Peer writing groups help students to write personally satisfying, communicative prose by allowing them to get away from competition for grades and from the fear and authority carried by the teacher. The writing group approach builds into the writing process the opportunity for revision and feedback before submitting a paper to the teacher for a…

THIS RESEARCH REPORT DESCRIBES A DETAILED CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM FOR THE INDIVIDUAL "ELEMENTS," OR TYPES OF RESPONSES, WHICH MAKE UP THE READER'S TOTAL RESPONSE TO LITERATURE AS IT TAKES FORM IN WRITTEN COMMENTARY ON LITERARY WORKS. CHAPTER 1 DISCUSSES THE ORIGIN OF THE STUDY AND DEFINES ELEMENTS AND THE CATEGORICAL SYSTEM USED IN CLASSIFYING THEM.…

Freshmen entering Hofstra University in the Fall of 1966 were assigned on a random basis either to the regular Freshman Seminar course, with emphasis on discussion, or to the Modes of Inquiry course, with emphasis on ways of learning and the development of critical thinking. The students responded to a 30-item questionnaire which was designed to…

A COMPENDIUM OF WORKABLE AND REASONABLE TECHNIQUES TO PROVIDE TEACHERS WITH ALTERNATIVES IN SELECTING LEARNING EXPERIENCES IS PRESENTED. MATERIALS ARE DESIGNED TO AID TEACHERS AND LEARNERS IN ALL SUBJECT MATTER AREAS. TEACHING TECHNIQUES DESCRIBED ARE (1) THE CASE STUDY, (2) DISCUSSIONS SUCH AS SYMPOSIUM, COLLOQUIUM, BUZZ SESSIONS, AND…

This study sought to determine the effect of sociability, a personality variable, on the kind and number of statements made by an individual in a group. Subjects were 65 adult basic education workshop participants from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee. They were divided into seven groups by stratified random sampling on age,…

Some of the "quality short films" available today are far more effective for film study than the traditional instructional films. The explicit learning from the noninstructional type of film (e.g., "You're No Good," the story of a young dropout) must occur through inference as the impact of the film is deepened through provocative class…

A new method for the measurement of consensus in small groups is proposed. The method allows for the study of the dynamic formation of consensus and, with the aid of some mathematical manipulations, reveals the development of subgroup relations over time. In a pilot test, the method was used to study groups of students choosing a topic which they…

The purpose of this study was to compare the knowledge and attitude test results of a student-led discussion group in two college-level introductory health courses. The 70 students enrolled in the courses were divided into eight groups represented as equally as possible concerning sex, age, year, and major in school. Student discussion leaders…

This study examined the effects of differential time pressures on small group members' rankings of one another based on vocal activity. Vocal activity was operationalized as observed frequency of interaction. Time pressure was manipulated by allowing either six minutes or no time limit on a group problem-solving task. Main effects were…

Junior colleges are increasing their community services--those activities beyond regularly scheduled classes--by (1) encouraging community groups to use college facilities and services, (2) providing the college's special educational skills to all age groups, (3) supplying leadership and coordination experience to community long-range planning and…

This report compares new with traditional teaching techniques. A chemistry course, taught by one instructor using two methods, was examined for two quarters. The effects of the two treatment variables, student variables, and interactions among them were tested. The students were randomly assigned to a closed-circuit TV (CCTV) group and a…

Ask-It-Rite (AIR) is a strategy for improving student teacher questioning and classroom discussion. The procedure allows a class to identify and correct factors, primarily of a social nature, which may be impeding healthy interaction. This manual is meant to accompany two training tapes of the AIR procedure, one for secondary school and one for…

This document is an abstract of a joint meeting between National Institute of Education (NIE) and National Education Association (NEA) staff. The document is organized around four ideas discussed at the meeting. The first is the political constituency for NIE; that is, the program of NIE must be made relevant and visible to educational…

This study attempted to determine if there is a difference in the amounts and patterns of thinking of students in teacher-led large group discussions and student-led small group discussions of literature. Students' verbalizations were analyzed and classified according to J.P. Guilford's Structure of Intellect. The instrument used was a…

The purpose of this study was to develop paradigms of verbal interaction for problem solving discussions. Taking selected definitions from previously published work, categories were built which classify verbal moves. Using the categories, models of verbal interaction were built which subsumed such verbal interaction concepts as the venture, move,…