To facilitate effective group learning, adult educators should understand group dynamics, group size and structure, process, expectations and ground rules, and learning styles. Cooperation, active learning, and creative problem solving are enhanced in group instruction. (SK)

Residential workshops make a unique contribution to learning. They provide detachment and continuity, creating an atmosphere that enables breadth and depth of experience. (SK)

Outlines a workshop to develop and discuss strategies for formative evaluation of courseware and to create evaluation tools appropriate to those strategies. After watching a software demonstration, small groups devised evaluation strategies. Two approaches were identified: one to evaluate the software and printed material separately and together,…

A school board member in Gilman, Wisconsin, started a literary awards program to improve student writing. Students compete for prizes, and at the end of each year the winning entries are published in a literary magazine. (MLF)

Summarizes how a group of five elementary and middle school teachers gathered during a summer reading workshop to discuss their views on teaching reading using literature. Concludes with one teacher leading the group to create a poem that captures the essence of the discussion. (SG)

Describes a collaborative language-focused curriculum design project in a 3-week training workshop for international teaching assistants. The design attempts to deal with the shortcomings of short and intensive programs. Outlines the theoretical underpinnings and structure and process of the curriculum design effort. (SLD)

Advances the idea of using the workshop format for basic writers' development as writers. Finds that workshops generate conversations and discussions that encourage social, political, and economic awareness to help basic writers discover who and where they are in society. (PA)

A meta-analysis of 57 studies comparing career interventions and outcomes found those that did not involve a counselor were less effective; workshops, structured groups, and career computer systems supplemented by counseling produced better outcomes. Many studies made comparisons among counselor-free interventions but did not find any significant…

Describes how the author worked to create a writing program that was more aligned with her philosophy of education. Notes how she worked hard to give students choice in their activities so as to provide them with the chance to take ownership in a few areas of their learning. Focuses on what other researchers and educators had to say about writing…

Describes the incorporation of thematic teaching into the author's Reading-Writing Workshop class. Shares a few activities from one coming-of-age unit that increased engagement and helped students generate writing topics that genuinely interested them and related to the same theme. (SG)

Presents guidelines for planning successful workshop presentations. Discusses how to determine the basics of a presentation and what to do before, during, and after the workshop. (KHR)

Discusses advantages and disadvantages of audioconferencing for professional development; recommends basing technology choice on curriculum and provides a checklist of criteria. Describes an audio workshop on learning disabilities, outlining principles of good practice, guidelines for site coordinators, and participant handouts. (SK)

Presents a survey that asks three educators to comment on the positive and negative results of the writing workshop tradition in America. Considers the ways in which the workshop has come to reflect contemporary notions of education, the relationship between the writer and the audience, and the nature of the imagination. (SG)

To make workshop content valuable, it must be applied. Activities and assignments before, during, and after the workshop help ensure transfer of learning. (JOW)

Reports results of a survey in which 100% of superintendents who responded read high school publications yet only 15% think it is important to attend national workshops, conferences, or conventions. Contends that student journalists and advisers need to continue to travel to these workshops. Suggests that if students and advisers presented reports…