This book, which is intended for educators and trainers involved in designing group activities, examines the theory and practice of group activities. The first three chapters, which introduce theories about group instruction, deal with the following topics: the rationale for group instruction (types of group methods and reasons for using them); design (models for educational design, design as process, influences on learning outcome, and questions in planning for learning groups); and making sense of groups (observation guides, explanatory frameworks, ideas in practice, and guidelines for working with learning groups). Discussed in the next four chapters are the following: (1) boundaries, predictability, and control (experiencing group methods and implications for tutors and trainers and the question of control); (2) learning from the milieu (values and beliefs implicit in experiential learning, group activities as a medium for social values, and the medium of groupwork as a source of learning); (3) groups as open systems (context and learning groups as "small worlds"); and (4) groups in education and development (learning communities, online groups, single-sex groups, and team development). Concluding the book is a postscript regarding implications for staff development and the implications of assessment. The bibliography contains 52 references. (MN)