A week-long residential program in the United Kingdom combines ritual with psychotherapy to assist men in coming to terms with the meaning of masculinity. The program recognizes no fixed notion of manhood, but aims to support each man as he finds within himself, and marks with ritual, the next step in his unique journey. (TD)

Presents a new mentoring approach to school change called the whole-faculty study group process, unfolding a discussion of the following: the group process; change management principles; school culture; the process model and content; mentoring and co-mentoring; synergy and teamwork; multiple levels of co-mentoring; success factors in the process;…

Reports on how issues of bisexual women and lesbians have been integrated into therapy groups. Describes one therapy group consisting of members with diverse sexual identities. Concludes that the therapists' willingness to establish clear group norms about acceptance of diversity, their own level of acceptance, and their ability to focus on…

Responds to the article entitled, "The REFLECT Approach to Literacy: Some Issues of Method," by Caroline Dyer and Archana Choksi. Contends that certain key principles were overlooked in their three-month experiment on REFLECT: (1) local ownership and control; (2) an internal community process; and (3) an integration of literacy and empowerment.…

Examines concepts of gender and race in virtual environments by presenting a case study of an African American woman's online personalities. Discusses how her online contributions in a college class discussion influenced her and the group's perspectives on violence and gender issues. (Author/LRW)

Examined effects of workgroup size and structure during collaborative work on complex tasks. Found that dyads produced greater collaboration for low-achievers, whereas small groups generated more cognitive conflict among other students. Productivity did not differ as a function of background structure. Findings posed implications for optimizing…

Evaluates a pilot study conducted at the University of Glamorgan that investigated whether group process support technology has the potential to improve the learning experience of students in seminar groups by increasing participation and focusing debate. Describes how the use of the technology was varied among groups and suggests further…

Presents the organizational framework of the Society for General Music. Contains basic explanations of purpose, goals, and establishment; bylaws concerning personnel, the General Music Council, an editor, the Executive Committee, and the composition and function of the Council; membership; officers; publications; editorial board; and nomination,…

Groups of editors and authors used a variety of technologies to create a cohesive team that produced a textbook series with instructor manuals along with a supporting Web site. Describes the development of the groups for this materials publication project in terms of six areas--situation, leadership, individual versus group goals, norms, roles,…

Although relational demographers have based their arguments on self-categorization theory, they have paid little attention to the underlying processes associated with this theory. The authors examined whether demographic dissimilarity affects individuals' identification with groups by affecting the group's prototype valence and clarity and the…

Project-based team activities are commonly used in higher education. Teams comprised of members from different national cultures can be faced with unique challenges during the creative process. Hofstede's (1991) cultural dimension of power distance was used to examine one such design team's intra- and inter-group interactions in a graduate-level…

This study explores the effectiveness of a cooperative learning (CL) approach, where students work together and elaborate concepts of physics. The group problem-solving tasks were conceptual questions from physics, where the students had to discuss and provide explanations of some phenomena. The effectiveness of the learning-in-groups approach was…

The decision whether to keep or to change a university's nickname is an "intense no-win situation" for a new president. To some, the name is racist and insensitive; to others, it reflects great pride and tradition.

This article reports on a teacher book club consisting of six novice teachers who met over a 2-year period beginning with their first entry into the profession to cultivate their teacher knowledge, identity, and development in a social/supportive context. The teachers met approximately every 6 weeks over the course of the academic year (7 times…

Leading a productive discussion, one that both engages students and enhances their understanding, may be the most complex and challenging task in teaching. This article explores three approaches to increasing the productivity of discussions. They include framing discussions in a way that allows students easier access to the topic, making the kind…