Before students are able to write fairly original, successful, critical essays on literature, they need to become experienced members of the audience for whom they will write, sharing fully the social context of critical writing by becoming part of an interactive, interpretive community. This reader-response technique appears to be the best…

The concept of cooperative goal structuring was examined, along with the effect of one cooperative learning technique (group consensus examinations) on the perceptions and achievement of college students. Cooperative goal structure exists when students perceive that they can obtain their goal only if the other students with whom they work also…

One way to help the solitary student shape his or her ideas in writing is to arrange for the high school writing teacher to practice Peter Elbow's "believing game." This can be accomplished through a conference in which teachers bring drafts of some piece of writing they would like to work on. The heart of the conference begins as the…

THIS STUDY INVESTIGATES THE POTENTIALLY FACILITATIVE AND INHIBITORY EFFECTS OF SOCIAL INTERACTION DURING PROGRAMED INSTRUCTION. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES WERE (1) TO IDENTIFY THE PARTICULAR ASPECTS OF SOCIAL INTERACTION CRITICAL TO FACILITATING OR INHIBITING PROGRAMED LEARNING, AND (2) TO DETERMINE THE METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING WORK GROUPS THAT OPTIMIZES…

THE CHANGING CHARACTER OF THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF LIBERAL EDUCATION FOR ADULTS (CSLEA) FROM 1950-1966 AND THE RELATIONSHIP OF CSLEA TO THE FUND FOR ADULT EDUCATION (FAE) THROUGH THE YEARS ARE STRESSED IN THIS HISTORY. DURING THE FIRST PHASE (1951-1955), THE CENTER'S ROLE WAS REFLECTIVE--IT STUDIED ADULT NEEDS AND ENCOURAGED LIBERAL ADULT…

Three action research projects explored the relative merits of several techniques for helping teachers modify classroom group processes. Project 1 compared a weekly seminar (using discussion of classroom research, problem-solving techniques, analysis of diagnostic data on the teachers' own classrooms, and followup discussion during the school…

Critical issues are raised for group study and discussion on the relationship of the thinking individual to the mass media. Although the electronic revolution is still in progress, it is essential to act now to control its speed and direction, using what is best in the media while trying to correct the faults. An analysis of fictional and factual…

This study investigated changes in the adaptive social behavior of educable, mentally retarded adults who participated in a group discussion program in a state hospital and training center. A rating scale was developed for judging behavior changes resulting from 20 group discussions. Three experimental and three control groups used 74 subjects,…

Designed to provide the student with experience in oral communication, this curriculum guide presents a one-semester speech course for junior high school students with "normal" rather than defective speech. The eight units cover speech in social interaction; group discussion and business meetings; demonstrations and reports; creative dramatics;…

Over the years that the Institute for Personal Effectiveness in Children has been conducting teacher training workshops in the Human Development Program (HDP), demand has steadily increased for ready reference materials that speak to the issues of implementing the HDP. This manual has been developed to speak specifically to these issues and to act…

Research was conducted on reactions of North Carolina public health workers to the telecasts, study manuals, and group discussion sessions used for seven programs (Introduction, Group Discussion, Communication, Cooperation, Culture and Public Health, Our Public Image, and Questions and Answers, respectively) in the interpersonal relations series…

Effectiveness of discussion methods directed by lay leaders was compared with effectiveness of the lecture method used by professional subject matter specialists in the liberal arts program, The Ways of Mankind, given by the University Extension of the University of California at Los Angeles. Effectiveness was defined in terms of the degree to…

German adult education before 1933 stressed group experience in the family, clan, and culture rather than knowledge and the individual. Outside trends, expecially in England, Austria, Denmark, and the United States, repeatedly influenced the German movement. While lecture institutes, university extension, and other activities were important, the…

Since South Carolina had depended on graduate library schools outside the state for its source of professional library manpower, it was necessary for the University of South Carolina to establish in the State's first graduate library school a program that was relevant to the information needs in South Carolina. During 1971-72, ten library…

Fifty-nine inmates, men and women, from two correctional institutions were randomly assigned to eight groups to test the effect of book discussion on attitudes. The four experimental groups read and discussed weekly a series of six titles during the 12-week program. The four control groups met three times to participate in a reading interest…