A model is presented to help residential outdoor education staff modify their work with individuals and groups to suit the circumstances. Public and personal arenas are the settings in which staff operate, and formal and informal approaches describe ways of working in a setting. A diagram depicts the relationship between the arenas and approaches,…

Discusses whether verbal interaction is recognized as the source from which co-operative groups draw their power to facilitate mathematical learning. Reflects on a group in a mathematics course for prospective secondary teachers focused on problem solving where silence was commonplace. (ASK)

Describes a severe incident of hazing among 13-year-old male campers. Discusses hazing as a ritual or rite of passage gone awry, indicative of the lack of positive rituals for youth in our society. Recommends camp program procedures for responding to such incidents and strategies to prevent hurtful behaviors among campers and to promote group…

Examines group cohesiveness and client satisfaction for clients in homogeneous and heterogeneous counseling groups. Results of questionnaire reveal a significant relationship between group cohesiveness and client satisfaction. Homogeneous counseling groups reported higher cohesiveness and satisfaction than heterogeneous group members. Discusses…

Examines the effects of randomizing components of an interdependent group contingency procedure on the target behavior of 12 second-grade students. Study compares levels of disruptive behavior across baseline, an intervention phase with only randomized reinforcers, and an intervention phase with all components randomized. Results suggest that both…

Describes language acquisition processes occurring in a community of interacting agents, in which coordination of joint attention leads to the development of structures, internal and external, that support organized behavior. It is argued that the simulation model demonstrates the plausibility of propositions arising from such processes, and that…

Discusses a Christian adventure program that uses quotations and stories from the New Testament to tie group experiences to Christian teachings about loving one's neighbor, taking risks, working together, respect, actions in a crisis, unselfishness, contemplation, reflection and prayer, and forgiveness. Emphasizes the experiential teachings of…

Discusses relevance judgments in information retrieval; considers the collaborative nature of information retrieval in a group, organization, or societal context; and proposes a method that measures relevance based on group/peer consensus. Reports results of an experiment using this method to compare the search performance of different types of…

Solutions for evaluating student team members who do not contribute equally include the following: eliminate group projects, monitor group meetings, build teamwork skills, give all members the same grade, and have students evaluate other members' contributions. A survey of 68 students found that 80% were not motivated by peer evaluation but…

Conducted focus groups with deaf and hard of hearing participants (32 adult participants in all) and derived lessons for the conduct of such groups. Emphasizes that focus groups are much more productive when evaluators are sensitive to invisible communication difficulties. (SLD)

Responds to a letter from a camp leader who experienced difficulty with an adolescent girl during a 3-day hike and disapproved of a staff member's response. Offers advice on handling such a problem, addressing the staff member's intervention without undermining his credibility, revisiting the situation with the group, and exploiting the…

Reviews advantages and disadvantages of group projects. Reviews basic tenets of teamwork design, including the "forming, storming, norming, and performing" stages of team development. Notes that carefully defined teams and projects may offer a solution. Includes a 28-item bibliography of helpful resources for teamwork. (SR)

Investigates how organizational dimensions of companies in the United Kingdom relate to conditions in a company's internal and external environments. Finds that the organizational relationship between the two primary departments involved in a company's external communication programs were correlated with such internal environmental conditions as…

Explains learning-by-Web design, an emerging approach to learning-by-design that uses the Web as a vehicle to conduct a project. Discusses student's motivation, the effects of group collaboration on student learning, the effects of content structure, the effects of Web publicity, visual design considerations, and balancing learning both design…

All 41 young adults who finished a 22-day Australian Outward Bound program showed large positive changes in resilience scores. Perceived social support was strongly related to resilience gains, with ratings of the least supportive group member being the best predictor. Recommendations concerning group process are offered to group leaders.…