This report describes the development of a learning community in a fifth-grade writers' workshop across one school year and two girls' participation in the learning community. The report examines ways in which teacher-researchers' and students' notions and actions regarding collaboration changed; it also describes the curriculum in the writers'…

Writing teachers should draw on their own use of collaborative techniques in attempting to develop similar support systems within the writing classrooms and in the larger university community. Teacher awareness of the problems that faced them in their past attempts at collaboration should inform them concerning their propensity to oversimplify the…

Focusing on transcending traditional definitions of literacy, this book presents 16 essays that discuss major conceptual and practical issues that confront professionals in the field of literacy. Essays in the book make explicit the questions that underlie a redefinition of literacy and offer specific suggestions for implementation. Essays in the…

Sport facility design and management courses rely heavily or exclusively upon lectures and readings--modes of instruction that engage students in a passive form of learning. This paper advocates one method of stimulating higher-level thinking and active learning in facility courses--the use of cooperative small-group learning. In facility courses,…

This study was conducted to introduce preservice teachers to cooperative learning through direct experience with the strategy. Participants (N=85) consisted of freshmen and sophomores enrolled in a course required for teacher certification. During the first 6 weeks, instruction occurred through traditional lecture methods and at midterm, a jigsaw…

Since the restructuring of education in New Zealand in 1989, a new curriculum framework has been developed. This framework emphasizes the thinking, problem-solving, and group skills processes. This paper traces the growth of a strategic approach to teaching and learning in New Zealand, with a focus on cooperative learning. It describes findings of…

The guide, intended to accompany a 26-minute videotape recording, gives background information to assist in discussion of effective classroom practices appropriate to linguistically and culturally diverse students in kindergarten. The first part reviews briefly the basic principles of effective instruction in multicultural/bilingual classrooms.…

This teaching guide contains a collection of energy education activities written and organized so that they might be used either as a unit on energy, or as individual activities to complement existing curricula in grades 4-6. The focus in on conservation and renewables. Most of 23 activities are designed as cooperative learning experiences and are…

This practicum was designed to provide low-achieving first graders with the opportunity to improve their concept of what a word is and motivate children to become more enthusiastic about the reading process. Cooperative learning, cross-age tutoring, and skill-oriented instruction were utilized in the classroom during the 3-month period to…

Multiage grouping and related instructional practices are being implemented with increasing frequency in classrooms across the nation. If implementation is carefully and knowledgeably planned, these innovations offer promising alternatives to traditional graded educational practices. This digest briefly describes issues to be considered before…

Cooperative learning may be defined as a structured, systematic instructional strategy in which small groups work together toward a common goal. It differs from collaborative learning in its emphasis on highly structured techniques for ensuring positive interdependence within groups and its insistence on individual accountability rather than…

Findings of a study that examined the relationship between classroom orientation and sociometric patterns within the classroom are presented in this paper. Methodology involved observation of 12 classrooms in Ontario and administration of two survey instruments to 20 fourth-year students. Classroom orientations were categorized as cooperative,…

A program was designed to help learning disabled junior high school students develop vocabulary skills through cooperative learning groups. Twelve students in the sixth or seventh grade spent 50% of the day in a learning disability resource program. The students were formed into mixed ability groups. Two commercially available programs designed…

This guidebook explains the concept of nongraded primary education and offers examples of successful programs. The first section describes the nongraded primary, which is characterized by developmentally appropriate curricula for primary age children, a heterogeneous community of learners as related to age and ability, support for continuous…

Most computer-based training (CBT) research has ignored variables other than the software itself. Yet other factors can influence achievement. This study explores the impact of interaction between the student and instructor when students work CBT in pairs. Compared to an earlier study in which such interaction positively influenced achievement…