Reports research on cooperative learning strategies used in a college computer skills lab course and compares learning performance and retention of students taught via cooperative teams or traditional individual learning. Results show that both performance and retention were significantly improved with the use of cooperative learning. (Author/JMV)

Three teachers share techniques for adapting to learning styles: "The Personal Touch Eases Anxiety of Adult Students" (Bilderback); "Learning to Cooperate: Recipe for Success" (Lindsay); and "Thoughtful Questions Lead Students to Answers" (Crowley). (SK)

The Collaborative Approach to Writing, which has turned reluctant writers into enthusiastic authors, involves the direct teaching of the mechanics of writing and provides students an opportunity to practice their skills as they work together to write a novel. Students work in groups to develop a plot outline, write, edit, and publish. (JDD)

Role play is effective in cooperative learning because it reduces anxiety, promotes risk taking, and is versatile. Students share ideas, values, knowledge, and skills, creating mutual problem solving. Limitations include the time required and student personalization of roles. The article lists guidelines for enhancing role play, noting alternative…

Educators who introduced cooperative learning (CL) in their school district present their feelings, ideas, and experiences. They note that CL takes commitment, work, time, and practice. The rewards are improvements in learning, social skills, and achievement. They recommend CL because it addresses current educational needs. (SM)

Deming's work emphasizes advantages of teamwork, investment in ongoing training for all employees to increase their value to the company, and insistence that research and employee-gathered data guide and inform every decision and improvement effort. The parallel between psychologist Mihaly Csikszenmihalyi's work and Deming's shows that Total…

This commentary on an earlier paper (EC 230 267) notes that the debate on the regular education initiative (REI) should focus on the future, teachers should become personalizers of curriculum and instruction, classroom teachers are one member of an interdependent teaching team, and an adhocracy should be developed among educators of all…

A review of studies of mentoring for new college faculty suggests practical guidelines for maximizing the mentoring experience. Recommendations include "cataloging" (of past, current, and planned activities); group mentoring; and application of a theory stressing involvement, regimen, solving the right problem, and social networking. (DB)

The University of Kentucky Medical Center has developed a preceptorship program in which a new resident physician is paired with a nurse to assist for an eight-hour shift. The program has given residents familiarity with hands-on nursing care, increased appreciation of nursing responsibilities, and fostered better communication with both nurses…

This descriptive study of 325 Ohio special education teachers examined factors influencing their attitudes about parents as educational collaborators. The study found that teachers view parents as more capable and are more open to parent input if they interact more frequently. Also, student age influenced openness, independent of interaction…

This paper calls for development of powerful instructional strategies that will enable teachers to educate students with wide-ranging abilities and backgrounds in integrated settings. Three peer-mediated instructional procedures that have been used with at-risk students are described: classwide peer tutoring, classwide student tutoring teams, and…

School effectiveness depends, in part, on committed teachers exercising positive followership skills transactionally with dedicated leaders. The paper recommends that teacher education programs help students develop followership skills necessary for effective teaching, noting that leaders come from the ranks of followers. (SM)

Five regular and special education teachers collaborating in mainstreamed classes in Virginia elementary, middle, and high schools were interviewed to determine how the teachers came to collaborate; how they collaborated; changes they experienced as a result of collaboration; and benefits (instructional, professional, affective) and concerns…

Describes the development of the Model Education Center at a California elementary school. The college-school partnership (with San Diego State University) emphasizes field-based teacher education. The program fully integrates coursework and practice teaching in a culturally diverse school with committed staff. Evaluations indicate the program is…

Eight public school adolescent students with mild mental retardation and severely disruptive classroom behaviors participated in a cooperative behavior management intervention in which student teams were rewarded for appropriate classroom behavior. Rewarding both teams and individuals was most successful in decreasing inappropriate behavior in all…