This article describes the lack of cooperativeness, involvement, responsibility, and creative thinking that has characterized individuals as members of groups in western democracies, and suggests that participation training can help people to both learn better and to learn from and value one another. (CD)

Although collaborative learning in the traditional classroom has faced criticism and resistance by students and teachers, most studies suggest that if it is implemented and facilitated properly, shared learning through collaboration can be an effective tool in how students learn. However, as more and more classes are being taught online, the…

This workbook, which is intended to be used in conjunction with the handbook entitled "New Emerging Careers: Today, Tomorrow, and in the 21st Century," contains exercises designed to help individuals or groups of people envision future careers, life-styles, and jobs and their significance to workers and society. Chapter 1 introduces the workbook.…

Research indicates that conventional training activities are largely ineffective in bringing about behavior change in such dimensions as leadership, initiative, planning and organization, judgment, independence, and delegation. The Niehoff method is a training and development method that was designed to respond to the adult mode of learning. It is…

In this discussion on how teachers can encourage and develop students' abilities to think critically and creatively it is pointed out that fostering discussion in the classroom opens new avenues of thought and stimulates divergent thinking. Recommendations for helping teachers foster discussion in the classroom are: (1) making reflective…

To bring educational research into focus with tested classroom practice, this booklet provides an introduction to small group discussion. The theory and research section discusses the importance of small group discussion, characteristics of small group discussions, group attraction based on Maslow's hierarchy of basic human needs, group decision…

The "Let's Talk about It" program began in Vermont as a reading and discussion group based in local libraries and grew into a program in 30 states and supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The program brought together a diverse audience of adults to read books on selected themes in literature.…

A study was conducted to examine the relationship between the amount of conflict in a group decision-making process and the achievement of a quality decision. A task problem given to 33 college students completing a group symposium assignment in a basic public speaking and discussion course called for subjects to choose three possible topics for a…

The Scottish Discussion Skills Project, conceived in 1981, is described in this booklet. Following an introduction that explains the context of the project, the booklet provides a summary of four educational reports that were the basis for the project, and defines the concept of discussion. The remainder of the booklet is divided into two parts.…

Ten papers from a May, 1983 seminar on siblings of mentally retarded and developmentally disabled persons are presented. Participants include parents and siblings, and represent a variety of professions including social work, nursing, and psychology. The following papers are included: "Life with an Older Sister" (S. Miller and H. Kalish); "Raising…

Discusses the use, in courses for adults, of texts whose content stimulates thought concerning the solving of problems - social, political, etc. - because they are of interest to the participants; thus is created an excellent basis for conversation. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Six stages of development for black people struggling in the Western world are offered; not as tight psychological stages, but as philosophical points of departure based on the vision of the black artist. The applicability and potential therapeutic value of these stages in group counseling and other educational contexts is discussed. (EH)

Research supported by U.S. Office of Education, Bureau of Research, Project No. 5-1122, Grant No. OEG-1-6-051122-0583.