In this landmark book, Scott Page redefines the way we understand ourselves in relation to one another. "The Difference" is about how we think in groups--and how our collective wisdom exceeds the sum of its parts. Why can teams of people find better solutions than brilliant individuals working alone? And why are the best group decisions…

The intention of the study is to identify the development of personal skills, as well as the increase of job satisfaction and productivity of the employee, as a result of their participation in high performance teams. Volunteered in the study 139 members of self-managed teams belonging to the Production Area, 39 of Operational Administrative…

In a study of the types of problems encountered by students that led them to seek assistance, Robins et al. [2006] found that the most common problems were related to trivial mechanics. The students in this study worked by themselves on their programming exercises. This article discusses a replication of the Robins et al. study in which the…

Pair programming, as part of the Agile Development process, has noted benefits in professional software development scenarios. These successes have led to a rise in use of pair programming in educational settings, particularly in Computer Science 1 (CS1). Specifically, McDowell et al. [2006] has shown that students using pair programming in CS1 do…

This study examines how student learning can be enhanced by using a multi-course project that simulates an industry environment and emphasizes the interrelationship among course concepts through collaborative efforts of student teams. The role of technology as a tool in facilitating student teamwork is examined. The researchers found that students…

This study draws on sociocultural theory to explore how adult ESL learners interact with either a higher- or a lower-proficiency peer during pair problem solving, and how they each perceive the interactions with their partners. Three ESL learners engaged in a three-stage task: pair writing; pair noticing; and individual writing with two learners,…

This case focuses on learning by applying the four integrating mechanisms of Nonaka's knowledge creation theory: socialization, externalization, combination and internalization. In general, such knowledge creation and internalization (i.e., learning) is critical to database students since they will be expected to apply their specialized database…

Research literature has long indicated that action research may stimulate practitioners themselves to actively evaluate the quality of their practice. This study is designed to report the use of action research for the development of early years professional practice by analyzing the pre-project and the post-project video-filmed teaching events.…

This essay describes how we facilitated the design of a campus leadership team. What is particularly interesting about this consultative project is that both authors participated--one as facilitator and the other as participant. The facilitation included a needs assessment prior to the event, the use of structured controversy techniques,…

Teacher attrition is an enduring national issue. To help address this problem, formal mentoring programs for new teachers have been implemented by most states. Mentoring, however, is rarely used beyond the induction years. This article presents an adaptation of a business model, the Strategic Collaboration Model[TM], which approaches mentoring as…

Teamwork and interpersonal communication are indispensable skills for business workers, and most companies are promoting diversity in teams to gain a competitive edge. Although findings suggest that diversity may not be as valuable as it seems for most teams, business workers need to manage diversity successfully. Therefore, the present authors…

In this study we examined whether and how youth learned life skills through their involvement on a high school soccer team. We collected data from fieldwork and interviews with 12 male student-athletes and the head coach from one team. Results showed that the coach's philosophy involved building relationships and involving student-athletes in…

Purpose: The paper aims to follow social exchange theory and group social capital theory, to predict positive relationships between (informal) mentoring and various support resources for two types of performance (i.e. perceptions of individual and team performance). Design/methodology/approach: The associations of individual-level mentoring and…

With a national drive in England for the development and restructuring of services encouraging interdisciplinary approaches and multi-agency working, the question remains as to how services should be developed and why it is perceived as so important. This study by Pearl Barnes, who is an Every Child Counts Teacher Leader and a member of the…

This article reports on a study investigating strategies that students can use to develop skills in managing team learning. Two groups of second-year management students participated in a semester-long action research project over two semesters. The students were educated on team development, team processes and conflict management and how to…