This article reports the findings of a research project concerned with children engaging in scientific argumentation. Discussion activities were designed to enable groups of children to use evidence when making decisions. The findings show a variation in the success with which children construct scientific arguments; some groups debate most of the…

A look at real data shows that Reckase's psychometric theory for standard setting is not applicable to bookmark and that his simulations cannot explain actual differences between methods. It is suggested that exclusively test-centered, criterion-referenced approaches are too idealized and that a psychophysics paradigm and a theory of group…

Status hierarchies typically emerge when groups of strangers interact. Relatively little work tests explanations for this process in homogenous groups, and the majority has been conducted in intragroup settings. We test an expectation-states explanation in an intergroup context using the multilevel application of the actor-partner interdependence…

Per definition, CSCL research deals with the data of individuals nested in groups, and the influence of a specific learning setting on the collaborative process of learning. Most well-established statistical methods are not able to analyze such nested data adequately. This article describes the problems which arise when standard methods are…

An experiment in behavior technology is described in which the results indicate that token technology can be an effective technique to increase small group participation when a variety of back-up reinforcers is offered. (Author/HB)

This study compares two intake procedures designed to prepare adolescents for subsequent group counseling: an individual interview and a group-administered questionnaire. The only significant difference was that the questionnaire group spoke with greater personal involvement in, and more responsibility for, their problem or concern. (SJL)

This paper focuses on the organizational group, noting the lack of an integrated theoretical base, describing the nature of group behavior theories, and suggesting the employment of a metatheory framework to improve both the theoretical integration and the practical application of group behavior research. The paper first considers four general…

Symbolic interaction is a useful perspective, a viable theoretical approach to getting at answers to many important questions related to educational technology. Participant observation is a useful methodology for rooting answers out of the research setting. (Author)

The hypothesized effect of a person-group attitude similarity on one's desire for leadership status was confirmed in an attitude survey of 48 college students. (Author/KM)

Examines several alternative models to account for the distribution of group disorder in New York City's 56 comprehensive academic high schools. Advances the thesis that, while disorders occur in the schools, their roots lie in the larger society. (Author/MLF)

The present study was conducted to determine whether independence produced by social support provided on one type of item in a group pressure situation would generalize to a different item on which the subject was opposed by a consensual group. Moreover, in one condition the group member providing social support varied over trials. It was…

The present investigation extended the methodology to investigate the effects of viewed aggression on groups of two and four children. The present study employed a 2 x 2 x 3 factorial design, using as independent variables sex of the child, group size (two or four children), and cartoon condition (aggressive cartoon, nonaggressive cartoon, and no…

Empirical research and past conceptualizations of small groups are reviewed, focusing on attempts to identify the essential characteristic of "groupness." An alternate conceptual schema is suggested which integrates the study of groups into a single morphological system emanating from modern system theory. (Author)

Presents a theoretical model of group development based on five stages of development, each with a central issue. They are (1) orientation stage (dependence vs independence); (2) conflict stage (control vs adaptation); (3) integration stage (implicit vs explicit social structure); (4) achievement stage (intellectualizing vs implementation); and…