The purpose of this guide is to help study circle leaders design a study circle course and develop the reading material for the discussions. Benefits for the participants and the sponsoring organization are discussed. Three issues in planning the study circle program are addressed: goals, participants, and time frame. Key characteristics of…

Successful learning in a discursive interaction demands that participants be able to follow the interaction from its beginning to its end; instruction on Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALNs) poses challenges because, unlike in face-to-face interaction, not all messages are serial. This paper offers strategies and techniques to help ALN teachers…

Academics spend most of their intellectual lives engaged in theoretically complex and sometimes arcane debates, and it is sometimes easy for them to forget that their students are being introduced for the first time to many of the concepts they as educators take for granted. In political science courses, a variety of group activities can serve the…

This paper urges the use of case study discussions in the organizational communication class as an effective instructional technique. The paper presents a variety of formats for bringing case studies to life for students in the organizational communication course. It first discusses sources for case studies such as the World Wide Web, local and…

The use of the feature film "12 Angry Men" (1957) as an integrative review of social psychology is described. Students view the film, and then discuss the many aspects of social psychology represented in the interactions among the jurors. Discussion involves tying the movie examples back to social psychological research and theory as…

A pilot study investigated whether a short training program increased the number of questions involving higher level thinking used by preservice teachers in teaching fiction. Subjects, 22 students enrolled in an elementary reading methods course in a state university in the Northwest, completed pre- and posttests and the training program during…

Introducing students to the assumptions, values, and complexity involved in implicit and explicit agreements between individuals, this book presents 34 situations which students are asked to examine and then draw conclusions and make decisions based on the information given. The situations presented in the book include agreements, understandings,…

A study investigated student involvement in large-group discussion. A high school sophomore American literature class and a world literature class for juniors and seniors were each observed for a semester. Students were asked to provide their definitions of knowledge and learning in a survey. From the 36 responses received, four perspectives…

This practicum report describes an intervention to teach critical thinking skills in two courses in a community college early childhood education program. The objectives of the intervention were to ensure that: (1) students will become aware of critical thinking skills; (2) students will show an increase in their use of critical thinking skills in…

A HyperCard stack can be a primary computer-assisted instructional element in a freshman literature course and in an upper division "period" course. These stacks provide new alternatives for conventional classroom activities and add some possibilities not available in the traditional classroom setting. The stack for the freshman course…

This document discusses the culture and lifestyle appropriate social skills intervention curriculum or CLASSIC, a 15-session social skills training program that is designed to be administered in a small group format to children and adolescents. The first chapter addresses the role of CLASSIC in the history of social skills training for children…

A companion to "The Reading Environment," this book is concerned with getting groups of children to talk openly and confidently about their readings of particular books. Using a generous selection of transcripts of classroom discussions, the book shows how children can be encouraged to share their enthusiasms and difficulties and the…

Lectures have a place in educational history and even a place in today's classroom, but students must be exposed to more than one style of teaching. After 20 minutes of listening to a lecture, most students reach a saturation point. To realize their maximum potential, students must do more than just listen in the classroom. They must engage in…

A study examined the ways in which members of low-income Southern African-American families deal with writing in their everyday lives. Three families headed by single parents participated in the study. The researcher resided with each family for 2 months, following the adults to their workplaces, sharing chores and leisure activities, and…

References to Lev Vygotsky have become fashionable in discussions of learning in the last few years. Drawing upon Vygotsky to explain small groups is speculative, as he never examined small groups. While the mechanics of small groups are important, they are only important if the overall culture of the classroom is supportive of students' effort to…