Presents a method of improving student term papers that employs an approach requiring students to co-author a paper with other students in a group. Describes the four key elements of successful cooperative learning. Provides details about how this approach can be carried out. (HB)

Argues for increased emphasis on collaboration in the classroom. Compares the present educational system to the capitalistic economic system based on competition. Proposes an alternative system that provides society with a democratizing influence that features noncompetitive, collaborative learning. (HB)

Explains how to set the stage for cooperative learning in primary classrooms. One article describes how to achieve classroom cooperation using developmentally appropriate planning; the other discusses class activities that can spark a collaborative spirit (e.g., cooperative murals and book discussions). (SM)

Describes the development of an authentic assessment model identifying 14 complex thinking processes. Two teachers designed a task allowing high school students to demonstrate their biotechnological knowledge and simultaneously deploy a complex thinking process (decision making). This model required students to synthesize and integrate what they…

Despite the benefits shown by cooperative learning research, schools foster environments in which students vie for attention and individual achievement. Cooperative learning empowers students and teachers. Cooperation enhances academic achievement and teaches social skills. (BC)

Discusses two software products designed for use in elementary school: (1) Family Tree Maker, which can be used in social studies, language arts, and other areas; and (2) The Little Shopper's Kit, which teaches cooperative learning skills. (BC)

Describes an assignment for a business writing course which helps students learn to focus on the reader in persuasive writing. (SR)

Since teachers at Frontier Central High School in Hamburg, New York, began using a learning styles approach, the number of special education students earning regular high school diplomas has grown dramatically. The secret of their success is a well-researched, faculty-developed curriculum that considers the needs and strengths of individual…

Offers some effective ways of using literature-based instruction by examining literary peer discussion groups in the elementary classroom. (MG)

An inventive first grade curriculum using a school construction project illustrates the fundamentals of the Mid-California Science Improvement Program, based on Susan Kovalik's integrate, thematic learning model. This cooperative learning program does not ask teachers to add yet another subject, but makes science the ingredient uniting all other…

Discusses burnout among teaching librarians and suggests cooperative learning methods in bibliographic instruction classes as a way to avoid burnout. A workshop is described that was developed at SUNY College at Oswego to teach other librarians collaborative and cooperative teaching methods, and background materials on group work in education are…

Considers institutional structures within the academy which suppress collaborative relationships and scholarship. Examines the discourses and practices of selected conventions of graduate level schooling, primarily at the University of Arizona. (HB)

Provides Patricia Bizzell's response to an article in the previous issue of this journal entitled "A Postmodern Critique of the Modern Projects of Fredric Jameson and Patricia Bizzell." Considers the degree to which writing may be conceived of as a shared pluralistic discourse. (HB)

Demonstrates a new way of successful interaction between high school and university writing teachers that celebrates differences in teachers, students, and writing instruction. Shows how teachers from different classes and contexts adapted a specific writing technique called collaborative planning into their teaching repertoires. Considers various…

Single- or mixed-gender pairs of elementary children were told either to work cooperatively on a computer-based language task or be assessed individually. Performance measures indicated a disadvantage for mixed pairs, improved performance for cooperative pairs. Girls tended to cooperate regardless of being told to or not; mixed pairs cooperated…