Presented is a parent's viewpoint that criticizes assessment methods that diminish appreciation for diverse ways of knowing, discourage discovery and project-based learning, diminish the natural problem-solving aspects of play, and perpetuate the single right answer form of assessment. Assessment that values the child, includes all interested…

Education professor's intimate look at teaching through two high school teachers' eyes revealed gap between theory and practice. Instead of using student-centered pedagogical strategies they learned at University of Alabama, teachers ran traditional teacher-centered classrooms. Both taught to standardized tests and used mandated curricula. Felt…

Marian Matthews' article in the October 1992 issue of "Educational Leadership" reports that many gifted students are resentful of cooperative learning structures. Cooperative learning is not just a teaching technique but involves learning to respect and appreciate others' differences. Much of Matthews' criticism actually addresses…

Presents a three-part lesson plan taken from It's Yours: The Bill of Rights, a student text designed to aid understanding among students of different ethnic groups. Describes cooperative learning activities about civil rights laws and discrimination. Includes a list of objectives, additional activities, handouts, and an answer key. (DK)

Cooperative learning can help teach children to write because (1) it raises consciousness and encourages decision making; (2) its accepting social environment helps students seek worthwhile experiences; and (3) mutual concern and discussion of differing viewpoints rely on dialogue to enhance personal and intellectual growth. (SM)

Describes a Scottish elementary grade classroom where a literature-based, integrated approach to instruction (1) improved pupil's schema for the world around them and their understanding of the organization of text; (2) developed their ability to solve problems and work cooperatively; and (3) improved their self-concept as they became more…

Examines the potentials of technology to help the cooperative learning process. The need for interaction between cooperative learning practitioners and technology users is discussed; and research on the integration of technology into cooperative learning is reviewed, including group dynamics, making each student accountable, and attributional…

Describes a project in which students created a wall-sized map of Vermont to celebrate the state bicentennial. Suggests that the minimum of instructions the students received and democratic discussion and voting made the project an experience in cooperative learning and communication. Explains that the project incorporated art, history, geography,…

Intellectually gifted senior high school students (94 girls and 75 boys) were given the Learning Preference Scale. The cooperative learning style was not significantly more preferred for any subject matter nor was it significantly related to higher achievement outcome. In mathematics, boys preferred both the individualistic and competitive styles…

Presents 35 strategies for dealing with common challenges that may arise in the cooperative learning classroom. Challenges include children who cannot get along, who prefer to be alone, who are unmotivated, who cannot keep up, who finish first, who finish last, and who make too much noise. (SM)

Compares cooperative learning with earlier educational reforms. Suggests that cooperative learning succeeds where others have failed because it incorporates well-developed theory and research with support for teachers over an extended time. Discusses the good fit between cooperative-learning approaches and social studies instruction. (SG)

Describes a collaborative research project in a tenth grade world history class which used a computer software product ("Aspects") in the school writing center to allow students to write collaboratively. (SR)

The consequences of exchanging ideas while making joint decisions about the paths followed by falling objects are addressed. Based on the results from 12- to 15-year-old pupils (n=82) who responded to computer-presented problems, it is indicated that benefits are to be gained but that constraints additional to joint decision making may be…

This article addresses six myths often used to oppose ability grouping of gifted students. These concern distinctions between tracking and ability grouping; ability grouping and elitism; discrimination against racial and minority groups; gifted students' supposed lack of special needs; the effectiveness of cooperative learning for all students;…

Discusses the problems presented to writing center tutors by traditional research paper assignments. Recounts typical definitions of student research papers according to current-traditional rhetoric. Advocates writing centers helping students transform research papers into meaning-making activities in which students construct knowledge. (HB)