The 1970 Preconference Educational Research Training Program (RTP) provided three 3-day sessions of intensive research training for a total of 160 music educators from across the country. The primary purpose of the RTP activity was to provide music education researchers and users of research with intensive training in three major areas (1)…

This report presents a review of research on group discussion as used in adult education within the context of the nature of man and in relation to his ultimate end of self-realization. The review considers (1) those factors involved in group discussion; (2) its broad purposes, for example, mutual education, affecting self-concept, and attitudes…

Suggests that observations of young children's story constructions can be used to help teachers provide appropriate oral language experiences in classroom programs for beginning readers and writers. (SKC)

Discusses the advantages of group work in mathematics classes, and raises questions about appropriate assessment of such group work. (PK)

Writing, speaking and listening are communication skills that are important in all subject areas in the curriculum. Hence, literacy should have a central position in the curriculum. Even so, differences between students' levels of literacy mean that some students fail to acquire the verbal foundations for learning. For this reason, increasing…

"Skills for Action," a program to build positive character values and life and citizenship skills for students in grades 9-12, includes classroom lessons and service learning. The program, with more than 100 lessons focused around 26 personal, social, and thinking skills, ranges from one semester to four years in length. Students explore…

The purpose of this research was to determine if there is an opportunity for colleges and universities to improve the quality of knowledge constructed in online (asynchronous) discussion boards by optimizing the number of students in the discussion. 93 online graduate students and 36 online faculty were surveyed to gain the perspective from both…

As an outcome of the author's experiences at several American universities, and based on critical race theory as espoused by Bell (which uses narrative to bear witness to lived experiences of racism in American society), a project was undertaken to record conversations with four non-white students at a university in the southern United States.…

This paper examines a model of supervision/field experience proposed for teacher candidates in the sophomore professional experience of a teacher preparation program. The approach envisions the sophomore experience as a dialogic process in which students and teachers construct knowledge and nurture dispositions needed for development of personal…

This paper describes a first-year English-as-foreign-language junior college reading course in Japan that utilized a combination of whole class instruction and cooperative learning techniques to encourage group discussion and language skill development. Students were randomly divided into groups of eight--a group which became the students' home…

This study examined how support tools (i.e., prompts that support students to use self-explanation and self-monitoring strategies) facilitate convergent knowledge building processes in a World Wide Web-based virtual university engineering course. A quasi-experimental study was designed. An engineering class of a virtual university was selected as…

In the face of panic and life-threatening situations in a hospital emergency room (ER), doctors must rely on well-defined procedures to assess the situation and respond appropriately. Because decisions to act must not only be timely, but also ingrained and swift, practice and experience in a wide range of situations is essential. This paper…

This study evaluated differences between persisters and nonpersisters in a 3-year teacher development program. Participants were K-12 teachers from a large school district with both urban and suburban schools. They were part of a grant to help teachers implement state content standards through cognitive coaching, nonverbal classroom management,…

This study investigated professional growth as an individually reflective and authentically collaborative phenomenon. The study examined the extent to which self-directed professional learning, personal and shared reflection, and authentic collaboration within a supportive study group could create changes in secondary teachers' perceptions of…

This book offers a variety of practical ideas, tools, and techniques for creating democratic classrooms. It suggests exercises to get discussion started, strategies for maintaining its momentum, ways to elicit a diversity of views and voices, ideas for creative groupings and formats, and processes to encourage student participation. In exploring…