Online discussions are an effective method used to enhance interactions among learners and the instructor. The study examined the differences in communication based on whether the discussions were instructor-moderated or peer-moderated and based on whether the classes consisted of undergraduate or graduate students. Results indicate that student…

Authored by the teaching staff of T-560: Meeting the Challenge of Individual Differences at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, this article reflects on potential applications of universal design for learning (UDL) in university courses, illustrating major points with examples from T-560. The article explains the roots of UDL in cognitive…

Purpose: This report seeks to address the preliminary findings from a large-scale study of the different ways in which the asynchronous discussion forum (ADF) is being used in the online learning environment. Design/methodology/approach: A conceptual approach is taken. Findings: The structural and functional variation of the ADF is depicted within…

The article details the transformation of one literature discussion group reading the story, Felita, by Nicholosa Mohr. The research study documented the process of implementing literature discussion groups with multicultural children's literature in a fourth grade English language arts classroom. Through a discussion of a critical incident in the…

The purpose of this study was to explore and investigate the ways faculty at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign use Networked Information Sources And Services to support their research task. Library and Information Sciences faculty at the University of Illinois were chosen as…

This paper compares the processes of Face-To-Face (FTF) teams and Online Learning Teams (OLTs) and proposes methods to improve the performance of OLTs. An empirical study reviewed the performance of fifteen FTF teams and OLTs and their communication patterns were coded by the TEMPO system developed by Futoran et al. (1989) in order to develop a…

This study, using content analysis technique, examined the types of job-related problems that the Turkish computer teachers experienced and the types of social support provided by reciprocal discussions in an online forum. Results indicated that role conflict, inadequate teacher induction policies, lack of required technological infrastructure and…

The Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) Project at American River College (ARC) in Sacramento, California, was developed to improve retention rates among underrepresented students in math and science classes with high dropout rates. The project involved a group of 24 paid student Learning Assistants (LA's) who successfully completed the targeted courses…

THE PRINCIPAL EDUCATIONAL GOALS OF AMERICAN PUBLIC LIBRARIES BETWEEN 1833 AND 1964 WERE CIVIC ENLIGHTENMENT AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT, ACCOMPANIED AT VARIOUS PERIODS BY MORAL BETTERMENT, VOCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT, OR CURRENTLY, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT. THE MAJORITY OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES PROVIDE NOT ONLY MATERIALS, BUT ALSO PERSONAL ASSISTANCE, STIMULATION…

Describes an upper-level undergraduate seminar on race, ethnicity, and social inequality that included an Internet discussion list consisting of over 300 faculty, students, and administrators from around the world. Discusses organizational and pedagogical challenges involved in creating and maintaining the list. (MJP)

A fifth-grade classroom teacher and a reading specialist changed the classroom structure from teacher-centered to student-centered, using flexible grouping, students' choice of literature, student journals, and student-driven discussion groups. They found that students' motivation and interest in reading improved over time. (SM)

This manual is designed to introduce extension workers to needs assessment theory and techniques in an applied context and to serve as a tool for planning and implementing county-level assessments of youths' needs for extension education (including 4-H programs). First, the following steps in the program planning process are explained: identify…

This Education for Self Responsibility (ESR) curriculum guide is designed to emphasize drug use prevention for prekindergarten-grade 3 students. The program emphasizes good health care practices, safety, personal responsibility, awareness of others, maintaining health, developing positive self-worth, and recognition of roles as family members. The…

Continuing work begun at a 1988 conference, the Ocotillo Action/Research Groups of the Maricopa Community Colleges (Arizona) explored ways to enhance the use of educational technology and to capitalize on future developments in the field. These interim reports cover work done in 1989-90 and serve as a basis for the next projected conference. The…

Adapted for Indian tribes of the southwest, this leader's guide outlines a training program designed to help Indian people act effectively as the primary sex educators of their children. The guide focuses on ways to help small groups understand attitudes, values, and facts about sexuality and acquire parenting skills such as communicating with…