Discusses how teachers can plan time for talking with their students. The techniques proposed are circle time, where the students sit in a circle around the teacher and talk about reading, and individual interviews, where teachers converse one-on-one for 5 to 10 minutes with students. (SKC)

Describes a writing assignment designed to aid students' perception of audience, purpose, format, vocabulary, pertinent information, and peer editing. Establishes a framework for both independent student research and group work and revision. Encourages students to establish a rapport with groups to evaluate the writing's content, presentation,…

Compared conversations of 101 two-hour meetings of long-term mothers' discussion groups, in informal and formal settings, regarding topics discussed and frequency of nonroutine conversation. Found discussion of parent and child topics decreased throughout the year in both settings, while conversations related to income, family, and self increased.…

Presents two-phase group process to be used to develop self-efficacy in minority youth, which involves helping minority students to develop realistic educational and precareer goals through group supported analysis of individual strengths, weaknesses, resources, and roadblocks to success. Discusses major components of modeling, role playing, and…

The superintendent of the Marlington Local School District (Ohio) outlines a program they have developed that encourages communication among staff, teachers, and administrators. The superintendent leads discussion groups that offer a chance to exchange views and air concerns that result in better communication patterns. (MD)

Presents two studies of the influence of group size, prior acquaintance, and gender composition on talking and silence in decision making groups (N=157). Results suggested that friends talked more than strangers, and leaders talked more than nonleaders. Group differences were reflected more dramatically in patterns of silence. (JAC)

Discusses how educational philosopher Joseph Schwab's conception of theory applies to curriculum development. Subtopics include the relationship of theory to practice; four universal components of education and their relationships; the curriculum development group, whose composition reflects the four components; and goal-directed versus…

Provides a worksheet and summary sheet for use in facilitating the sharing of experiences, expertise, techniques, and skills among a group of approximately 15 people interested in environmental activism. Describes how to organize the group and what procedures to use to achieve recommended goals. (BC)

Tested the effectiveness of interactive cable television in disseminating new teaching ideas among elementary school teachers. Found an increase in the diversity of new ideas within word groups, but the increase was regulated by the group's interpersonal communication or "intermediation." Discusses conditions under which communication…

Describes a program for teaching teachers to help children understand the special needs of handicapped children through the use of group discussions, agency experts, handicapped guests, role playing activities, visual aids, and field trips. (SB)

The most fundamental ideas ingrained in U.S. culture are the notions of freedom and democracy. The United States Constitution guarantees certain inalienable rights and protections. However, a person only needs to read "The Chronicle of Higher Education" since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center (New York) and the…

Based on a successful workshop, this book presents the basic elements of narrative and a series of exercises that offer a self-guided set of discussion topics and exercises for a writer, a small group of writers, or a class interested in the craft of narrative prose. Topics addressed in the book are: the sound of language; the narrative sentence…

This paper describes the background to the problem and methodology of a study that explored a reflective new media pedagogy through the design and production of a Web-based learning environment. This environment addresses and invites cancer patients and their supporters to question established social and cultural discourses that shape the…

This paper discusses the need for and the design requirements of generic chatroom software that is readily configurable to particular domains and that is also extensible. The architecture of a client/server chatroom generation system, ChatterBox, implemented in Java, is presented. The following components of ChatterBox are described: (1) the basic…

This paper reports on a two-year exploratory study to determine the viability of voice-based threaded discussions forums as a means of stimulating discussion and understanding of weekly readings as part of a large undergraduate communications course. From March to June 2001, 600 students participating in a large introduction to communication…