Data on students participating in six peer-response groups in a college writing workshop revealed the role of student writers in weaving the web of critical response during the peer group discussion. Analysis showed that the student writers engaged in four main types of verbal activity concerning their papers: (1) asking questions about their…

Previous research studies on how to promote student participation in asynchronous online discussions have largely focused on the role of the instructor or tutor as facilitators. Not many investigated student facilitation. This article reports a qualitative study examining the facilitation techniques used by student facilitators to attract their…

This article aims to outline key factors to be considered in the development of communities of enquiry in an educational context and to establish a conceptual and theoretical framework within which much needed empirical work can be carried out. The literature surveyed considers both different types of community and different theoretical positions…

In this article, an analysis and critique of one small but pedagogically significant component of classroom discourse (instructors' use of long-familiar questioning routines in whole-group classroom discussion) is used to support the larger argument that analysis of classroom discourse at the college level offers many valuable ways to reflect on,…

This study examined how message-response exchanges produced in the interactions between active learners only, reflective learners only, active-reflective learners and reflective-active learners affected how often active versus reflective learners posted rebuttals to arguments and challenges across four types of exchanges that believed to promote…

An action research approach called soft systems methodology (SSM) was used to foster organisational learning in a school regarding the role of the learning support department within the school and its relation with the normal teaching-learning activities. From an initial situation of lack of coordination as well as mutual misunderstanding and…

Background: Asynchronous online discussion (AOD) has found widespread use in tertiary education and adult learning environment; however, there has been little research on its use in elementary school, especially in the context of the teaching of the Chinese Language. This study explores the use of AOD in a Chinese Language class in a primary…

This article addresses an online discussion board referencing a domestic violence related murder trial. Findings from qualitative analyses based on narrative and grounded theory suggest that online discussion boards can help survivors of domestic violence to tell their stories and support each other. The perceived anonymity of Internet discussion…

Vocational education and training (VET) is intended to prepare adult learners for careers that are based on practical activities. With the underlying constructivist andragogy, this study intended to examine the effects of computer-mediated group collaboration in vocational education, and how that affects the associated learning outcomes. For…

This study evaluates the effects of teacher candidates' having access to expert teachers' modeling analytic thinking as the experts read case studies used in teaching educational psychology. Videos which consisted of selected segments of multiple expert teachers thinking aloud were developed. In the first experiment, one of these videos was viewed…

The aim of this study is to investigate how a community of practice focused on becoming a teacher of secondary school mathematics emerged during a pre-service teacher education programme and was sustained after students graduated and began their first year of full-time teaching in schools. Bulletin board discussions of one pre-service cohort are…

There is a large body of literature on the types of questions asked by teachers. Questions are a way that teachers use to bring students around to the correct mathematical concepts and procedures through "the negotiation of meaning for necessary condition of learning" (Voigt, 1992, p. 43). Teachers ask many questions, but we are not sure what…

Often children's questions are about the things they observe. The beauty of using children's questions about life to inspire discussions is that it invites children to work collectively toward a common goal. This article describes the process of using children's questions to facilitate great group time interactions. The process starts where the…

The nature and process of participatory discussion are discussed, and reference is made to the British system of tutor-led groups. It is suggested that discussion is the essence of university life, since it can be used to discover the ways in which students view the knowledge and principles that the scholar presents. Discussion also provides the…

Group discussion can be very effective in building a sense of community in any adult basic education (ABE) classroom. Such discussion can generate conversation, encourage participation, and create an accepting environment where sharing experiences and ideas feels safe to all participants. When trying the technique of group discussion with a new…