Describes the use of Zebu, a software tool accessed via a standard Web browser that is designed for constructing online collaborative-learning projects, with seventh-grade students. Discusses learning outcomes, student motivation, peer assessment and feedback, and class projects in poetry, social studies, and science. (LRW)

Reports findings on changes in adolescent-crowd orientations using national data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988. Categorizes high school students into five prototypical peer-crowd orientations at tenth and twelfth grade. Illuminates the change in students' peer crowd orientation by examining individual and relationship…

Examined orientation of high school students' peer groups to formal (school-oriented) and informal (peer-oriented) reward systems. Investigated factors that influence change in peer-group orientation over time, and demonstrated how changes by the individual and changes in peer-group orientation predicted change in ego identity. Demonstrated how…

Identifies characteristics related to marijuana use among high and low academic achieving Mexican American students. Results are discussed in terms of psychological risk factors for both males and females. (Author/MKA)

A study examined experiences of nature among eight adolescents during a 12-day wilderness trip. The trip generated feelings of good will toward nature but no increase in environmentally responsible behaviors. Group norms emphasized social interaction and constrained attention to nature. Outdoor educators should consciously plan for transfer of…

Examines childrens gender behaviors through the use of videotaped observation of four children aged 3 to 5 years old at a university laboratory preschool. Reveals that gender behaviors in early childhood are integrated with student and peer behaviors and constructed by individuals interacting with the social world. Addresses the implications from…

Two studies examined effects of four setting events and two organismic variables on the social behavior of children (ages 9 and 10) with developmental disabilities and autism. Results indicated that peer dyads; cooperative peer intervention; and triads, which included two high-status nondisabled peers, were most effective in promoting positive…

This study investigated the use of dialog journals and peer response to them in a semester-long student teaching practicum. Subjects were nine teachers of English as a Second Language, focusing on the indicators of peer help occurring in the writing and responses and on evidence that peer responses promote reflection. A number of journal excerpts…

Cross-sectional study compares psychosocial factors associated with alcohol use among sixth- and eighth-grade White and American-Indian students. Risk factors were largely similar. Alcohol use rates were higher for American-Indian students, suggesting that prevention may need to begin earlier. (EMK)

Explains two middle school teachers' cooperation with integrating regular and gifted students with disabled students. Focuses on disabled students' collaboration with their peers and their social skill development rather than their academic development. (YDS)

Two educators studied the effect of written teacher and peer comments on ninth graders' writing assignments, creating a peer response activity and analyzing student responses to a survey. Results showed that students considered both teacher and peer comments requesting additional information and correcting mechanics most helpful in the revision…

Reviews selected literature on involving adolescents in providing health education to their peers, providing examples of programs that have used adolescent peers to reduce health risks related to tobacco, alcohol and other drugs, stress, eating behavior, and AIDS. (SM)

Reviews research on friendships of delinquents and nondelinquents. Contrasting theories and research have pointed to both the distinctiveness of delinquent friendships and the commonality with normal friendships. Greater conflict, poorer attachment quality, lesser ability to repair relationships, cognitive distortions, and poorer social-cognitive…

Why some teachers who were evaluated as marginal or incompetent were able to change teaching behaviors in order to be recognized in later evaluations as competent or even superior was studied with 14 high school teachers. Peer collaboration and self-awareness were most often cited by these teachers as reasons for change. (SLD)

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Trading Cards Program to positively influence elementary students' (n=829) perceptions about the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. The program used drug-free high school students to model behaviors and social competencies. Significant differences were found between elementary students in the…