In group-allocation studies for comparing behavioral, social, or educational interventions, subjects in the same group necessarily receive the same treatment, whereby a group and/or group-dynamic effect can confound the treatment effect. General counterfactual outcomes that depend on group characteristics, group membership, and treatment are…

A career dilemma is a hypothetical or real situation in which a character is confronted with several career options each of which has advantages and disadvantages. The main purpose of presenting and discussing a dilemma in career counseling groups is to confront several appraisals of the situation in order to promote more complex thinking about…

The need for continued research concerning group supervision of counselor trainees has been well-established. It has specifically been suggested that researchers investigate the role of group processes in group supervision. Accordingly, this exploratory qualitative study sought to study trainees' experiences of group processes in group…

Extending B. L. Fredrickson's (1998) broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions and M. Losada's (1999) nonlinear dynamics model of team performance, the authors predict that a ratio of positive to negative affect at or above 2.9 will characterize individuals in flourishing mental health. Participants (N=188) completed an initial survey to…

The fall of the Berlin Wall rocked the sociopolitical equilibrium of eastern and central Europe. Communism lost its grip over much of Europe. The USSR, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia divided along ethnic, religious, and historical lines. Ethnopolitical tensions surfaced across the region, and in Yugoslavia, tensions combusted. Whereas democracy…

The youth development movement represents a broad trend toward promoting opportunity and resilience over preventing delinquency and failure. While the topic of youth leadership is clearly relevant to this movement, the connection between the two topics remains for the most part unexplored and undefined. With this chapter we examine the ways that…

Purpose: This paper develops a theoretical framework to guide future inquiry into board governance of independent schools. Design/methodology/approach: The authors' approach is to integrate literatures related to corporate and educational boards, motivation, leadership and group processes that are appropriate for conceptualizing independent school…

This experiential exercise is designed to explore the effects of positive and negative group environments on creativity. It asks students to undertake a creative activity (i.e., draw a picture) in groups with a member predesignated to offer either positive or negative comments. Students in the two different types of group environment produced…

The author describes the role of preschool supervisors. She provides insights into changes in the dynamics between a group of teachers and supervisors as a result of their joint participation in a six-month professional development course to help them enrich preschool literacy environments and reflect on teacher and supervisory practices. A list…

The theme of this paper is a discussion of the relationship between action learning and organizational learning. The main argument is that action learning has been understood in terms of the impact that it can have within the organization, and that, in addition, it is important to ask--what is the impact of organization on action learning? The…

Outdoor adventure activities such as whitewater boating, caving, rock climbing, and mountaineering continue to be popular among the public. As a result of this popularity, numerous organizations "contract out" the leadership and delivery of the adventure portion of their curriculum. This paper explores two widely used venues for offering outdoor…

Multimedia construction is a complex and theoretically valid process for developing higher order thinking that can be implemented as a teaching activity and optionally associated with formal assessment in many ways. This paper explores the associated learning strategy--learning through multimedia construction, through research and reflective…

After a brief review of integrative small group learning models that have appeared in the educational psychology literature, this article then looks into the group dynamics literature and describes one of that field's most well-documented findings: that interactions among group members change somewhat predictably over time. How theorists from…

Brock University offers both undergraduate and graduate programs and is host to approximately 17,000 students. It is the only Canadian university located in a World Biosphere Reserve--the Niagara Escarpment. The Bruce Trail passes through campus, and offers ample opportunities for hiking, mountain biking, nature interpretation and outdoor…

There is a moral panic in the US about youth civic engagement because data show decreasing rates of involvement in organized groups and with voting. There are multiple interpretations of what this means for democracy and about young people. One major reading is that interest in civic life is decreasing and this is seen to be related to…