Character education, according to Martin Buber, goes beyond eliminating classroom behavior problems. Punishment and bribery are extrinsic and ineffective approaches. Helpfulness and responsibility must be taught within the context of a community of people who learn, play, and make decisions together. The Child Development Project helps children…

Describes the "Capture Lab"--a computer-supported conference room designed to capture the thought processes, plans, and decisions of business teams. Discusses how groups have used this environment for collaborative writing. Shares observations of how users respond to the technology and how they learn to use the room. (RS)

When group activities in business classes become dysfunctional, the conflict can be used as a teaching tool to explore the resolution of real workplace problems. Faculty should be skilled in facilitating group participation. (SK)

Describes the three major influences on theme-oriented groups: theme-centered interactional, structured, and behavioral groups. Provides a comparison of the composition and structure of theme groups during the current decade. Summarizes the general principles thought to be important in the construction and development of theme-oriented groups.…

This study tested the applicability of the Social Identity Theory (SIT) to cooperative behavior in a mixed gender setting. The findings indicate that gender categorization does not lead to majority or minority status in the same way as ethnicity. (MYM)

Describes how two four-year-old boys, who stand out as leaders in their preschool classroom, interact with their peers and their teachers. (PCB)

Criticizes systems theory for providing an inappropriate model of the family. Proposes that the family should be conceived of as a matrix of interlocking experiences. (RJC)

Analyzed observational data on nonverbal behavior in small groups to assess whether such behavior significantly changed within or across group meetings. Results showed that kinesic limb movements, posture, eye contact, and body orientation significantly changed across five group sessions. Discussion relates results of nonverbal behavioral changes…

Used Hill Interaction Matrix to measure content and quality of interactions in 12-hour therapy group of 12 male drug addicts and 3 therapists. Categories of therapeutic work included conventional, assertive, speculative, and confrontive; categories of content included topic, group, personal, and relationship. Group was highly confrontive; most…

Research from social psychology on the effects of group discussion and of exposure to the opinions of other group members on the decisions groups make is reviewed. The pertinence of this research to standard-setting practices is considered, and the implications for the design of standard-setting procedures are explored. (SLD)

Explored associations of mutual eye contact with self-accepting and other-accepting conduct by small group members as assessed by pooled group peers and self. Results indicated robust and substantial connections between interpersonal behaviors representing the nonverbal and verbal domains despite rather limited reliability of mutual eye contact…

Verbal outbursts of one school board member can undermine everyone's effectiveness. The risk of an outburst can be reduced by taking a few basic precautions that include distributing materials prior to the meeting. If the outburst happens, ideally the whole board will work as a unit to set the meeting back on the proper course. (MLF)

Summarizes research on disjunctive versus conjunctive, and multistage versus single-stage problem solving in a classroom setting. Concludes that students working in groups are less likely to drop out of class, give higher subjective motivation to learn ratings, perform better on tests, know more classmates, and score higher on Raven's Progressive…

Course objectives, organization, and reading for a graduate seminar in educational leadership at Teachers College Columbia University are described. Small student groups assigned the task of teaching course content experience some of the processes presented in the literature, thus providing practice in some of the functions of leadership. (IAH)

Describes differences in the socialization setting provided by all-boy and all-girl play groups, and explores possible reasons for children's tendency to congregate in same-sex groups. Considers three classes of possible explanatory processes: biological factors, socialization pressures from adults, and gender cognitions. (RH)