Suggests that few teachers understand the debilitating effect that social skill deficits have on a child's daily life. Notes that instructional strategies such as cooperative learning groups and social stories can help children improve their social behavior. Encourages all educators not only to emphasize academics, but also to seize any…

Investigates the interactions of 16 first-grade children during one academic year as they participated in literacy events with their peers. Suggests that issues related to peer acceptance and reading competence complicate children's interactions during collaborative literacy events. Presents concepts critical to understanding how children with…

Describes a reform effort for the undergraduate curriculum utilizing action-based research teams that developed, implemented, and assessed constructivist approaches to teaching undergraduate science content. Results indicate that the collaborative action-based research process was effective in contributing to the reform of undergraduate teaching.…

Investigates primary students' conceptions of acid rain formation and its consequences to people and the environment before and after a 10-hour constructivist teaching intervention. Reports improvement in conceptions of physical and chemical phenomena among the experimental group participants. (Contains 23 references.) (Author/YDS)

Elementary and secondary classroom teachers (N=51) basically agreed on the importance of a reward system, clear student roles, and evaluation of teamwork as factors that affected successful implementation of cooperative learning. Other significant factors identified were teaching/management skills, activity design, and group composition. (IAH)

Describes the development of a model for improving the calculus achievement of minority group college students currently used by 25 institutions of higher learning. Utilizes group study and an "honors class," rather than a remedial approach. (FMW)

This article outlines basic concepts of three prominent instructional approaches: cooperative learning, direct instruction, and learning styles. The relationship between each model and developing student thinking skills is explored; an organizing framework for assessing and synthesizing instructional models is examined; and implications for…

Research studies on cooperative learning have indicated that nonacademic benefits include improved interpersonal relations, greater social support, higher self-esteem, altruism, and ability to take another's perspective. (JD)

Examines the assumption that interdependence is best achieved by using rewards. An impressive body of social science research has shown that rewards have limited effectiveness and can undermine interest in the task. Cooperative learning programs with appropriately balanced curricula, autonomy, and relationship elements function well without…

Early adolescents experience rapid physical and mental growth, are searching for identity, and are expected to develop social skills. Junior high teachers can use cooperative learning and peer teaching techniques to aid the emotional development of these students. (SK)

Describes "collectivist composing" where the social relations enacted by the class, while writing together, are shaped by the students who are both writing together and studying the relations they make. Suggests teachers open their classrooms so that they become places for communal meaning making and collectivist writing. (RS)

In a method called "cooperative controversy," students team up to study controversial subjects, then synthesize their findings. In a philosophy course, small-groups work on a specific philosophical problem. Group work was as effective as traditional lecture in three cases and more effective in two cases. (MLW)

The article reviews the research on effects of cooperative learning on the academic achievement of students with handicaps. Findings of the 12 studies meeting the selection criteria were inconsistent. (Author/DB)

Discusses the role of competition in music education, proposing the use of objective criteria in analyzing competition. Examines myths concerning competition, and compares competitive learning to cooperative learning. Concludes that competition curtails student achievement and suggests alternative activities. (RW)

Encourages the use of cooperative learning in an eighth grade classroom. Provides copies of four worksheets for classroom teaching. Suggests that cooperative learning groups help establish relationships and improve social skills. Describes group structure; how it maintains and assigns specific roles; and how it promotes independence and…