Discusses the administrative role and the social role of three listserv student moderators as they mediated discussions about literature with Year 12 students in Australia. Suggests student moderators can facilitate discussion by initiating topics, contributing to existing discussions, and modelling effective discussant behavior. (NH)

Investigates how parliamentary procedure is practiced in community groups, and how the use of parliamentary procedure facilitates or constrains vigilance and critical thinking. Finds that parliamentary procedures are widely practiced in a limited form. Reports on a case study showing how parliamentary procedure was employed to facilitate…

This article examines the benefits of educator study groups, outlines the different types of educator groups, and provides guidelines for forming educator study groups. Membership of the group, leadership, assessment of needs, creation of the study group, materials, meeting organization, and group evaluation are addressed. (Contains references.)…

Tells the story of a primary classroom in which bilingual children engaged in thoughtful dialogue about critical issues, such as racism and discrimination, through small group literature discussions. (SR)

Describes the development, implementation, and assessment of a faculty study group program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The study group was designed to foster teaching as a reflective, collaborative activity and encourage interaction of faculty of different disciplines, age groups, ranks, and teaching experience. (DB)

Examined the thinking of six high school social studies teachers about two alternative purposes of classroom discussion (learning of academic content and development of discussion competence), describing ways that their conceptions and practice related to these purposes. Data from interviews and think-alouds indicated that respondents used…

Considers how many students find speaking in large group, whole class or "public" contexts intimidating. Explores what constitutes an effective "public" speaker at GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) level, and suggests various teaching strategies as starting points. (SC)

Examines the effects of a focus group discussion on elderly worriers (N=21; at least 70 years old and self-designated as worriers). Results indicate that the percentage of the day that participants spent worrying was significantly reduced after the focus group. Subjects rated the experience as positive and beneficial. (RJM)

Describes how one teacher adapted the Toulmin argumentation model to improve discussion in introductory literature classes. Describes the method and its application to literary texts. Shows how it enables students with no particular attraction to literature to invent and respond to arguments about a text, ground those arguments in the text, and…

Discusses how using quotations in mathematics class can alleviate narrow, educationally detrimental misconceptions of the nature of mathematics by illustrating its richer aspects. Lists some quotations on different aspects of mathematics and provides information for finding quotations. Contains 26 references. (ASK)

Discusses gendered communication in computer-mediated conferences within college education classes, maintaining that attempts to create democratic classrooms are undermined by conventional gender-marked dynamics of interpersonal dialogue, but those dynamics show potential for being transformed in positive ways when the dialogue moves to virtual…

Good inservices result from effective communication among administrators, educators, and presenters. Common problems (beyond speakers' control) include ill-defined topics, unexpected audience members, audience size and deportment, unavailable equipment, overly ambitious goals, and lack of continuity. Effective inservices often use conference-style…

This guide to the Internet for educators and parents of gifted children covers e-mail, talk, listservs, news groups, bulletin boards, Telnet, Gopher, World Wide Web, Mosaic, Netscape, file transfer protocol, and WAIS (Wide Area Information Service). Examples of sites for educators are included throughout the article. (DB)

This article describes use of the George Berkeley's philosophical writings to examine the question of whether a tree falling in the forest, with no one around, makes a sound. Examples from his readings are used to stimulate discussion of gifted students about questions of epistemology and metaphysics. Suggestions for curricular integration of this…

Problematizes the word "experience" as it is currently being used by researchers and teachers who want to reform literature instruction in schools and colleges. Discusses how a fresh look at Dewey and Rosenblatt can reconstruct the courtroom and marketplace metaphors as sound alternatives to theories that perpetuate dualistic assumptions…