Explores the use of teacher-facilitated peer dialogues as a tool for supporting independent word learning strategies of struggling middle school learners. Hopes to create a context in which students would not only grapple with word meanings but also develop a stronger metacognitive awareness of their own efforts. (SG)

Uses data over a seven-month period from three teams' use of a collaborative electronic technology ("Team Room") to illustrate that genre systems--sequences of interrelated communicative actions--are a means of structuring (deliberately or habitually) six dimensions of communicative interaction: purpose (why), content (what),…

Discusses the process of selecting classroom cases in a 300-level business communication course. Outlines five specific criteria for a case to be workable. Describes that cases should be applicable to all students in the class, be sufficiently complex situations, accommodate multiple solutions, be manageable within portions of one or more class…

Discusses how defining key terms in context helps students understand and retain concepts. Considers how implementing small-group discussion dramatically changed the classroom dynamics and involved more students in the discovery process. Finds that in small peer groups, students are more inclined to ask questions and help each other clarify their…

Although constructivism sounds theoretically simple, many teachers encounter obstacles in creating constructivist classrooms. When teaching literature, effective constructivist teachers direct a certain focus, devise questions that ignite thinking, spotlight and paraphrase students' responses, and reflect thinking back to students. (MLH)

Describes a simulation called "The Pairing Game" where students investigate the matching phenomenon. Explains that this activity demonstrates how: (1) matching on overall social value can occur by seeking the highest possible value in a partner; and (2) individuals discover their own social value through this process of mate selection. (CMK)

Discusses how one teacher uses Norma Fox Mazer's "Out of Control" to explore leaders and followers as the main topic of discussion in a sophomore class. Describes how students keep a reader's journal with quotations from the text and personal responses. (SG)

Describes a participatory exercise that will enable students to understand the socially constructed nature of racial categories. Outlines some discussion techniques for use before the exercise that challenge students' basic understandings of race. (CMK)

Uses a formative experiment design to learn about ways in which a teacher used questioning strategies to help students expand their intertextual boundaries during discussions about literature. Concludes that the use of a questioning framework such as the Directed Reading-Connecting Activity helps teachers organize their thoughts before discussions…

Presents one first-year teacher's experience with incorporating literature into her fifth grade class. Notes the lack of support from the administration and fellow teachers. Observes that when readers talk together about books, their "socially" constructed meanings can represent the range of their experiences, ideas, and backgrounds. Aims to…

This article examines some of the characteristics of a person who is morally well developed. Two of the commonly held theories of moral development are discussed, along with the possible moral problems of gifted adolescents. Finally, ways that educators can help gifted adolescents develop their full potential are provided. (Contains references.)…

Discusses how to maximize classroom participation in the English-as-a-Second-or-Foreign-Language classroom, and provides a classroom discussion method that is based on real-life problem solving. (Author/VWL)

This study examined how frequently psychology professors at liberal arts colleges assign primary source readings. Professors provided information on 576 courses. Frequent use of primary sources suggests that professors view such readings as a valuable component of the psychology curriculum. Professors assigned primary source material in 70.8% of…

Focus group discussions offer participants time to discuss particular topics. This article discusses some results of several graduate students' attempts to implement focus group research. After a brief review of literature reflecting the use of focus groups and recommendations for their use, the author reports their reactions and their…

This study investigated changing attitudes toward reading among elementary and secondary teacher candidates participating in in-class book group discussions in an introductory language and literacy course taught by two instructors in a medium-sized state teacher education program. Qualitative methods focused on both students' weekly self-reports…