The principle of homophily says that people associate with other groups of people who are mostly like themselves. Many online communities are structured around groups of socially similar individuals. On Twitter, however, people are exposed to multiple, diverse points of view through the public timeline. The authors captured 30,000 tweets about the…

This study focuses on using wikis as a learning environment, as part of a professional development program for chemistry teacher leaders. The study was performed in Israel and involved 20 chemistry teachers. One goal was to investigate how using wiki may promote effective science teacher professional development. Various aspects of the teachers'…

Teacher networks are an important lever for helping schools make change. In order to take advantage of teacher networks, principals must map the existing networks in their schools, identifying teachers and others who serve as experts or advice givers, brokers, and advice seekers. Once these are known, principals can decide on a strategy for…

Building relationships and community collaborations--especially on an institutional level--is a slow and long-term process. These types of innovative, experimental, and long-term collaborations with community organizations and groups often lead art institutions to reflect on the value and place of their institutional structures when engaging in…

This article examines the challenges of teacher development strategies in post-1994 South Africa by arguing that school-based development initiatives address teachers' specific development needs and that it is imperative to understand the conditions under which these initiatives can have a positive impact on teachers. A framework is developed…

This paper discusses the primacy of communities of practice within learning contexts at university and during practicum for culturally and linguistically diverse preservice teachers. The study illustrates that learning occurs when there are adequate opportunities for participation and practice. Data from interviews with 28 culturally and…

This paper explores, from a sociocultural perspective, the nature and functions of "zemi" or seminars in which Japanese undergraduate students received group supervision for research and thesis writing. The study also investigates how the "zemi" contributed to completion of their theses. It was found that the "zemi"…

Electronic networks of practice (eNoP) are special types of electronic social structures focused on discussing domain-specific problems related to a skill-based craft or profession in question and answer style forums. eNoP have implemented peer-to-peer feedback systems in order to motivate future contributions and to distinguish contribution…

In this article, the author points out that there are many reasons why self-segregation takes place. For example: People with motorcycle interests may choose to hang out with other bikers. A group of bikers may have a common interest but can be as diverse as a doctor that is a biker or a janitor that is into biking. Formally educated people may…

As much as play is researched and discussed by people interested in children and childhood, studies often fail to examine closely the ways that kids accomplish their play. This study sought to answer the question of how children sustain their play interactions. By making use of qualitative methods to collect and analyze data, the play of…

Current studies of power, influence tactics, and influence processes in virtual teams assume that these constructs operate in a similar manner as they do in the face-to-face (FtF) environment. However, the virtual context differs from the FtF environment on a variety of dimensions, such as the availability of status cues. The differences between…

In this study, dysfunctional cooperative learning teams are identified by comparing the Taguchi "larger-the-better" quality index for the academic achievement of students in a cooperative learning condition with that of students in an individualistic learning condition. In performing the experiments, 42 sophomore mechanical engineering…

The world is changing in dramatic and complex ways. There can be little doubt that if the twentieth century was "The American Century," the twenty-first century has already become a Global Century, framed by new power dynamics, new economic realities, and new quests for self-determination and freedom across all parts of the globe. In…

Last semester, the author had a particularly vocal class that made it clear that they disliked small group exercises. In an attempt to understand their discomfort, she had this class generate a list of the top 10 reasons they disliked small group exercises. Some of the reasons listed by the students are exactly why the author uses small group work…

We examined the influences of different facets of psychological collectivism (Preference, Reliance, Concern, Norm Acceptance, and Goal Priority) on team functioning at 3 different performance depictions: initial team performance, end-state team performance, and team performance change over time. We also tested the extent to which team-member…