The Seeds of Peace program began in August 1993 when forty-eight Egyptian, Israeli, and Arabic boys met at a summer camp in Maine for a two-week coexistence program that gave them the opportunity not only to meet their "enemies" for the first time, but to live with them in cabins, share meals, and participate in typical summer camp activities. In…

The aim of this research was to improve understanding of the attitudes, experiences and dynamics of interaction of students working in online groups. This was achieved through a case study of postgraduate Information Studies students using the WebCT discussion board at City University in the academic year 2004-2005. Qualitative and quantitative…

This article reports the findings from a series of "Talkshops"--interactive facilitated discussions--undertaken with 114 young people from six secondary schools serving one town within Northern Ireland. The young people first met with the researchers in their own schools, then an elected group came together in combined Talkshops and,…

This article outlines the use of the online "SpeakEasy" communication package in two sections of a mathematics methods course in an elementary education teacher certification program. The instructional uses of "SpeakEasy" are described, with specific attention to the manner in which it was woven into the fabric of the course and made central to…

This article presents case studies of political literacy among primary pupils. While researching primary pupils' understanding of "enterprise", the researchers added interviews connecting this concept to the Iraq war. A sample of 10 non-representative Scottish primary schools from seven local education authorities has provided the…

Recent education reforms informed by learning science support the effectiveness of collaborative learning strategies such as problem-based learning groups. However, the efficacy of these methods depends on the authenticity of the problem context and the quality of the dialog established. Communication within groups must be dialogic, and students…

Focused conversation is a method of collecting observations, emotions, interpretations, and decisions from groups that have shared a significant experience. This article reports how the author used focused conversation to discuss the events of September 11 with students in three sections of a master's-level organizational change class in the week…

This article describes an approach for introducing the unit concept in a mathematics content course designed for preservice elementary mathematics teachers. Classroom activities presented in the article emphasize the awareness, flexibility, and importance of the unit concept. Dialogue with selected preservice teachers is included and reveals some…

In this article, the author describes "Dr. Gesundheit and the Mysteries of Snake Valley," a mini-unit that he designed so that his middle-level students could learn to interpret archaeological diagrams, work cooperatively to discover relationships among their observations, and draw well-founded conclusions. The unit requires approximately four…

In this paper, the authors depict performance ethnography as having multiple ethical dimensions and multiple implications for the relationships between the evaluator and program participants. They have found performance ethnography to be essentially an intimate form of representation that has tremendous implications for the ownership of…

The Invitational Conference on the Future of School Psychology held at Indiana University in Fall 2002 included a number of paper presentations and group discussions. Toward the end of the conference, four participants were asked to present their reactions, reflecting input from a practitioner, a graduate student in school psychology, a faculty…

Scrapbooking is one of the fastest-growing crafts in the world. Unlike sports or other recreational activities, scrapbooking has no rules; it is a form of creative expression that allows a person to share and preserve his or her experiences and memories in albums that usually consist of photographs, newspaper clippings, and other mementos, in…

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of embedded strategies on promoting the use of self-regulated learning strategies (SRLS) in an online learning environment. Cognitive strategies, performance control strategies, and self-efficacy strategies among SRLS were employed as embedded strategies into online learning. Thirty-four college…

Multiple states set coursework in content area literacy as a requirement for secondary teacher licensure. This paper discusses the author's Content Area Reading and Writing course at the University of Louisville, designed for secondary preservice teachers who are in a range of disciplines: secondary English, science, mathematics, foreign language,…

Discourse, especially dialogic communication between students in collaborative problem-solving groups, plays a central role in educational reforms informed by learning science. This study examined the quality of discourse in problem-based learning groups in a university course. The study found a low incidence of high quality dialogue (dialogic…