Asserts that the most ambitious goal of writing centers is to validate cultural differences while helping students who feel alienated to develop a critical consciousness toward their own place in the university and the wider mainstream culture. Argues that tutors must make special efforts to help students formulate arguments when they question…

High-ability students benefit academically from cooperative learning groups and are unimpeded by the presence of low- and medium-achieving peers. In such groups, high-ability students initially explain the material being studied and how to complete the assignment. Cognitive restructuring fosters a more thorough grasp of the material and its…

The Soviet Union's planned development of Russia resulted in a high degree of forced uniformity in schools that has dampened students' curiosity and teachers' enthusiasm for improving education. Russia would like to emulate some well-developed U.S. practices, including K-12 testing systems, guidance counseling, student-motivation strategies,…

Defines the ability to see several sides of an issue as a central aspect of a global perspective. Argues that cooperative learning tasks in small groups is an ideal way of fostering such an ability. Presents numerous activities which promote a global perspective in students. (HB)

The Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) project is a flexible consortium of researchers, educators, students, and parents who have worked collaboratively to create and study innovative learning environments since 1985. ACOT classrooms are true multimedia environments where students move from competitive work patterns toward collaborative ones. (10…

Rio Hondo Community College (California) combined elements of cooperative learning and classroom research to meet needs of a culturally diverse population. The effort is based on four principles: (1) creating a curriculum supporting diversity; (2) treating students as inexperienced adult learners; (3) promoting cooperative learning; and (4) using…

Focuses on gendered modes of collaboration in a chemical engineering design course. Identifies three modes of collaboration (dialogic, asymmetrical, and hierarchical) and suggests that the first two are liberating, whereas the third is oppressive. Illustrates these modes by describing the collaborative interaction of two groups of students. (SR)

This paper discusses a teaching approach in which children serve as mediators in the delivery of instructional content. It describes programs that have been used effectively with students having academic difficulties, reviews the relative advantages and disadvantages of these methods, and proposes ways to utilize peer-mediated instructional…

Describes the writing theories of Lev Vygotsky, and how they are borne out by modern research. Asserts the Vygotsky's ideas show why cooperative learning strategies such as peer response groups fit into the beginning stages of the composing process. Discusses Vygotsky's zone of proximal development. (PRA)

Discusses how collaborative learning helps English-as-a-Second-Language students both acquire language and become part of the academic community. (11 references) (GLR)

Explores the power of collaborative inquiry to allow students to engage in the important intellectual activity of dialog. Describes collaborative inquiry projects that allow students to transcend the limits of their personal knowledge while drawing on it at the same time. Provides analysis of several student groups. (HB)

Describes the recent integration of a critical pedagogy within the field of composition studies, especially regarding collaborative learning and difference. Discusses one writing class and how collaborative groups negotiated their differences. Shows how issues of difference affected or created problems within groups. (HB)

Examines female leadership emergence in small groups whose primary task is collaborative writing tasks. Shows how perceptions of leadership depend on both oral and written enactments. Outlines the relationship between the task of writing and the role of the leader in collaborative writing groups. (HB)

Advocates that English teachers implement writing group activities as a means of maintaining a writerly lifestyle. Describes how five teachers from various kinds of schools formed a writing group and carried out its activities. Provides sample exercises and actual written responses of group members. (HB)

Describes the pros and cons of using collaborative writing assignments in the English classroom. Gives one teacher's experiences using collaborative writing in a college prep composition course. (HB)