Two studies examining four and five year olds' preferences for dyadic and group interaction found that females enjoyed dyadic interaction more than did males and that males enjoyed group interaction more than did females. (MDM)

The social/verbal interactions of six employees with moderate or severe mental retardation and six workers without mental retardation were observed in restaurant settings. Among findings was that interactions between workers with mental retardation and the job coach correlated negatively with the workers' initiation of interactions with co-workers…

Interprets data collected from multi-modal sources (ethnographic interviewing and non-participant observation) using an analytic-inductive method to construct a new Layered Model of Problematic Intercultural Communication. Provides a holistic view of the ways the macro-context, individual (in)competencies, and dyadic communication behaviors…

Addresses the importance of teaching students with hearing impairments zero-order pragmatic-language competencies (PLCs), those communicative and interactive behaviors necessary in everyday social situations to avoid being seen as deviant. Among PLCs are taking turns, initiating or adding to a conversation, and making repairs when necessary. Many…

Fourteen mother-child dyads involving preschool children with autism and 14 matched dyads of typically developing children and mothers were observed during free play. Mothers of autistic children directed verbalizations to something within the child's focus of attention as often as other mothers. They directed verbalizations to something not…

Employs interaction analysis to examine communicative behaviors displayed by management versus labor negotiators at various phases of the collective bargaining process. Finds that administration and teacher negotiators were surprisingly similar in communicative bargaining behaviors exhibited but that communication strategies were different at the…

Examines how students use gendered discourse practices in small peer group settings to accomplish their school tasks. The analysis contributes to the separate worlds hypothesis by showing how Latino children interactionally orient to their peer group as a gendered context. (Author/VWL)

Master Gardener training was delivered via satellite (n=147) and in traditional classrooms (n=151). Using the Verbal Interaction Category System, interaction levels were determined to be similar in the two methods. Most of the traditional (91%) and distance (93%) learners were satisfied with instructor-student communication. (SK)

Bakhtin's language theories give educators a view into how people develop and communicate with language through dialogue. These conceptions can be applied to teaching in a variety of positive ways. The authors explore how teaching based on Bakhtinian concepts might function in the classroom, paying particular attention to the concepts of dialogue,…

Research on Problem-Based Learning in medical education has undergone an evolutionary process from initial proof of concept studies through critiques of the original methods and beyond. Initial studies focused on whether or not the instructional method was effective for medical students and the goals of medical education. Despite much movement…

In 1998 the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching initiated a comprehensive study of professional education in the United States. By focusing on the interactions of teachers and students in the classroom and other formal and informal educational settings, the foundation hoped to discover how clergy, lawyers, engineers, doctors, and…

A model for processes of abstraction, based on epistemic actions, has been proposed elsewhere. Here we apply this model to processes in which groups of individual students construct shared knowledge and consolidate it. The data emphasizes the interactive flow of knowledge from one student to the others in the group, until they reach a shared…

In the past five years, informal science institutions (ISIs), science communication, advocacy and citizen action groups, funding organizations, and policy-makers in the UK and the USA have become increasingly involved in efforts to promote increased public engagement with science and technology (PEST). Such engagement is described as taking place…

Peer tutoring in Higher Education is being used with increasing frequency to aid in student learning, motivation, and empowerment. Although an extensive body of research documents the efficacy of such programs, it exhibits a surprising lack of awareness of the social dynamics involved. This study focuses on peer tutors and students as they…

This paper reviews the research conducted in the last 20 years on the application of technology in support of collaborative learning in higher education. The review focuses primarily on studies that use Internet-based technologies and social interaction analysis. The review provides six sets of observations/recommendations regarding methodology,…