A hierarchical structure is a widespread organizational form in many areas. My aim in this paper is to provide a rationale for this fact based on two premises. First, a group organizes itself so as to achieve efficient coordination. Second, efficient coordination is achieved only if subgroups as well as individuals agree to cooperate. Even in…

Teachers are often faced with the difficulty of deciding exactly what problems the students are experiencing, and the extent to which students might understand "some of it". The one-on-one approach to helping students is most common, but very time consuming, and is an approach that may only serve to fix an immediate difficulty, perhaps…

In this paper, we explore some of the complexities of emergent role development and group awareness among participants in an asynchronous Networked Learning discussion in a higher education context. We used content analysis to provide participant profiles for learning and tutoring processes within a group of collaborating professionals. Using…

Group work is an increasingly used teaching strategy. Very little research, however, has considered how students perceive group work and whether certain factors influence their perceptions. To fill this void, the current study considers how 143 students who had recently completed a group project perceived group work. Attention is also given to the…

Changing structures may be a less important factor in creating an effective approach to governance than leadership, relationships, and trust.

Reflection is an important aspect of learning in groups. In collective moments of reflection, learners can share and compare their ideas with others, and by doing so can reach an articulated and personal understanding of a learning task and domain. In the research presented here, e-mail is examined as a means for reflection in the context of group…

When literacy specialist Jennifer Allen agreed to meet weekly with five boys who wanted to share their out-of-school writing with her, the weekly all-boys lunch-time writing group was born at Albert S. Hall elementary school in Waterville, Maine. She had intended to run the group as a writers' workshop and teach mini-lessons. But from the…

Most scheduled gatherings of teachers are, in fact, meetings at which teachers yawn their way through lists of informational items announced and commented on by the principal. If any clear communication results from those meetings, it takes place in the parking lot long after the official meeting has ended. Good faculty meetings should be…

This study investigates the quality and nature of virtual interaction in a higher education context. The study aims to find out variables that mediate virtual interaction, particularly the emerging processes of sharing and constructing perspectives in web-based conferencing. The purpose of this paper is to report the results on different levels of…

The main impetus for the SPRinG (social pedagogic research into grouping) project was to address the wide gap between the potential of group work and its limited use in schools. It is an ambitious project that developed key principles and strategies to improve the effectiveness of group work in everyday primary classes and across a whole school…

An experiment is conducted comparing two sections of general chemistry to evaluate the effectiveness of peer-led guided inquiry (PLGI) methods in terms of assisting student understanding in college-level general chemistry course. The pedagogical focus of PLGI is on student-student interactions within small groups, with a peer leader acting as a…

This paper first describes problem-based learning; second describes how a research methods course in geography is taught using a problem-based learning approach; and finally relates student and staff experiences of this approach. The course is run through regular group meetings, two residential field trips and optional skills-based workshops.…

Students' engagement and persistence on academic learning tasks often require their use of volitional strategies to protect against distractions and facilitate task completion. In this article we discusses factors that both positively and negatively influence students' ability to regulate their learning activities and the supporting role that…

This article contributes to the growing body of research exploring the importance of the social context in shaping the use of educational technologies. It presents the results of a 3 1/2-year instrumental case study examining the power of the social context to shape, in negative ways, the use of technology in one urban elementary school. Three…

Objective: To gain practice with public speaking. Type of speech: Impromptu. Point value: 5% of course grade. Requirements: (a) References: 0; (b) Length: 1-2 minutes; (c) Visual aid: No; (d) Outline: No; (e) Prerequisite reading: None; (f) Additional requirements: None. This assignment offers students an opportunity to speak on a familiar (and…