A study investigated medical students' expectations of the medical school environment and opinions of their academic experience in three areas (teaching/administration, psychological aspects of student life, intellectual climate) near the end of their first year in two parallel curricula: a problem-based learning program and a traditional…

Discusses efforts to bring a multicultural perspective to a 200-level course on the sociology of health and aging as a means of addressing broader multicultural curriculum transformation issues. The course is constructed around students' examination of four basic questions concerning their own experiences with exclusion and entitlement. (MJP)

Illustrates variations in purposes and types of peer-learning group work in public schools, and details factors that influence the process. Describes new developments in peer learning and collaborative communities, as well as the technology support for collaboration. (GR)

Provides a lesson plan for adult, high-intermediate, or advanced students of English as a Second Language that uses World Wide Web resources to simulate buying a new car. Students work in groups and relate foreign language texts to their own lives. Lists equipment needed; objectives; materials; procedures; warm-up, core, and closing activities;…

Reports on a study conducted by a university geography department and its school of education. They divided a World Regional Geography class into two groups. One utilized the traditional lecture method; the other implemented a collaborative learning approach. No significant gain was realized at the conclusion of the study. (MJP)

Describes a program in which prospective secondary mathematics teachers develop hypermedia stacks to demonstrate their understanding of important principles of mathematics, teaching, and learning. Discusses cooperative learning in small groups in methods courses and describes students' portfolios created during student teaching. (Author/LRW)

Presents the Two-Level Cooperative Group Learning Model, a small-group instruction technique, developed at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, and based on the Jigsaw II approach. Outlines a sample unit, showing how student expert groups teach their home teams. Demonstrates the technique's benefits: greater student motivation and interaction,…

Reviews research that deals with group work in the field of educational computing. Topics discussed include sex differences; the influence of ability on group interaction; social class; group size; the internal dynamics of group work; achievement; the acquisition of programing skills; metacognition; and social-affective objectives. (25 references)…

Describes a study in which community college students participated in a library instruction experiment to determine whether individual term paper counseling sessions conveyed information for immediate recall better than group instruction sessions. The test instruments used are provided and the absence of significant differences between the two…

In order to encourage instructors interested in collaborative classroom approaches, the College of Continuing Education at the University of Rhode Island sponsored a series of workshops and informal discussions. A telephone survey of faculty was undertaken to learn the ways they were using collaborative approaches in their courses. (MLW)

Answers early childhood teachers' questions concerning the addition of a computer to the classroom setting. (BB)

The pedagogical literature on the peer response group as a teaching method in the writing classroom is examined, within the context of current theories on teaching and learning of writing. The few empirical studies on the method are reviewed. Suggestions for reconceptualizing peer response to writing are provided. (TJH)

A group project to build a model of the South Carolina state capitol building led to improved basic skills, high levels of student participation, an understanding of the importance of planning, and increased self-esteem among five 10th-grade students with mild mental retardation in a resource room program. (DB)

Two studies on monitoring and assisting high-risk college students are compared. Individualized intervention was provided in the first study, whereas the second attempted a reduced form of the same intervention in a large-group course. Both emphasized student awareness of appropriate study behavior. Only the first study had positive results.…

Reviews the methodology for analyzing groupwork with computers in mathematics instruction. Describes how the data were analyzed and the phases through which the analysis progressed. Presents generalizations on the role of groupwork with computers in mathematics education. (CFR)