Although research exists which links gender to classroom participation, the connection between ethnicity and classroom participation has been minimally studied. Evidence suggests that ethnicity is a factor in whether a student feels comfortable asking teachers to explain information. Cooperative learning has been used successfully to attack the…

This paper describes the development and outcomes of New York State's "Invitation to Invention," the Regents Exam Options Project. Initiated as a temporary strategy to encourage and support local changes in teaching and assessment toward the learner-centered reforms taking place in the state, the project provided high school teachers and…

Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs), are text-based virtual reality environments in which participants separated by great physical distances can communicate and collaborate in programming. Most MUDs started out as adventure games but are quickly being adapted for more "serious" endeavors. This paper presents a case study of the experiences of a…

Computer science and other computer related fields are faced with the high velocity of change in technology. Far more important than the knowledge of a particular software package is the liberal education skills that are learned in the process. This paper reviews the laboratory component of a new computer science course offered at Miami University…

On the premise that formal parent education courses may improve parental attitudes and competence, provide needed support, and reverse the trend of social problems faced by our children, this instructional plan describes a university course on parenting for graduate and undergraduate students which incorporates a cooperative learning approach to…

This book is designed for medical teachers who wish to consider problem-based learning as an educational method to be used in their courses or curriculum in medical school. The first six chapters elaborate the background for a well-designed problem-based learning curriculum by considering the goals of undergraduate medical education, the challenge…

One of the most pressing issues in education is the importance of creating learning contexts and communities that are based on children's thinking in science and enhancing their understanding of pertinent concepts. In this research study, fifth grade students (N=20) were asked to design a game teaching younger students about the ocean environment.…

In an introductory-level Romantic Poetry course, a loose-leaf notebook is kept on reserve in the library to serve as a classbook or collaborative journal in which all class members (including the teacher) write comments as the semester progresses. Entries are dated and addressed to individuals or to the class as a whole. Informal entries allow…

A study investigated whether grade-level status affects learning through cross-age activities. Data were collected through unstructured and open-ended audiotaped interviews with 11 pairs of students in a combined third- and fifth-grade class. Coding and analysis of data revealed seven themes related to students' perceptions of their interactions…

This 20-minute videotape is designed to help parents understand why mathematics teaching has changed, how it will benefit children, and what they (parents) can do to help. The tape shows adult recollections of their experiences in mathematics classrooms, elementary mathematics classroom vignettes, and adult workers who use mathematics in their…

In the last few years educational researchers have become increasingly aware of the need to examine interaction among students to understand the impact of cooperative small groups on learning. For this study 26 students in an 11th-grade Algebra II/Trigonometry class were trained to use a didactic cooperative learning technique called scripted…

Learning theorist Kenneth Bruffee traces the roots of collaborative learning in American college classrooms back to the early 1970s when changing educational needs necessitated adapting conventional college classroom practices to the needs of new students. Traditional pedagogy had failed because of the growth in the number of nontraditional…

The single great value of composition theory is that it gives writing instructors ways to perceive and to talk (about)/write (about) and experience the language that they purport to teach. It is a vocabulary (or set of vocabularies) that, in its structures and definitions, (re-)structures and (re-)defines perceptions of language. If writing is a…

This packet of 11 lesson plans is designed to help high school social studies classes examine socio-political issues facing the post-Cold War world. Though its multi-disciplinary approach touches upon a number of current topics, the packet's particular focus is on the wide-ranging impact of war and militarism on the planet's growing ecological…

This bibliography is useful to those interested in the intersection of collaborative learning concerns and enhanced citizen participation. In addition to an introduction, there are five parts: (1) general information on study circles and small group discussion (8 references); (2) the theory of collaborative learning in small groups and study…