually to foster real understanding and produce scientifically literate students. The state of science education in general, and for deaf students specifically, is reviewed. Recommendations stress process-oriented teaching, cooperative learning, and…

A university education course in human sexuality and learning at the Queensland University of Technology (Australia) used a small-group cooperative learning approach to motivate and challenge students. Students found the small group discussion method effective in developing memory and thinking skills. (MSE)