Assessed impact of professional involvement in mutual help groups for mentally ill. Compared social climate and behavioral data on members in groups led by either mental health professional or indigenous group member. Found more formal, psychologically direct approach in professionally led group. Professional involvement appeared to affect both…

Writing groups, used in many English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) composition classrooms, pose problems for some students from collectivistic cultures such as Japan and China. Suggested reasons are the individual benefit goal, the need for feedback rather than group harmony, and strained group dynamics. (Contains 41 references.) (Author/LB)

Reviews the following topics: (1) family group interactions, time allocation, and agendas in informal science settings; and (2) family learning in informal science settings. Contains an extensive list of implications for informal science setting practitioners and provides insights to researchers attempting to study science learning in more formal…

Presents a structured group intervention for working with highly self-critical individuals. Argues that excessive self-criticism is an appropriate focus for a structured group approach. Reports on the group model, goals, session activities, and postgroup feedback and observations. Research directions are also suggested. (RJM)

Managing the psychological depth of responses to adventure activities calls for the leader to attend to own language and language of group participants. Describes eight levels of psychological depth occurring during group discussion and interaction. Addresses the need to stay at or above the agreed-upon level and avoid moving into psychotherapy.…

Describes student demonstrations on the night that U.S. planes bombed Iraq in the Persian Gulf War. Compares attitudes and feelings to the Vietnam War era. Concludes that the students incorrectly supported the Gulf War action. (CFR)

Schools in the Eugene, Oregon, area are participating in the Peaceable Educational Practices (PEP) project, which identifies research-based best practices for reducing school violence. Three general strategies include school data collection, schoolwide policies and programs, and tailoring strategies to the school. PEP schools have seen a dramatic…

Explores the extent that intergroup attributions may be affected by the mobilization of an academic status that explicitly positions students within a school hierarchy. Calculates internality scores for students categorized as good versus bad based on a questionnaire of attributions. Explains the results within the frame of two theoretical fields.…

The MINEFIELD exercise is an experiential learning activity in entrepreneurship education which simulates a group escape from a prisoner of war camp. This article describes the scenario, probable outcomes, and game variations. Debriefing questions highlight concepts like vision and mission, strategies versus tactics, management versus leadership,…

Social identity theory holds that social group memberships become part of the psychological self, affecting thoughts, feelings, and behavior. However, tests of this hypothesis have mainly involved judgmental dependent measures. A method is suggested that can provide more direct evidence. Discusses use of that method. (KW)

Interviews students who were involved with the 1989 Beijing student movement. Finds that the spatial concentration of students on Beijing university campuses nurtured many close-knit social networks and exposed students to environmental influences promoting social action; these conditions helped sustain the student movement and guided its choice…

Participatory research (PR) is a term that was first articulated in Tanzania in the early 1970s to describe a variety of community-based approaches to the creation of knowledge. Taken together these approaches combine social investigation, education and action in an interrelated process. The International Council for Adult Education provided a…

This guide discusses the use of focus groups in marketing research for higher education. It describes the differences between qualitative and quantitative research, and examines when it is appropriate to use focus group research, when it is not, and why. The guide describes a step-by-step approach in how to plan, formulate, moderate, and report…

Data gleaned from the 1982, 1985, and 1992 Surveys of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPAs) were used in this analysis of participation in opera and musical theater/operetta. Findings indicate that opera is the least popular of the fine arts, being the least frequented and the least selected as an activity respondents would like to attend more…

Using a brief experiential group activity called "Choosing a Color Exercise" as an introductory measure, this paper explains the basics of group dynamics and reviews the major theoretical relationships between the group's structure, the dynamics of maintenance and task behaviors, and effective individual performances. The types of functional and…