Addresses aspects of group process that affect learning in groups: maintenance and task functions, group cohesion, the facilitator's role, group formation, and power and conflict issues. Suggests that the relationship between group process theory and learning theory needs further exploration. (SK)

A contemporary method of group learning in the workplace is the concept of the learning organization. Learning organizations feature dialogue as a process for generative, creative, collective, and transformative learning. (Author/SK)

Themes from the special issue on group learning are highlighted: perceptions of learning, process versus content, the facilitator's role, power relations, and learning communities. (SK)

Explores why big lecture classes get a "bum rap," according to some professors who teach very popular courses. (EV)

Discusses knowledge graphs, a new form of knowledge representation, and their possible uses in electronic study books. Topics addressed include graph structures; semantics; and representing knowledge from books, including browsing, information marking, annotations, group-based learning, information sequencing, information distribution, and…

Intensive care unit nurses formed a learning group led by an experienced nurse to develop skills and knowledge about trauma. Multiple strategies included lectures, demonstrations, literature review, audiotapes, and case studies. After 4 months, novices improved their ability to perform procedures and skills. (SK)

As educators, we have two missions. First, we must serve our students--they are both our customer and our product. Second, we aim to provide the market in general with graduates with relevant skills and knowledge for jobs that have not even been created yet. Given that most students graduating and moving into the workplace are not necessarily…

Having nonmajor general biology students teach each other in small groups helped improve student learning when compared to students in traditional lecture-based courses. This form of collaborative learning helped students with the lowest grades the most. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

All teachers want their students to become independent learners, but even motivated students are reluctant to take responsibility for their own learning. So what every teacher needs is this book's tried-and-true method for gradually enabling students to take on more of the "work" of classroom learning. Two experienced teachers describe a…

This article reports on an investigation of students learning of physics during group discussions around context-rich problems in introductory physics courses at university level. We present the results from video recordings of student groups solving three different problems. We found that group discussions around physics problems can lead to…

Curiosity, wonder, creativity, questions, initiation by the child, and framing by the teacher--all these characterize the project approach. Projects can be an invaluable part of any curriculum, providing opportunities for children to study subjects they find interesting in detail. Project work is not a method one uses after the "real" teaching has…

We report the results of a study designed to investigate the effectiveness of peer-led, small-group discussions in a large (N greater than 400) general chemistry course usually taught in a traditional lecture format. The administrative structure, the training of the peer facilitators, and the achievement of students exposed to this environment…

Noting the importance of including parents in school change, this descriptive study investigates parents' beliefs about teaching and learning high school English. Twenty-five parents of high school students enrolled in an untracked interdisciplinary English course were interviewed. Participants were shown photographs of different classrooms and…

Three conclusions were drawn about within-class grouping after reviewing the work of several researchers on the following topics: teacher and student behavior, academic achievement, perceptions about reading groups, social class membership and reading group assignment, and the role of group cohesiveness. The conclusions were that: (1) although the…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not children manifesting different cognitive styles also behave differently in small-group instructional situations. Six groups of seven children each engaged in a small group videotaped learning experience in which they were to learn the English equivalent of 75 symbols. Analysis of the data…