This article describes a process by which seven educators collaboratively engaged in developing a shared language to describe the mathematics pedagogy used to guide whole-class discussions as well as the products of their work. Suggestions are made for how others might engage in similarly productive professional development activities. (Contains 3…

This essay concerns applications of computer-mediated communication (CMC) research in groups toward the enhancement of relations between members of potentially hostile ethnopolitical groups. The characteristics of CMC offer several possible means of facilitating the reduction of animosity through online contact among intergroup constituents. The…

Describes four general teacher competencies for conducting ordinary whole-class discussions. (author)

Authors offer seven content manipulation techniques teachers can use successfully in leading discussions in almost any classroom situation. (GB)

History teachers are frequently frustrated in their efforts to promote class discussion. Class discussion is useful to deliver or reinforce content and to explore or share ideas. Yet teachers learn quickly that they cannot expect good discussion, especially good whole-class discussion, to take place when they want it to. One approach to the…

With the rise of e-Learning in engineering education, understanding the impact of individual differences on the ways students communicate and collaborate on-line has become increasingly important. The research described here investigates the influence of cognitive style on the interactions within student social networks in an on-line learning…

Robert Cohen, Assistant Professor English at Fairbanks University, has just completed a contentious meeting of his First Year Composition class, which had discussed a paper written by one of the students. Joe Anderson's paper contained statements that have been historically used as anti-Semitic slogans. Cohen attempted to avoid embarrassing…

Teachers, more than any other person in the school, have the greatest potential to get students engaged in school and in learning. Creating student-directed learning experiences that challenge, stimulate, and engage kids not only raises test scores, it also fosters life-long learners prepared for success in today's globally connected world. This…

The consequences of bullying are both widespread and severe. It disrupts learning, threatens school safety, and poses long-term emotional repercussions for bullies, victims, and bystanders. Although multiple strategies have targeted bullying, bullying must be understood within a social contextual framework beyond the bully-victim dyad. Davis and…

The influx of technology into education has begun a transformation of the classroom. The authors replicated a 1996 study of college students' expectations of technology to be used in the classroom. Students reported prior experience with computer technology, their ideal classroom instruction techniques, and what technology-enhanced pedagogies they…

This paper presents both a conceptual and empirical investigation of teaching and learning in online courses. Employing both the Community of Inquiry framework (CoI) and the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy, two complete online courses were examined for the quality of both collaborative learning processes and learning…

The purposes of this study were (1) to develop a teacher training program that integrates knowledge management (KM) and blended learning and examine its effects on pre-service teachers' professional development in creativity instruction; and (2) to explore the mechanisms underlying the success of such KM-based training. The employed KM model was…

This article draws from an evaluative case study of a group work approach--Support Groups--designed by the author to support pupils perceived as having Social and Emotional Behavioural Difficulties within a Secondary school situated in an area of multiple deprivation in Scotland. The study, which is principally qualitative, draws from the accounts…

Background: To develop pupils' team invasion games (TIG) performance within physical education (PE), practitioners have traditionally adopted teacher-centred, skill-focused approaches. Teaching Games for Understanding and the Tactical approach are alternative approaches to TIG teaching that aim to develop overall game performance, including…

This study focuses on how to support students who have to work together in small groups, and who do not know each other, in performing grounding discussion. It compares two different implementations of a script, one using a structured interface, one using a textual instruction, on students' discussion behavior. The experiment involved two…