This study in upstate New York investigated certain characteristics of 602 public affairs education discussion groups; relative group stability in terms of change in size over time; whether characteristics affect group survival; and how group structure is related to certain attitudes on individualism and community growth. Data were gathered by…

Teachers should resist external pressures, such as the British fifth-form examination, which dictate the content and teaching methods of their classes. Instead, teachers should endeavor to keep literature, language, and composition integrated; to emphasize class and group discussions; to find topics that interest pupils, not examiners; to…

Two projects of individualized instruction are reported in this document. These projects were carried out in small high schools in Colorado and are reported by the instructors involved. Included in the reports are the rationale, objectives, description of student groups, extensive procedural description, and results and recommendations. The…

This book attempts to narrow the gap between the rhetoric of social studies reform and the realities of most classrooms. It focuses on strategies for engaging students in the learning process. Practical and workable guides are provided for improving classroom instruction with new techniques and materials for innovative strategies. Although the…

The major objective of the study was to provide children with social skill training through: (1) individual opportunities for children to examine and adopt more productive alternatives to the satisfaction of their needs; (2) small group opportunities for children to discuss and learn the differential consequences of cognitive, affective, and…

Learning in small groups is a practical way to bring about behavior change. The inquiry learning process is perceived to be the most natural and scientific way of learning. Skills developed include those of problem-solving task analysis, decision-making, value formation and adaptability. The art of small group interaction is developed. Factual…

A workshop held December 7, 8, and 9, 1970, was the second phase of a three-part program which aims to organize and develop Adult Basic Education (ABE) teacher preparation programs in institutions of higher education. The goals of the workshop were to: (1) inform participants about the need for professional preparation in teaching Adult Basic…

This paper identifies and defines skills associated with the commentary-discussion method of teaching in an effort to improve student learning in precollege psychology courses. First, the author examines the range of teaching methods from formal lecture to open discussion and identifies commentary-discussion as the most widely used technique. In…

Discusses a method for involving students in topics so that research evolves from a desire to know. Describes using response group discussion about real life problems to find topics, freewriting loops, and class presentation before and during research. Reports positive atmosphere and interest. (JG)

Discusses a study exploring the effect of the social context of two contrasting types of discussion--question and answer, and response centered--on students' interpretation of a literary work. Concludes that certain characteristics of the question and answer discussion may have inhibited students' interpretive responses. (JC)

Reviews the research literature on the value of instructional media and guidelines for effective use in the classroom and reports the results of a recent survey of media utilization in elementary and secondary schools. A checklist and a rating form for evaluating media utilization practices in individual schools are included. (CDD)

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) collaborated on a child and adolescent development project involving roundtables of knowledgeable researchers and teacher educators. This summary report discusses major issues faced by teachers and schools,…

Parents are the child's first and most important teacher. This booklet begins with a story about the parent of a first grade reader. The parent in the story models methods which a real life parent could employ to help a child learn to read such as finding words that begin with the first letter of a child's name, or taking turns with the child…

A group of human resource development (HRD) practitioners participated in an innovative session on applying metaphor in HRD research and practice. The session objectives were as follows: (1) facilitate a dialogue between those who wrote for and those who read the Advances in Developing Human Resources (ADHR)issue on metaphor in HRD; (2) extend the…

This study tested the effectiveness of the cloze procedure, used aurally, to teach listening comprehension in English as a foreign language (EFL). Subjects were the classes of two teachers (n=74, n=75); one teacher taught using the aural cloze procedure, and the other taught using conventional listening instruction techniques. In aural cloze…