The College of Education and Human Services Professions at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, has undertaken to develop several videodisc programs to be incorporated into the undergraduate core curriculum and inservice education for teachers and human service professionals. "Understanding Groups," which is the initial curriculum disc…

Cross-cultural psychology has begun to analyze cultural differences on collectivism and the implications of these differences for social processes such as group productivity. This study examined natural social interaction during a problem-solving task that required discussion and the establishment of a consensus. The relationship of collectivist…

Collaborative learning (the construction of knowledge through interaction of pairs or small groups of students) is an effective tool for helping students bridge the gap between speaking and writing. To accomplish this type of learning, students must practice talking and writing in a small group structure. Concrete teaching experience has shown…

A study assessed the validity of applying the Spitzberg and Cupach dyadic model of communication competence to small group interaction. Twenty-four students, in five task-oriented work groups, completed questionnaires concerning self-competence, alter competence, interaction effectiveness, and other group members' interaction appropriateness. They…

There is a risk of second language teachers becoming emotionally overcharged about innovative methods and techniques. Innovators promoting particular methods often claim comprehensive answers to instructional problems, and in spite of an apparent concern for scientific respectability, new approaches take on some characteristics of religious…

Extended field trips have the potential to provide students with direct experience in learning about the natural world, as well as opportunities for the development of group cohesiveness. This document describes a program developed by a community college in which general biology students spend 3 days in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The…

Three techniques have been found to be helpful in using dramatic techniques to provide motivation, self-confidence, and self-esteem to students of English as a second language at Hostos Community College. Strategic interaction is a technique based on the open-ended scenario, in which students are free to respond to the problem presented in the…

This research was conducted to compare the effects of a cooperative instructional context with a competitive instructional context on the verbal and nonverbal behaviors of same-sex student pairs within a microcomputer environment. Subjects were 20 male and 20 female sixth-grade students who were randomly assigned to same-sex pairs. All pairs were…

To accomplish successful communicative foreign language teaching, a teacher needs more than a sound command of the language and thorough training in communicative methodology. He or she also needs training in self-presentation, exposure to situations in which the importance of non-verbal behavior is made clear, and discussion of the fundamental…

This study compared the achievement of low and high ability eighth grade students working cooperatively during computer-based instruction. Students were grouped either homogeneously or heterogeneously on ability, and received identical instruction on a fictitious rule-based arithmetic number system. No significant differences in achievement were…

A review of the literature on residential segregation reveals that Blacks remain the most segregated group in American cities, despite the more recent arrival of Hispanic and Asian groups. By one measure--the index of dissimilarity with respect to Whites--Blacks are 1.6 times more segregated than Hispanics, and twice as segregated as Asians. Race…

A study was conducted to assess the psychological effectiveness of cooperative small group learning among junior college students with less than 11th grade skill levels. Three English classes, reflecting the overall student population, were chosen. All classes met three days a week and had the same instructor and out-of-class assignments. Two of…

A comparative analysis is presented of adolescent participation in three-person family problem-solving groups, involving five families with an adolescent diabetic and three families with an adolescent with no diagnosed illness. Observation and interaction analysis of family problem-solving in a laboratory setting were used, as families were asked…

A sociological field study of the development of a Puerto Rican community organization in an American city (Maplewood, New Jersey), this book describes what happens when an ethnic minority attempts to attain a voice in the affairs of an affluent city. Chapter 1 discusses the study's purpose. Chapters 2 to 11 narrate, from the members' viewpoint…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 12 titles deal with the following topics: (1) communication style in initial meetings of small groups; (2) gender orientation, communicative competency, and communication satisfaction in acquaintance dyads; (3) attitudinal,…