A social studies wax museum can teach elementary students facts as they celebrate Halloween. A primary activity has students determine historic scenes to include in the wax museum, practice their poses, and put on a Halloween show. An intermediate activity has students research historic events, interpret information, create backdrops and props,…

Offers some ground rules for using collaborative learning effectively in the secondary English class. Describes three assignments involving collaborative effort that the author has used successfully in her teaching. (SR)

Discusses and classifies nine strategies for personalizing instruction based on levels of interaction and thoughtfulness: Individualized instruction, accelerated learning, style-based instruction, technology-assisted learning, contract learning, authentic pedagogy, guided practice, cooperative learning, and topic study. (Conatains 11 references.)…

The aim of this study is to investigate students' use of cognitive learning strategies in inquiry-based computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). A process-oriented interview framework on cognitive activity, self-regulation and motivation, and a coding category for analysing cognitive learning strategies and cognitive self-regulation was…

The use of group work, in which three or more students jointly produce a piece of work for summative assessment, is an established aspect of teaching and learning in higher education. Opinions vary however about whether their marks should vary according to the respective contributions they made to the work. This paper is based on the assumption…

This paper explores children's beliefs about global warming and energy sources from a psychological perspective, focusing upon situational influences upon subjective beliefs, including perceived self-efficacy. The context of the research is one of growing concern at the potential impacts of global warming, yet demonstrably low levels of…

Student preconceptions are one of the greatest challenges facing science teachers. Students will often hold on to their explanation even after being told the correct explanation. They need to be challenged with experiences that they can not explain using their existing models of the world in order to see real change in their preconceived notions.…

Multiple choice questions are a common method of assessing student understanding. In this article, the authors discuss and evaluate a student-focused collaborative learning strategy for working with such questions that results in greater student learning and allows instructors to better understand student thinking and ultimately to write better…

Studies indicate that group work accompanied by the cooperative learning elements of individual accountability and structured independence among group members enhances student achievement. This article illustrates the implementation of a specific type of cooperative learning project called group investigation. The project is based on Slavin's…

We designed a cooperative learning classroom activity to enhance students' ability to understand psychological disorders and distinguish among anxiety, mood, and psychotic disorders. We employed a group interviewing approach with the instructor (or a graduate student) serving as the pseudo-client. Students interacted with a pseudo-client to arrive…

A group is a learning community when members share a common vision that learning is the primary purpose for their association and the ultimate value to preserve in their workplace and that learning outcomes are the primary criteria for evaluating the success of their work. Some attributes of a learning community include modeling, continual sharing…

This article analyzes collaboration in a computer-supported learning environment based on the professional practices of mediation and dispute resolution. In so doing, it explores the nature of collaborative learning in a setting marked by competition as much as cooperation. Interviews with students suggest that the processes of collaborative…

The new approach used for exploring new ways of enhancing experiences for students and instructors in science class is described. A fun activity conducted in the workshop for the observation of evolvement of group dynamics is discussed.

This article describes a general instructional strategy designed to help students in the learning process from textbooks and to furnish opportunities for practice in critical reading. Students participate in cooperative learning by breaking the class up into small groups--the Study Teams--and providing them with worksheets and reading organizers,…

Small tutorial groups in higher education are often composed without regard to students' gender or broad knowledge background, for example, yet research indicates that composing groups on the basis of gender and prior qualifications may have significant effects on assessment outcomes. Previous studies have also investigated the effects of…