Shows how interactive read-alouds encourage children to verbally interact with the text, peers, and teachers, providing a means of engaging students as they construct meaning and explore the reading process. Discusses approaches to read-aloud events, conceptual foundations, and planning interactive read-alouds. (SR)

Studied the effects of motivational styles on group work and discussion-based teaching in an environmental science course in which 180 university students participated. Discussion-based teaching appeared attractive to almost all students, although liking for group work varied. Discusses implications for teaching and learning. (SLD)

Focuses on laws that influence U.S. immigration, such as the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (1996), the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (1996), the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (1996), and the Legal Immigration and Family Equity Act (2000). Includes discussion…

Examines the extent to which talking helps learning in a convergent group discussion task, where the students' goal is to construct predetermined "true justified knowledge." Analyzes instances where the same group of Malaysian students, studying on a higher education program in the United Kingdom, both succeeded and failed to arrive at the truth.…

Examines the experiences of an instructor and teaching assistant who employed online communication strategies in a graduate seminar to deliberately foster the development of a virtual learning community using synchronous and asynchronous online events. Compared their reflections with what the student reported about their learning in online…

Presents three lesson scenarios using inquiry/discovery and lecture/discussion methods and discusses the specific instructional strategies that each employs. The first two scenarios demonstrate how these strategies and their supporting tools and activities are applied in a single content area while the third one shows how inquiry/discovery…

Examines online discussions using lexical scoring techniques. Suggests that online conversations become more sophisticated as learners interact with each other over the duration of a course, that collaboration among learners fosters the social construction of knowledge and that evidence of such knowledge-building activities is embodied in the tone…

Advocates the use of Socratic dialogue as a paradigm of classroom organization that supports the primary goals of Montessori secondary education. Describes similarities between the structure of the Socratic seminar and first- and second-period Montessori lessons. Argues that Socratic practice provides a safe, structured environment in which…

Finds that engaged reading occurred in a fourth-grade classroom when students and teachers used interpretive tools to select, connect, and organize information in the text to construct meaningful interpretations and that there were cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational components to the engagement observed. (PA)

Amid the growth of the World Wide Web, Web magazines have risen to popularity. Topics include their hypermedia features; online panel discussions; video and audio; space and time; and costs, advertising, and access fees. Highlights "Slate,""Salon,""Hotwired,""Feed," and "Word." Concludes that…

Presents a guide, derived from the Situational Leadership model, which describes the process that should be used in facilitating a group discussion. The process includes preparation, assessment, diagnosis, prescription, development, reinforcement, and follow-up. Three figures depict the Situational Leadership model, the facilitation process, and…

Describes the nature of online chats in terms of how graduate students structured their conversations in online group discussions, and how they participated and conversed in and across concurrent conversations. Characteristics of the computer medium contributed to the conversational structures and the kinds of structures affected interactivity and…

An Internet user talks about her experiences as a result of a graduate-level class, "Telecommunications in the Classroom," at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Discussion focuses on the Internet community and the various kinds of talk on the Internet, including bulletin boards, real time, creative, political, expert, international,…

Asserts that a kinder, gentler version of the Socratic method can help students recognize contradictions between the values they espouse and the choices they make. Suggests that well-aimed questions actively engage learners by forcing critical thinking about ethics and values. Hypothetical dilemmas, like those in the video series "The Power…

Discusses ways to improve the quality of teachers' classroom questions to help children clarify their thoughts, feel that they are worthy people, and understand their world. Asking open-ended questions that allow for discussion, encouraging children to answer questions orally, and listening to students' answers are urged. (CR)