Outlines a theory of collective learning based on Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development and on New Social Movements theory. Argues that it is more appropriate than individual learning theories as it describes the relationship between individual and group development and it addresses social justice. (SK)

In adaptive schools, working groups grow, develop, and learn from experience, becoming more effective as they go. Three premises about group development include the following: each group is unique, some groups mature, and attrition need not block development. Four guidelines for successful group meetings include decide who decides, define the…

The Feedback Environment, as opposed to the formal performance appraisal process, is comprised of the daily interactions between members of an organization (Steelman, Levy, & Snell, in press). Relations between the feedback environment and work outcome variables such as Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) were examined through the mediating…

This article describes a detailed analysis of knowledge building in a problem-based learning group. Knowledge building involves increasing the collective knowledge of a group through social discourse. For knowledge building to occur in the classroom, the teacher needs to create opportunities for constructive discourse in order to support student…

In this article I respond to the analyses of "Educating the 'Right' Way" and "The State and the Politics of Knowledge" that were given by Stephen Ball, Russell Fox and Antonio Novoa. I situate the development of the kinds of argument that these books make, in the larger corpus of my work and in the growth of neoliberal, neoconservative,…

The study of popular culture in the United States is an appropriate anthropological endeavor, as evidenced in a case study of the volcanic eruption of Mt. St. Helens in Oregon. By examining its popular arts, anthropologists gain understanding of the culture and its people. For example, an analysis of reactions to the Mt. St. Helens eruption…

Examines the direction and form of influence processes across levels of hierarchy. Indicates the primacy of downward over upward influence, and supports a basic pattern of relations including the flow of major influence from indicators of group functioning to situational conditions. (Author)

TWENTY-SIX GROUPS OF FIVE SUBJECTS EACH WERE STUDIED TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF FEEDBACK ON SUBSEQUENT GROUP BEHAVIOR. EACH GROUP WAS GIVEN TEN PROBLEMS, EACH TO BE SOLVED INDIVIDUALLY, BEFORE AND AFTER A DISCUSSION PERIOD. THE USE OF AN ANALOG COMPUTER PERMITTED THE EXPERIMENTER TO GIVE FEEDBACK ON THE FIRST SOLUTION BEFORE THE DISCUSSION BEGAN…

IN THIS STUDY, PROFESSOR ALLEN EMPLOYS TWO METHODS OF BREAKING GROUP CONSENSUS, AND HE MEASURES THE EFFECTS ON THE RESPONSES OF COLLEGE SUBJECTS TO BOTH OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE STIMULI. THE RESULTS SUGGEST THE NEED FOR MODIFICATION OF EXISTING THEORIES OF CONFORMITY BEHAVIOR. IN ADDITION, THESE RESULTS EMPHASIZE THE DIFFERENCES IN CONFORMITY OF…

The Committee Role Rating Scale (CRRS) is a device for evaluating performance as a member of a committee. Rating is done on 12 aspects of behavior, each one being rated along a five point continuum from always to never. Two open questions ask for listings of most effective attributes and areas which need improvement. (SM)

The purposes of this paper are to note specific weaknesses characterizing small group research and to propose suggestions for their solution. Adapted from a speech given at the Second National Conference about the Teaching of Group: Theory and Practice, Temple University, Philadelphia, February 1976. (Author)

In the absence of information to the contrary, an individual tends to assume that members of an out group have values which differ from his own. The effect is even more marked for highly prejudiced persons. In the present paper two experiments are reported which extend the belief similarity hypothesis. (Author)