This ethnographic study identifies and explains instructional strategies that result in active, silent, or controlled classroom discussions. Strategies are explained by looking at the discussion's structural sequence, the content of the teacher's questions, and the use of informal language. (Author/MT)

Describes a program which was designed to improve the reading skills and broaden the reading interests of fifth grade students. Critical and higher-level thinking skills were stressed in the program, which included a reading list divided by genre and such activities as group discussions and a contest. (MES)

Whenever there is a data gathering need and a group of people have input, the group interview may be a viable approach. The authors offer a step-by-step model for conducting group interviews. (JOW)

Analyzed group discussions associated with 68 high-quality and 29 low-quality decisions made by comparably informed groups using cross-contact comparison. Found vigilance, second-guessing, and accurate information processing associated with high-quality decisions; faulty information processing and improbable fantasy chains with low-quality…

Shows how teachers can demonstrate the importance of accurate historical accounts by "falsifying" the history contained in their textbooks. Recommends that the teacher enter the classroom with false "corrections" sent by the textbook author. Concludes by describing activities designed to help students examine and refute the false account. (JDH)

Ten fourth and fifth grade teachers, after two training workshops, led discussions of critical thinking with groups of six children from their own classes. Audiotape analysis revealed differences in teacher and pupil participation before and after the training. Results and implications for teaching thinking skills are presented. (Author/MT)

The reader's role in constructing stories is explored, and the role of participants in shaping a group text is examined. Parts of discussions by two groups of eighth-graders are reproduced and interpreted. (MT)

Supports the "functional" view that it is the satisfaction of critical task requirements (or conditions), rather than the discussion procedures that are employed to do so, that actually determines whether a group will arrive at a low- or high-quality decision. (PD)

Describes how the Junior Great Books Program of the Great Books Foundation gives children an interpretive method for a lifetime of reading. The method involves selecting readings that will sustain discussion, the discussion method of "shared inquiry," and a course on interpretive reading and discussion. (RH)

The paper describes the characteristics of a successfully operating study group for practicing special education teachers to promote professional exchange and problem solving and maintenance and generalization of professional teacher practices. Procedural characteristics are noted as well as some social validation data collected from group…

Ten children's books portraying positive images of learning disabled children are listed and procedures for facilitating discussion of the books with the entire class are outlined. (CL)

Discusses the development and description of a comprehensive framework to explain small group behavior labeled the Matrix Model. Argues that a synthesis of knowledge from the adaptive, developmental, structural, transactional, and gestalt points of view will provide a more meaningful and useful understanding of small groups. (LLL)

This paper describes a six-week series designed to address the issues of the women's movement, and the relevance it may be having on the personal lives and choices of women attending the course. Participants' responses indicate that it fulfilled important functions of information dissemination and self-exploration opportunities. (NG)

Fifteen recommendations were developed by the Roundtable on Higher Education during the group's annual meeting June 15, 2004. Following the meeting, a survey was sent to the roundtable members to determine the extent of agreement with each of the recommendations. Survey results showed a high level of agreement among roundtable members on all 15…

This paper describes the use of focus groups as a qualitative research method. The focus group is a carefully designed discussion that allows people to express their points of view and provide researchers with indicators of program impact. Participants in focus groups possess certain characteristics related to the subject under study. They are…