An exercise used to address a serious college classroom communication problem is described. The activity consisted of small group discussions of the important dimensions of teacher performance and subsequent feedback to the teacher and larger group. It provided students with valuable experience in providing useful feedback and improved class…

The College of Wooster (Ohio) has instituted a required one-semester freshman seminar, designed to teach students critical writing and thinking skills, and focusing on racism and sexism in U.S. society. Critics see the seminar as a left-wing attempt to ensure "political correctness." (DB)

Reports on a study that examined undergraduate student pairs carrying out an electronic discussion task in a synchronous computer mediated communication system. Discusses collaborative argumentation; focusing; knowledge construction; learning processes; comparative analyses of dialog between tutor and student; and peer coaching. (Contains 33…

This study examined factors influencing the use of electronic networks by science and engineering faculty (216 faculty members) at six small universities. Survey included e-mail, electronic discussion groups, accessing remote databases and remote computer facilities, and file transfer. For each service, data are reported for frequency of use by…

Presents results of a survey showing increased use of the Internet by language professionals (e.g., language teachers, translators, interpreters). Results of the survey show a qualitative improvement in the Internet for information retrieval, teaching, and idea exchange. If K-12 foreign-language teachers receive appropriate equipment and training,…

Three courses in the adult education division of Loyola University (Louisiana) combined religious studies and literature appreciation using an interdisciplinary, team-taught approach. Instruction was guided by the metaphor of conversation, first through collegial discussion of the ideas underlying the courses and later, in the classroom, in the…

Presents a variety of examples of work by practitioner researchers (students, coteachers, principals, and school leadership teams), touching on university-school collaborations, research across authority lines (for example, students and teachers), research as part of professional development, and research by experienced teachers who studied their…

Discusses the use of computers in qualitative research, including sources of information; collaboration; electronic discussion groups; Web sites; Internet search engines; electronic sources of data; data collection; communicating research results; desktop publishing; hypermedia and multimedia documents; electronic publishing; holistic and…

Describes the Infolit (Information Literacy) Internet Workshop, designed to discuss information literacy and to stimulate interaction between the public and private sectors. Highlights include workplace requirements; new training, assessment, and support systems that will be needed; business, college, and government roles; information technology…

As part of required coursework, 112 students in an educational psychology course made asynchronous postings to online study groups. Students permitted their course marks to be used for research purposes and completed a questionnaire that assessed a range of psycho-educational characteristics as well as personal interpretations of the online study…

This article illustrates procedures for using e-journals as a creative and adjunctive approach in group work. Incorporating e-mail based journaling as an ancillary form of group interaction allows members to communicate via written channels, and creates new ways for clients to relate in the group. This article outlines how leaders can use…

In this self-study of a secondary teacher education course, the authors investigated whether there was evidence of critically reflective problem solving on the part of prospective teachers who participated in a peer-led online discussion of a teaching case about English-language learners. They also examined what approaches to multicultural…

This study goes beyond student perceptions of online learning experiences, satisfaction, and attitudes, to examine the actual participation and dynamics that occur in online discussions and their relationship to student learning outcomes. A content analysis approach was used to investigate students' socio-cognitive processes in an online…

The authors detail the design, implementation and evaluation of an eConference entitled "Biohorizons," using a presage-process-product model to describe the development of an eLearning community. Biohorizons was a summative learning and assessment task aiming to introduce large classes of first-year Human Biology students to the practices of…

The benefits of online collaborative learning, sometimes referred to as CSCL (computer-supported collaborative learning) are compelling, but many instructors are loath to experiment with non-conventional methods of teaching and learning because of the perceived problems. This paper reviews the existing literature to present the seven most commonly…