In U.S. colleges and universities, much attention has been focused on the need to improve teaching quality and to involve students in the learning process. At the same time, many faculty members are faced with growing class sizes and with time pressures due to research demands. One useful technique is to divide the class into small groups and…

A practicum addressed the problem of students' lack of fluency in standard English despite the traditional paradigm for formal grammar instruction and the emphasis on process writing in most English classrooms. Nineteen (English 2) high school students participated in peer editing groups in a collaborative learning environment. The solution…

In May 1993, Peace Corps volunteers, environmentalists, and local educators attended a teacher training workshop in Harare, Zimbabwe. A learner-centered model constructed during the workshop represented community decision making, an activity based on simulations developed at George Mason University (Virginia). Using a joint decision making…

Focusing on the culture of students with disabilities allows teachers to add another real-world dimension to the multi-cultural atmosphere of their classrooms. While Public Law 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) legislates what opportunities must exist for the differently able, volunteer program such as "Kids on the…

A study explored how ethnically diverse students in an urban high school worked collaboratively to conceive and execute original theater pieces that addressed issues of relevance to them. Subjects, 29 of the original 51 seniors in the theater institute program at Hillcrest High School, New York City, completed pre- and posttests, written…

This study examined cooperative learning (CL) programs that were successfully meeting the needs of gifted students and identified factors critical to this success. Of 19 programs nominated as models of cooperative learning, 5 sites were selected and visited: Wilton Public Schools, Connecticut; Glenville Elementary School, Connecticut; Mary Taylor…

The paper describes and examines the interaction of a group of Spanish readers engaged in a reading comprehension activity, specifically, the interaction as they put to paper an answer to a reading comprehension question. The study is a satellite study affiliated with an ongoing project examining the use of cooperative learning in elementary…

The study summarized in this report was designed to explore some questions concerning the application of cooperative learning for gifted students. A survey of 301 educators belonging to either gifted education or cooperative learning associations found that the two groups held strongly differing views. Members of the gifted education group were…

This paper discusses cooperative learning as a teaching method that uses intrinsic rewards, or rewards that come from within a student, in the education of young children. The developmental perspective of cooperative learning, which suggests that peer interaction, without the use of extrinsic rewards, leads to intellectual and social growth, is…

This conference report contains selected presentations and panel discussions concerning the experiences of faculty and students with learner-oriented approaches to college teaching. Following a welcome address by Kenneth R. R. Gross-Louis and keynote addresses by Faith Gabelnick and Linda Harasim, papers are organized in two categories:…

A special needs teacher and a fifth-grade teacher developed a literature-based reading program based on the principle that no child, particularly the unskilled, should be excluded from a literature group. The program places a high value on talk and uses heterogeneous grouping of students. Students in the class choose the novels they wish to read…

Four classroom activities useful for language immersion instruction are described and specific applications and extensions are noted. All are best used to teach content and language at the same time. The first, entitled "Think-Pair-Share," is a cooperative learning technique that increases student participation in classroom experiences and…

A study investigated the effectiveness of a Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) program in an elementary school bilingual classroom with exclusively Mexican-American students (n=35). Because cooperative learning strategies are based on peer interaction and participants contributing to the common goal, the videotaped interactions…

Originally developed for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on collaborative and cooperative learning techniques is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a lecture giving an overview on the topic;…

In 2002, the University of California, San Diego ArtsBridge America program initiated a project that was designed to address the lack of standards-based geography content and culture-based arts instruction within San Diego elementary schools.