The process-observer method of group training was evaluated. Disruption of group content and process was found to be less with the use of a process observer than with an observer. Process observers found the experience useful for their development as group leaders. Results and future directions are discussed. (Author/EMK)

Discusses group projects in distance learning, describes factors affecting the successful completion of group projects, and considers whether agent technology (self-contained, concurrently executing software processes that encapsulate the current state in terms of knowledge) is able to support students doing group projects. (LRW)

Summarizes ideas gathered from classroom experiences and from colleagues encountered in cooperative learning workshops and presents them as answers to questions from workshop participants who have been exposed to the basic principles and methods of cooperative learning. Information for college instructors covers forming teams, dealing with…

Studies how an aerosol technology research group constructed a research agenda for itself and how its activity was changed in the process. Analyzes the development of the production of ultrafine particles and employs the concept of mediated activity. (Contains 29 references.) (DDR)

Explains how facilitation skills can be developed in management classes using simulation exercises followed by reflective self-assessment. Appendices outline role behaviors, personality types, interventions, and suggestions for simulations. (Contains 26 references.) (SK)

Examines the relationship between internal communications and organizational learning and considers the effects of national differences in work organization on differences in internal communications, learning, and new product development. Compares small group performance in American startups, smaller Italian companies, and Japanese management…

Contemporary work-related education and training policy represents occupational competence as the outcome of individual performance at work. This paper presents a critique of this neo-liberal assumption, arguing that in many cases competence should be regarded as an attribute of groups, teams and communities. It proposes a theory of collective…

In a religion class of 26 bright creative sixth graders, one student demonstrates the power of peer pressure. Part of the morning ritual is to say prayer petitions. Students seems to be calmed by their expressions of care for their families, friends, pets, their military troops, victims of natural disasters, the homeless, etc. However, one student…

How do groups of 3 people establish common ground in problem-solving interactions differently from groups of 2? Do they do this differently when they are supported by videoconferencing technologies? The laboratory experiment reported here manipulated group size and video mediation for participants carrying out a laboratory map task that allowed…

In this lighthearted article, the author explores how the use of staffroom space can reflect significant hierarchies of power and influence in the school. She contends that who sits where in a staffroom can reflect wider power relations within a school, so understanding this may be a clue as to other ways in which people and groups will interact.

Are children as young as 2 years old able to interact in groups of three? The study applied the family triad model first introduced by Parke, Power, and Gottman (1979) to the case of peer interaction. In Experiment 1, the model was refined for use in studies of peer interaction and applied to an existing dataset of 16 triads of newly acquainted…

Many researchers have been inquiring into focus groups as a qualitative data collection method (Barbour & Kitzinger 1999; Krueger 1998; Morgan, 1998), but only a few have been able to analyze the different levels of understanding in focus groups, which we focus on in this article. The guiding research question is how do focus groups offer deeper…

Rehabilitation counselor education is experiencing an explosion of knowledge, which is becoming increasingly difficult to organize and disseminate to students. Communities of practice, a form of social learning, provide a way to organize and disseminate information. Distance-based education programs are increasing within the field of…

The rhetoric abounds concerning the types of effective, high trust, interactions that should exist for a school governing body. In practise, however, such interactions are often difficult to define, establish, maintain, and sustain. The study reported on in this paper attempted to identify interactions linked to perceptions of high trust via a…

This study investigates the relationship between creative personality composition, innovative team climate, and team innovation based on an input-process-output model. We measured personality with the Creative Person Profile, team climate with the Team Climate Inventory, and team innovation through team-member and supervisor reports of team…