Dissertation committees are complex social arenas that underscore expertise, image, and peer relationships--all of which affect professional identity and advancement. This study presents a sampling of how early career women faculty members learn about and negotiate their participation on dissertation committees. Research questions focused on…

Teachers and learners alike bring past experiences into present teaching and learning contexts. Group work is an experience that carries equal measures of joyful anticipation and mournful trepidation. Learners typically experience group work as an uneven distribution of time, competence, and accountability, and seem to have lingering memories of…

In this essay, I describe my experience applying the principles of feminist group process in a senior level social science course. I begin by providing an overview of feminist pedagogy as an approach to teaching and learning and discuss the relevance of feminist group process within this model. I then highlight the core components of feminist…

In this article, the authors describe a unique approach to conducting and analyzing focus groups, described as peer discourse analysis. The primary objective of this analysis is to examine the shape and form of the discourses and negotiations that develop organically among peers in discussions of social issues. Peer discourse analysis has both…

The purpose of this study was to probe the presence of slackers in college classroom work group, how students react to slackers, and the recommendations students would make for working with slackers in future group projects. Thirty-seven college students participated in one of five focus groups. Results indicate that (a) college students working…

Action learning sets are used by Lancaster University Management School's Institute for Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development to provide business support to owner managers of small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper compares the experiences of participants and facilitator of two programmes: one part of a wider programme of…

This article investigates how informal positions of power emerge within a community of practice and how positions of power influence communication and understanding about key issues. Findings from a study of one community of practice reveal Janusian leadership within the group and the effects of emergent, informal power roles on group goals,…

Doctor Interactive Group Medical Appointments (DIGMAs) were conducted over a period of 7 months; 73 hypertensive male veterans were enrolled in the study and 58 completed it. Findings indicated that both systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings were significantly reduced from pretest to posttest. Participant self-report of health promoting…

This is a collaborative writing project that is ideally suited for introducing longer narrative writing to second-year students. It involves collaborative learning, group dynamics and extended narrative writing. In the "Rockgruppe-Semesterprojekt", groups of students form fictional rock bands, develop tour itineraries through the German-speaking…

This article presents the author's response to Professor Hewes's "The Influence of Communication Processes on Group Outcomes: Antithesis and Thesis." The author believes that Hewes could have been more helpful to the reader and to those who are apt to find inspiration in the steps he has taken in his essay to promote a "return to basic theorizing…

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how PBL student teams develop specific leadership configurations when implementing interdisciplinary projects and whether or not tutors help in dealing with the group interactions that are subsequently generated. The data set was drawn from 2 cohorts of first-year students engaged in PBL activities in an…

Math is often taught poorly emphasizing rote, procedural methods rather than creativity and problem solving. Alberta Education developed a new mathematics curriculum to transform mathematics teaching to inquiry driven methods. This revised curriculum provides a new vision for mathematics and creates opportunities and requirements for professional…

Over recent years, educational institutions have been making increasing use of virtual environments to set up collaborative activities for learners. While it is recognized that teachers play an important role in facilitating learner collaboration online, they may not have the necessary skills to do so successfully. Thus, a small-scale professional…

Employment within student affairs divisions offers environments in which students can apply the knowledge they have gained, as well as acquire new competencies, helping them to build solid foundations for their futures. Researchers used an online survey to assess the outcomes associated with part-time student employment within the student affairs…

As a result of environmental turbulence created by economic turmoil and shifting social policies, the world of higher education is experiencing widespread change. Student affairs professionals are well-positioned to influence the future direction of higher education and the impact education has for students and society. The NASPA 2012 conference…