Task and maintenance roles of group process used in icebreakers prepare students to participate in and learn from group process. Group communication principles applied in the use of icebreakers or group development techniques enhance the instructor's ability to create a learning environment and ensure student participation in a freshman seminar.…

Provides advice about using cooperative learning in science instruction. Advice pertains to setting up groups and strategies for group work. (PR)

College faculty can minimize problems in grading students' cooperative projects by carefully structuring the five basic elements of formal cooperative learning groups: positive interdependence; individual and group accountability; face-to-face promotive interaction; teamwork skills; and group processing. There must also be sufficient reason for…

Fairview YMCA Camps (New Jersey) simultaneously hosts three different camp programs. Sense of community is created by shared staff training, shared staff facilities, common areas, and social and project intermingling. Campers also make cross-program connections, influenced by staff behavior and shared facilities and activities. Shared marketing…

Offers a constructivist perspective in considering strategies for managing student behavior, such as severe behavior problems, in elementary school classrooms which include children with special needs. This approach capitalizes on the social context and group problem solving to teach children how to manage their own behavior. Examples are…

Two approaches to student-based evaluations were examined for their potential application to distance education: a quantitative measure of interaction, and a qualitative, formative evaluation approach--Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (SGID)--in which a facilitator gathers data about instruction from students. Assesses aspects of the…

Reports on graduate students' responses to the applications and outcomes of Rogerian small-group and Tavistock Group Dynamics training. Respondents reported no loss of learning gains over time, ascribed the application of many specific counseling skills to small-group training process, and provided only minimal evidence of forms of psychological…

Explores the influence of micropolitical factors on school organization and management, drawing on Ball's idea regarding the inevitability of micropolitics in school settings. Using Edgar Schein's small-group perspective, shows how micropolitical analyses of school cultures and teacher behavior can be used to increase school leaders'…

Describes three therapeutic group activities used with adolescents, adults, or families in adventure- and experiential-education settings. Includes target group, group size, time and space requirements, activity level, props needed, instructions, and ideas for post-activity group processing and reflection. Activities involve moving beyond…

Describes the development of an instructional model encouraging collaborative learning in graduate business education. The approach evolved from a survey of professionals concerning the interpersonal and individual skills needed for effectiveness in graduate school, the job market, and society, and resulted in a revised curriculum. (MSE)

Recent research describes the two components of a collaboration ethic model--person-centered attributes and organizational-level elements. Camps can implement these components within camp; among friends of the camp (alumni, community, and parents); and between camps, resulting in strengthened communities, learning, and increased effectiveness. (TD)

Role of boardroom table shape in college/university governing board decision making is considered. Boards are urged to consider whether boardroom table and room design accurately reflect institutional/group culture and whether they lead to information sharing and collaboration. A semicircular table design is seen as directing energy toward a…

Looks at bullying as a group phenomenon largely enabled by members of a school class taking on different participant roles (such as assistant of the bully, reinforcers of the bully, and outsiders). Suggests that peer group power should be utilized in putting an end to bullying. Recommends that counselors should also include working with students…

An effective orientation program helps new board members understand that there is already a functioning board, no member knows everything, open discussion of interpersonal issues is essential, board members must focus on agendas, and the superintendent is the sole administrative contact and conduit to other administrative staff. (MLH)

Explored the perspectives of graduate students (n=18) toward their learning in a course in higher and continuing education which used three collaborative groups in a problem-based instructional approach. Identified a core theme, ownership of knowledge, and three embedded subthemes: (1) group dynamics, (2) tutor feedback, and (3) metacognitive…