This research project examines Intergroup Dialogue courses in The Program on Intergroup Relations at the University of Michigan. I investigate the various reasons why the demand for these courses which peaked in the late 90s and early 2000's started to decline in 2018. With partisanship at an all-time high in our society, and the ability and…

In the knowledge economy, many companies are well aware of the vital need to maintain the professional expertise of their workers at a high level. Though there have been a lot of research studies in the areas of professional expertise and workplace learning, few examined the learning pathways novice workers went through to become experts in their…

Although many college students enter leadership programs with the express goal of developing leadership skills, some specialized leadership programs draw students who seek to gain expertise in a disciplinary area, with leadership development as a secondary goal. In the latter case, program developers face the challenge of generating enthusiasm…

This investigation examined the effects of Classwide Peer Tutoring (CWPT), a variation of peer tutoring on the volleyball skills of four 6th grade middle school students purposefully selected from an intact class of 21 students. Participants were average to low skilled males and females. A single subject A-B-A-B withdrawal design was used to…

Two moderately retarded adolescents received instruction on peer-training skills to teach a vocational task to classmates; subsequently, one peer trainer taught three peers to complete a complex vocational task. Results indicated that peer training can be an effective instructional procedure, with generalization occurring for both the trainers and…

Describes one education department's structural approach to utilizing existing student resources at no cost in a counselor training program. This external linkage system uses the students from five existing courses within one counselor education department. (Author)

A pyramidal model of parent training by peers was compared to training by a professional, with 26 parents of children with autism. Both types of training helped in acquiring, maintaining, and generalizing parents' teaching skills, and children's performance mostly increased. Improvements were comparable for parents trained by a professional or by…

The study explored the effectiveness of social skills training and cross-age tutoring on the acquisition and use of social skills among 20 mainstreamed learning disabled boys (ages 9-12). All subjects received direct instruction in such communication skills as greeting, listening, asking questions, answering questions, and complimenting. Seven of…

Two studies investigated the role of peer training embedded within interventions to maximize participation for students with autism and the social benefits for all participants. Videotape probes of 34 students indicated greater generalization of skills from groups with trained peers and less from groups with untrained and stranger peers. (Contains…

Co-workers of three job trainees with mental retardation used coincidental training procedures while completing their own jobs. Coincidental training resulted in improved accuracy of salad-making skills, but skill acquisition was very slow; subsequently, a model and a quality-control check were added, resulting in higher performance levels. (JDD)

Peer tutoring programs represent an innovative approach for optimally utilizing resources existing within classrooms. While most tutoring programs are aimed at helping tutees or tutors with academic difficulties, this study involved all children in two classrooms in a peer tutoring project. A multiple baseline design indicated that prompting was…

Individuals with significant disabilities who have been trained to enter independent employment often depend too much on their job coaches. This guide describes strategies to enhance the problem-solving skills of learners with mental retardation by teaching them to use self-instruction or self-directed verbal commands. It details procedures for…

A peer intervention program to improve communicative interaction and social integration of preschoolers with moderate developmental disabilities is described. Children without disabilities are taught facilitative strategies which are not particularly intrusive and do not obligate responses by the disabled child. The facilitative strategies…

Offers perspectives of four different writing lab personnel, namely: (1) a new peer tutor with writing skills but no formal training in teaching; (2) a graduate teaching assistant in writing with no tutoring experience; (3) an experienced tutor reflecting on what he wished he had been taught; and (4) a director-tutor sharing her lab experience.…