This study, which took place in Maastricht (Netherlands), examined whether motivation affects the reliability of students' ratings about tutor behavior and whether different types of students have different expectations about tutor behavior. Four types of motivation were measured: intrinsic, extrinsic, and achievement motivation, and fear of…

The High/Scope Institute for IDEAS began in the early 1960s as a summer camp program and is now a dynamic learning program for teens that emphasizes working with them in an environment which supports emotional, social, and intellectual development. The High/Scope model for adolescent programs is based on the following principles: (1) adolescents…

Dynamic Learning Communities (DLCs) offer an alternative approach to the traditional Instructional Design (ID) format for learning. This paper outlines the concept of a dynamic learning community as an alternative to teacher-controlled or pre-designed instructional systems. DLCs are groups of people, who form a learning community generally…

A study investigated the effectiveness of an innovative approach to the case study in teaching educational administrators in master's and doctoral programs. Subjects were 80 students in three institutions. The method uses "case stories," which differ from conventional case studies in that they are highly personal written accounts of real events…

In the past, students who knew only a little English (called limited English proficient, or LEP), were usually taught only low-level science and mathematics. Now, new science and mathematics teaching methods can help LEP students get a good education in both fields. This guide will help parents know if their children are learning as much as…

In cooperative learning, children are assigned to small groups to work on curriculum-based tasks while teachers move among the groups to offer assistance and to monitor progress. Despite the benefits and appeal of this learning method, it has been demonstrated that not all cooperative learning groups are equally successful in the classroom. In…

Social Skills Training (SST) has become a popular and effective means of prevention and intervention with adolescent populations exhibiting behavioral difficulties. Early in their development many African-American youth are exposed to homicide, crime, and interpersonal violence. The acquisition of social skills is critical to the development of…

A qualitative study examined the meaning-making processes involved as six struggling readers and a teacher interacted to make sense of a story during small group literature discussions. Students were low-achieving fifth graders. Instruction consisted of partner reading, written response followed by discussion and extended free journal writing.…

By the 1980s, the whole language philosophy (Goodman, 1986), based on the idea that reading and writing should be done for authentic purposes, gained credibility. As the movement gained momentum, more teachers began to adopt the student-centered writing workshop as a way of teaching writing. A study of a class of 27 culturally diverse third…

This paper reports on a 12-week study of 131 students in eight fourth-grade social studies classrooms in two elementary schools in the southwestern United States with low socioeconomic, high minority populations. Although research has indicated that cooperative learning enhances student achievement, promotes self-esteem, and improves interpersonal…

This paper describes the design and features of LEA (Learning Environment with Agent), an educational system which has the features of both synchronous and asynchronous group learning environments. The first section discusses group learning environments, including differences between individual learning and group learning, and the classification…

This paper describes an interactive strategy for the instruction of critical thinking taking place in a middle school in Dade County, Florida. The project involves integration of critical thinking and brainstorming, using the quality circle approach. Based on developmental characteristics, certain principles impact middle school curricula: (1) the…

This paper examines theories on metacognition and instructional strategies for developing metacognitive processes. These strategies were then implemented in an inner-city grade 6 classroom in a low-economic, multicultural section of Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada), in which 33 students kept journals that were studied for evidence of…

This paper examines discourse among fifth-grade students in a science classroom. The authors assess students' participation in small-group activities by focusing on their roles during conversation. The issue of gender equity is raised as an important question to be addressed by teachers, students and researchers in the context of science…

The effects of a form of cooperative group instruction called Team Assisted Individualization on students in a high school Algebra II class were examined. Sixty-two (31 female and 31 male) 11th-grade students were randomly assigned to either a cooperative learning (32 students) or traditional lecture (30 students) group. Students completed an…