This case study examines a 2-year faculty-centered professional development program for high school teachers. The program, which used a Foxfire approach (Wigginton, 1986) and was based on Deweyan principles (Dewey, 1963), involved having the teachers initiate, pursue, and share self-selected, independent group learning projects. Inservice sessions…

This book is a collection of essays by full-time classroom teachers who describe their efforts to implement the vision of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards documents and to empower their students in mathematics. Chapter 1, "Students' Conceptions of Mathematics and the Challenge of the Standards" (Dorothy Buerk),…

The guide, intended to accompany a 26-minute videotape recording, gives background information to assist in discussion of effective classroom practices appropriate to linguistically and culturally diverse students in first grade. The first part reviews briefly the basic principles of effective instruction in multicultural/bilingual classrooms. The…

The thesis discusses some difficulties involved in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Japanese universities and proposes cooperative learning techniques as a partial solution to these problems. This recommendation is supported by a selective review of the literature on group work in second language teaching and research on the…

This study examined what occurs in cooperative learning groups that include students with mild disabilities in grades 3-6. Teacher interviews were combined with observations of 10 special and 10 regular education students' behavior in cooperative learning groups which used the Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition model. Results are…

The language arts program presented in this volume evolved from work with at-risk students at an inner-city high school in Tucson (Arizona). The original computerized literacy program sponsored by International Business Machines, the Principle of the Alphabet Literacy System (PALS), was expanded into a comprehensive 3-year program designed to meet…

This paper discusses the use of World Wide Web-based conferencing in the Collaborative Teacher Education Program (CTEP) at Indiana University. The CTEP, a program offering distance education coursework to in-service teachers in rural communities throughout southern Indiana, is described, and some of the obstacles and limitations involved in…

The rapid development of modern information and communications technologies has opened new possibilities for establishing and delivering distance learning. In addition, the new learning paradigm based on cognitive learning theories can emphasize the quality of the learning process. The open learning environment that utilizes modern communications…

The project PARK-IT! represents a unique partnership between a public elementary school and a city park in which students and teachers utilize a small naturalized area of the park as a Land Laboratory, and in return become its stewards. The project also includes this curriculum activity guide which can assist teachers in using the Land Lab with…

This report describes the development of an educational software program to assist youth with disabilities in participating in discourse in regular school settings. The software was designed to manage cooperative groups as students engaged in hands-on science activities and was specifically developed for teaching the subject of batteries and…

This paper reports challenges of and suggestions for conducting online courses, focusing on the following areas: (1) instructional format, including transferring classroom activities to online activities without affecting students' concentration, motivation, thought, mastery, and comprehension; (2) methods of instruction, including developing an…

Eight papers are presented to assist career resource teachers who are working with handicapped students to prepare them for transition from school to work. "In Their Own Words: Teachers Share Their Experiences in Working with Special Education Students" (Lewis Allen) describes the use of cooperative learning in English, electronics, and interior…

The science of physics teaches the world to look beyond what is known and to be creative about visions of the future. Educators, like scientists, are responsible for pointing forward, for looking around and beyond the realm of what is known, to the realm of what could be. Yet, most institutions are restrained by traditional frameworks. Education…

The cases in this book, based on classroom observations and interviews with principals and key teachers at 17 California middle schools, focus in depth on middle-grade reform in the classroom. Organized in four chapters, the cases look at four critical areas of curriculum and instruction: (1) heterogeneous grouping; (2) cooperative learning; (3)…

This sourcebook, prepared by the Intercampus Group on Collaborative Learning of Indiana University, offers suggestions to those who are already familiar with collaborative learning, but want to know how others are responding to the same or similar challenges. Papers are presented that examine general issues of collaborative learning in the Arts…