The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of manipulating toy sets on the social verbal interaction that occurs between preschool-age children with disabilities and their typically developing peers. A single-subject alternating-treatments design was used to evaluate the effects of manipulating social toy sets and isolate toy sets on…

This paper outlines some findings of a three-month investigation into the effects of students' interpersonal relationships on communication in two EFL classrooms in a Japanese university. Data was collected to identify and describe the various social subgroups that existed within the classes, and samples of classroom discourse were then analysed…

While there is consensus that conceptual change is surprisingly difficult, many competing theories of conceptual change co-exist in the literature. This dissertation argues that this discord is partly the result of an inadequate account of the unwritten rules of human social interaction that underlie the field's preferred…

This study builds on and contributes to research on student teachers' relational concerns in teacher education, as four Grade 3 Norwegian student teachers were followed during their internship for two periods of two weeks each. The article presents and discusses data from interviews and student teachers' logs, while the aim of the study is to…

World-wide, universities in health sciences have transformed their curriculum to include collaborative learning and facilitate the students' learning process. Interaction has been acknowledged to be the synergistic element in this learning context. However, students spend the majority of their time outside their classroom and interaction does not…

The aim of this article is to extend the scope of the models of teacher change to an interactionist view which co-ordinates sociocultural and constructivist perspectives. Accordingly our focus will be on the cultural and situational factors and processes of social interaction, as well as on the development on an individual level. First we study…

This study investigates how "unknowing" story recipients (C. Goodwin, 1979) use different types of questions in order to actively participate in storytelling and collaboratively construct a story when a storyteller is relaying his or her past experience, by examining grammar, intonation, gaze, body movements, and sequence organization in Japanese…

An abundance of academic research has focused on identifying, explicating, operationalizing, and analyzing variables used to understand the dynamics of customer service. Despite this scholarly attention, applied researchers and the popular press have long reported consumers' dissatisfaction with the service received during their customer…

The article addresses how farmers learn to appropriate the gaze of the "new farmer", by describing how farmers and advisers in the field discursively construct farmland under scrutiny for inclusion in government support schemes. Based on the findings, recommendations for successful agricultural extension are presented. The methodological…

Leadership is a multifaceted construct. It requires mentoring as a lifelong experience. Leadership is not an isolated phenomenon, but an activity completely interrelated with those one leads. It can never be separated from its essential community or organizational context. This makes the experience of mentoring all the more critical. Adding yet to…

The focus of this article is on the analysis of reflection and peer learning in the pedagogical environment. The research draws on findings from a three-year Australian study, which aimed to develop and critically evaluate a model of vocal pedagogy influenced by sociocultural theories. The model sought to position Vygotsky's theories in the…

The intervention of Intensive Interaction is gaining attention for its demonstrated effectiveness in promoting social engagement in individuals with severe communicative impairments. The present study sought to extend the evidence base for this intervention by investigating the rapidity with which an increase in engagement becomes apparent.…

Background: People with severe intellectual disability have limited communication skills, small social networks, and may experience isolation. Little is known about how interactions occur with social network members and the role of social support. Method: An adult with a severe intellectual disability was observed in her daily environments. Her…

In this study, face-to-face (FTF) and online students' (N = 198) feelings of and desire for sense of community (SOC) in their courses were compared. In support of previous research, FTF students felt more SOC than online students. However, overall, relatively few students (FTF or online) expressed desire for SOC. Additionally, regression analyses…

The need to collaborate in the fields of business, health care, and technology is not a new concept. Educational institutions, however, have been slow to recognize the need to teach collaboration skills (Brownell & Walther-Thomas, 2002; Jackson, 2004). This article focuses on the development of the Collaboration Self-Assessment Tool (CSAT). The…