Based on a two-year ethnographic and discourse analytic study of Oyster Bilingual School in Washington, DC, this article illustrates what educational opportunity means for the linguistically, culturally, and economically diverse student population participating in a successful two-way Spanish-English bilingual program. Presents micro-level…

Makes an analogy between the stories told by teachers of large classes in South African universities and the storytelling of tribes. Suggests their identity is defined by the act of teaching and complaining about large groups with limited resources. Examines implications for content and organization of a teacher education course on classroom…

Compares results of a current survey with an earlier one conducted in the United Kingdom to examine microcomputer use in primary schools. Highlights include the effect of experience; teacher training; influences on software use; individual versus group use; influences on cooperative behavior; teachers' aims in using microcomputers; and future…

Examines the relationship between verbal style and the early elimination of leaders in small groups. Finds that participants evaluated the authoritativeness and trustworthiness of other group members and that these evaluations depended upon the interaction of verbal style and content. (SR)

Describes study that determined differences between Masters of Business Administration (MBA) students and Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA) students through the use of a computerized management simulation. Performance, behavioral, and attitudinal measures are described, hypotheses tested are outlined, variables are explained, and results…

Discusses group process and design issues that should be considered when a group member has a hearing impairment. Different levels of hearing loss and the differing communication modes are reviewed; differences in cognitive processing based on communication mode are considered. Recommendations for accommodation are given. (LKS)

Implementation of the University of Virginia Medical Center's computerized system for mandatory recordkeeping of physician orders is discussed, focusing on administrative issues: delays, costs, disruption of work routine and behavior, and the need to bring in a senior management team. Recommendations are made for institutions with similar…

Describes the decision-making processes involved in the development of the ACCESS PENNSYLVANIA database, a statewide union catalog of school, public, academic, and special libraries' holdings on compact laserdisc. Highlights include the planning process; the role of retrospective conversion vendors; the nominal group technique; the role of task…

The impact of learning mathematics under successful and unsuccessful cooperative group conditions was studied for 181 seventh graders in Montreal (Quebec) who had a learned-helplessness or mastery-oriented attributional style and different prior mathematics achievement. Learning of helpless and less able students may depend on accomplishments and…

A cooperative activity involving eight sixth grade students over five days focused on inventing static representations of motion. In generating, critiquing and refining numerous representations, strong metarepresentational competence was found. An intricate blend of the children's conceptual and interactional skills, their interest in and sense of…

Discussion of collaborative learning focuses on a study of seventh-grade social studies students that was conducted to determine whether incorporating structure and training into collaborative, computer-based learning would improve achievement, self-esteem, or increase the number of explanations given. Treatment groups that included regular and…

Japanese preschool teachers and administrators watched and commented on videotapes of Japanese and U.S. preschools. In contrast to American notions of home-school continuity and the mothering role of the preschool teacher, Japanese educators saw their large preschool classes (of approximately 30 students) as teaching overly individualistic,…

Examines how college-level intermediate English-as-a-Second-Language students modify interaction when engaged in small-group versus pair work, and whether task type (optional versus required information exchange) affects amount of language and interaction individual students produce. Results suggest "negotiation of meaning" is not a…

Investigates the effective decision-making theory's (EDMT) prediction that cultural individualism-collectivism, self-construal, and group composition influence turn-taking behavior and conflict behavior in small groups. Finds, for example, that independent self-construal is a predictor of the number of turns and competitive conflict tactics in…

A survey investigated college faculty and administrator attitudes on issues related to institutional governance. Results offer trustees several strategies for fostering institutional change: build on the overlap in attitudes about governance; foster dialog about teaching, research, and governance among board, faculty, and administrators; improve…