Discusses the role of an organization's leadership to create an environment where employees can develop a sense of control. Topics include keeping employees informed; clear organizational direction; motivation, that is driven by goals and effort; dealing with success and failure; consistency; group influence; values, incentives, and rewards; and…

In interviews, Scottish adults aged 55-96 in formal, self-help, and distance learning or not participating in group learning reflected on the process of working together to make meaning and on beliefs about learning, education, knowledge, and wisdom. The research process itself was a learning experience for subjects and interviewer. (SK)

Describes research used to develop an original instrument, the Workforce Diversity Questionnaire, to assess interactions in diverse workgroups. States that a set of proposed dimensions was developed theoretically from literature on cultural diversity, discrimination, and intergroup processes. Explains how validity was tested through confirmatory…

Defines dialogue and traces some of the forces that underlie thinking and acting in social settings where collective action is sought. Discusses stages and core elements in the dialog process. Describes results of the Dialog Project at MIT in terms of research sites, theory, facilitator development, educational material, an international…

Describes the use of cooperative learning teams as a means of persuading students of different backgrounds and cultures to work together. Presents a cooperative learning activity where students work as a team and observe and identify chemical reactions and physical properties. (JRH)

Analyzes student discourse in 4 grade-12 lab groups working on microcomputer-based laboratories. Analysis reveals the role the computer plays in the group context and the ways that this context is shaped by the computer. Contains 22 references. (Author/JRH)

Investigates how communication predispositions promote or detract from individual students' motivation relative to their collaborative learning (CL) groups. Finds distinctive patterns of emergent motivation for students in each of the four optimal challenge categories for each of the CL learning modalities. Discusses instructional implications.…

Investigates students' perceptions of selected aspects concerning the organization of and learning from fieldwork. Findings indicate that students either seek partners whom they regard as capable of making positive contributions to the fulfillment of learning tasks, or they opt for friendship groups and a large minority of students regard…

Presents results obtained from using small groups and cooperative learning in the discussion sessions of large lecture classes in the mathematical sciences. Provides data indicating where this approach worked well and where additional changes were needed. (Author/ASK)

Describes universal challenge programs, in which all participants, regardless of ability or disability, work as an integrated group. Discusses planning for participant needs and creating a physically and emotionally safe environment. Presents brief instructions for 12 universal activities, including games, problem-solving activities, and high and…

Makes suggestions to help leaders of adventure and experiential learning activities deal with participants' emotions and issues of emotional safety and risk: acknowledge the situation, be clear about what is being done, monitor individuals' actions in the group, make sure the activity is physically safe, and be aware of participants' conscious and…

Analysis of over 450 contributions to electronic discussions by 52 adult learners showed the learning processes used were engaging, developing conceptual relationships, drawing conclusions, and reflecting. Learning progressed to a high analytical level and was facilitated by group process development. Faculty supported discussion by synthesizing…

Studies the group decision-making process of the evaluation of preschool children with complex disabilities. Sequential application of processes was found to be influenced by the occurrence of a series of three cycles of decision making within each assessment and the decomposition of the assessment task into distinct subproblems. (Contains 67…

A study of 94 intact autonomous work groups performing multi-part tasks revealed that group creative performance increased exponentially with the number of highly creative group members composing the group. However, this occurred only when Team Creativity-Relevant Processes within the group were relatively high. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Explores antecedents and consequences of interdependence development when undergraduates (n=65) learning in groups were provided with little guidance on how to work together effectively. Finds previous class group work and out-of-class experiences contributed to development of goal, resource, and role interdependence among group members. Concludes…