This paper describes comprehensive cooperative learning approaches for elementary-school reading, writing, and mathematics. Team-Assisted Individualization (TAI) and Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) are used to implement principles of cooperative learning throughout schools, among teachers and administrators as well as…

Cooperative learning approaches can create a cooperative family environment, involving positive interdependence and appropriate social and communication skills. This is especially important in families with a special needs child. Activities which can minimize competition among family members include participative rule-making, planning special…

Describes a sixth-grade teacher's experiences in managing a student-centered classroom. The author describes her planning, the way in which she managed her initial disappointments and what she learned from them, and her ultimate success. (RJC)

Discusses a cooperative activity in the views of teachers and students. Cites the positive and negative aspects of the activity from both points of view. (YP)

Presents a lesson plan using the "jigsaw" method which encourages students to teach map skills to each other. Points out that this activity generates a sense of responsibility in students while highlighting each group member's unique skills. Provides detailed instructions for using the lesson. (KO)

Argues that current social studies textbooks lack coherent formats, decipherable vocabulary, clearly written paragraphs, and presume background information which students lack. Presents a lesson which combines information from research in reading and cooperative learning techniques in an attempt to encourage discussion of information and eventual…

Reviews and evaluates recent research on teaching and instruction. Considers the psychological elements of teaching and discusses simple teaching methods and those requiring special planning, student grouping, and materials. Describes effects unique to particular methods of teaching various subjects and special student populations. Includes 15…

This paper argues the value of drama processes in science classrooms as a way of enabling students to learn openly from and with each other and of enhancing higher order learning skills. Role-playing, focus, and tension are described as constructs to guide the pedagogy of drama processes. (YP)

Describes how student learning from a series of laboratory practicals was improved using small group methods and a structured learning cycle that encouraged reflection on group performance and investigative techniques. Discussion includes evaluation of learning benefits by means of written records, a questionnaire, observation, and the role of…

Reports on the use of technology to enhance the teaching of ordinary differential equations, gives examples of laboratory activities using cooperative learning, and discusses assessment of student learning. MacMath, TI-81 graphing calculators, and Maple were used in the course. (Author/MKR)

Discusses the theory, nature, and benefits of cooperative learning. Considers the Cooperative Learning and Development Network (CLDN) trial in the JITOL (Just in Time Open Learning) project and examines the relationship between theories about cooperative learning and the reality of a group of professionals participating in a virtual cooperative…

This article describes a highly structured approach for improving the revising skills of students with learning disabilities that combines peer response, strategy instruction, and word processing. The strategy guides students in both the social and cognitive aspects of response and revision. Two studies demonstrating the effectiveness of the…

Discusses the concepts of paradigm shifts, multiple intelligences, and the librarian's role. Notes that whole language, exploratory and discovery learning, and collaborative and cooperative learning depend on the school library media program. Provides resources for students and teachers engaged in the "seven intelligences" approach to…

Presents techniques aimed at promoting a higher level of student-faculty interaction and active student participation in the learning process in introductory physics lecture classes. Discusses group problem solving, the use of flash cards, and assessment. (JRH)

Describes a project where students build a motorized car that can perform well in two distinctly different competitions: traveling 20 meters in the shortest time and pulling a 500-gram mass the farthest distance in 20 seconds. Enables students to apply physics principles to a real problem and to discover the importance of teamwork on large…