A slightly revised version of a paper presented at Central States Speech Association Conference (Chicago, April 11, 1970). (Editor/RD)

Found no single sequence of interaction phases that led to successful or unsuccessful group problem solving. Successful groups, however, tended to begin their discussions by attempting to analyze the problem before searching for solutions; unsuccessful groups immediately began searching for solutions. (PD)

Creating meaning from a literary text is a complex process involving interaction between the reader and the text. Theoretical and empirical investigations of how and why readers respond to literature are reviewed, and methodological problems involved in analyzing readers' oral responses are addressed. (PP)

Results indicated that, with regard to opinions, a minority of one was less effective than either a minority of two or a minority of one who gained a convert. Evaluations of minorities differed as a function of both size and sex of minority group members. (Subjects were 200 males and females enrolled in an introductory psychology course.)…

Excerpts from a discussion among five applied linguistics researchers with an interest in second-language acquisition (SLA) focus on three issues: important recent advances in SLA research, transmission of research findings to teachers, and maintenance of communication between the worlds of theory and practice. (MSE)

A clinical decision-making simulation that helps students understand the relationship between psychosocial factors and medical problem-solving is described. A group of medical students and one faculty member comprise a selection committee to agree on the order in which four patients will be selected for renal dialysis. (MLW)

Faculty committees wrote educational objectives for all 23 courses in their undergraduate medical school curriculum. The objectives were used for evaluation of curriculum, student knowledge, and attitudes. (CP)

Describes a system utilizing teacher-made worksheets and guided group discussions which allows middle school students to constructively critique each other's projects. (SJL)

Criticizes the variable analytic approach to small group communication currently being used by many social science researchers and suggests some alternative ways of doing research based on a human action perspective. (JMF)

The study involving 339 third through sixth graders investigated the application of the group discussion paradigm as a vehicle to improve nonhandicapped children's attitudes toward mentally retarded children. (SBH)

Usual student seminar classes involve students presenting papers to the class. Alternatives to this approach are offered that maximize student audience involvement. The suggestions incorporate variations of sub-grouping, idea generation, discussion of important statements, and the refining, clarification, and evaluation of key statements. (JMD)

An investigation of the verbal "following behaviors" of 245 third-grade children indicated that selected role-taking groups of children chose, or were chosen by the teacher, to talk following the verbal contributions of certain role groups of children while avoiding talk following the contributions of other role groups. (Author/DS)

Describes how a fourth grade teacher used themes in children's literature to develop higher levels of reading comprehension. (TJ)