This was an action research study examining 1) narratives community college writing students had about themselves as writers in a college-level writing course and 2) the connection between those narratives and student experience of collaborative learning activities. The study of narrative is particularly useful in determining how people make meaning of experiences in their lives. The class utilized three types of teaching and learning to explore the writing process, including lecture, discussion groups and collaborative learning activities. Students and teacher used a social-constructionist approach to conversation that implemented a process of reflective dialogue about writing and writers' strategies. At the end of the course, which began with thirty students, nineteen students out of twenty anonymously volunteered to participate in the study. A neutral third party randomly selected twelve names for final participation. The researcher conducted a phenomenological analysis of audio taped entrance and exit interviews of the twelve students. The study also utilized relevant examples from student journals and researcher field notes. Data analysis yielded themes that the researcher subjected to metaphorical analysis. Findings revealed what narratives students had about themselves as writers upon entering and exiting the course. Results showed that using collaborative learning activities in the writing classroom influenced student narratives of themselves as writers. Students experienced interpersonal and technical gains from participation in social-constructionist-oriented classroom dialogue about writing and from certain, specific aspects of a learning environment that incorporated collaborative learning activities. Conclusions linked the use of collaborative learning in the college writing classroom to the creation of a “novelesque” and process-oriented class experience that lent itself to the meaning-making of college writing. There were additional implications from this study concerning composition studies and student retention of college freshmen.

This study examined the experience of Appreciative Inquiry practitioners participating in collaborative learning. Participants engaged in a process of action and reflection called levelising, designed to surface assumptions and hidden frames of reference (Peters, 1999). Although the focus of their eight-month dialogue was on understanding post-modern organizational design and strength-based organization practices, the researcher was interested in the impact of levelising on the participants' practices, including the researcher's own. Data sources consisted of phenomenological interviews with eight participants, email posts, and field notes. Analysis data revealed six themes, four of which addressed group dynamics and forums for engagement. Two addressed the experience of participants' levelising conversations. Findings indicated that the elements of collaborative learning—dialogical space, multiple ways of knowing, cycles of action and reflection, and a focus on knowledge construction—played a role in meaning making. The results suggest that levelising may offer a practical means for double-loop learning, helping those who engage in this practice align theories in action with espoused theories. This research has implications for educators, consultants, and business leaders interested in implementing a progressive and ordered practice to become strength-based organizations.

The purpose of this study was to determine if Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) was an effective method of treatment for reducing behaviors associated with attachment difficulties experienced by foster children who have been removed from their family of origin. This study also sought to determine if the age of the foster child, the gender of the foster child, or the number of foster placements would also influence behaviors associated with attachment difficulties. This study was conducted with a pre-test, post-test, quasi-experimental group, control group design format using the Randolph Attachment Disorder Questionnaire (RADQ) assessment instrument. The quasi-experimental group received the CPRT intervention and the control group participated in a support group. Results indicated no significant group interaction was found demonstrating that improvement in overall behaviors associated with attachment difficulty did not differ between the two groups. However, both the quasi-experimental group and the control group demonstrated a significant improvement in behaviors associated with attachment difficulty over time. When the two groups were compared using the subscales of the RADQ, the control group demonstrated a significant difference in the social subscale. There were no significant difference between the quasi-experimental and control groups‟ mean scores on the basis of age, however, the subscales of the post-test of the quasi-experimental group indicated an improvement in at least one subscale. There were no significant findings in relation to the total RADQ scores in regard to gender or in relation to the number of foster placements experienced by the child. The implications of these findings are discussed and directions for future research are also presented.

A major purpose of the study was to assess the relative merits of group versus individually contingent consequences in modifying the classroom behavior of adolescents, Other major purposes were to determine whether student conduct would improve with the implementation of structured lessons and to ascertain whether improvements would occur with the awarding of points as a consequence for appropriate behavior without the use of backup reinforcers. Eight students in an inner-city seventh grade classroom of 32 blacks served as the subjects. They were selected by the teacher as the most disruptive students who were in regular attendance. The eight subjects and the teacher were observed daily for 60 days in math and for 67 days in geography. Observation of students was conducted to determine the effectiveness of experimental conditions, while rating of teacher behavior was carried out to evaluate whether his behavior changed under the different treatments. Treatments were applied successively in math and geography, and, except for the final phase in geography, a session in one class always corresponded to a session in the other class period, The phases were: math--baseline, geography--baseline; math--structured lessons, geography-baseline continued; math--group contingent free time, geography--structured lessons; math--structured lessons, geography--group contingent free time; math--individually contingent free time, geography--structured lessons; math--structured lessons, geography--individually contingent free time; math--points, geography--structured lessons; geography--points. The structured lessons involved the daily specification of rules for classroom conduct and a mimeographed handout of the day's lesson being presented to each child as he entered the class. Subsequently, other consequences (e.g., group contingent free time) were simply added to or subtracted from the structured lessons, Under the individually contingent free time, any student could earn free time privileges (e.g., getting to talk with friends, study other lessons) contingent upon meeting a predetermined criterion of appropriate behavior. During the group procedure free time privileges were dependent upon the combined behavior of the class. The points phases consisted of students earning points for desired behaviors, but the points could no longer be used to purchase free time as had been the case under the individually contingent free time phase. Line graphs were plotted to illustrate the percentages of appropriate behaviors of the subjects for each day of the study. Nonparametric statistics were also used to analyze changes in appropriate behavior as a function of experimental conditions. Tabular presentations and histograms were the primary methods employed in illustrating teacher behaviors. Every treatment condition in math yielded statistically higher levels of appropriate student behavior than the baseline. Similarly, only the structured lessons in geography were not statistically different from baseline. The group and individually contingent consequences produced significantly higher rates of desired behaviors than the other treatments. The group procedure in math, but not in geography, was statistically superior to the individually contingent free time. Overall, the class achieved the highest rates of appropriate behavior during the group contingent free time phases, Individually contingent free time ranked second in the production of positive effects. Points, structured lessons, and baseline yielded successively lower rates of desired responses. Both the structured lessons and points phases resulted in increased percentages of appropriate classroom behaviors, but their power to modify student behaviors enough to establish a semblance of effective.classroom control was not demonstrated, Although the group contingent consequences were found to be the most potent treatment, both group and individually contingent free time proved to be powerful techniques for a beginning teacher to use in improving and sustaining desired student behaviors. From the standpoint of teacher time, the group procedure appeared more efficient since consequences had to be dispensed only once for the entire class as opposed to awarding free time to 32 individual students. Finally, statistical analyses of results across math and geography revealed that treatment effects were highly specific to the setting in which they were applied.

The study was conducted to investigate Taiwanese junior high school students’ perceptions of their teachers’ teaching styles and the students’ own use of learning strategies and to determine if there was a significant relationship between perceived teaching style and learning strategy use. The data for this study were gathered from a sample of 95 junior high school students enrolled in four Chinese language classes at Yuanlin Junior high school. The students completed the Junior High School Teacher’s Teaching Style Questionnaire and the Taiwanese version of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. The findings from this study led to the following conclusions: (1) the students preferred to use learning strategies that enabled them to use time well and choose environments conducive to learning. Moreover, they preferred to seek assistance from their teachers or classmates when encountering learning difficulties; (2) gender differences in learning strategy use were not significant. Among nine learning strategies, male and female students both exhibited more use of strategies for Effort Management, Help-seeking, and Time and Study Management; (3) the dominant teaching style, as perceived by the students, was indifference; (4) the results revealed that there were no significant relationships between students’ perceptions of teaching styles and learning strategy use.

Effect of reciprocal inhibition therapy

Inaug.-diss.--Tübingen. / Lebens- und bildungsgang. "Literaturverzeichnis": p. 100-102.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Michigan, 1915. / "Published as no. 91 of the Psychological monographs." Bibliography: p. [1] at end.

<p> Young children first learn ways of understanding their world within families and communities (Cole, 2007; Rogoff, 2003). While we know that life in families shapes how children notice, question, and explain (Crowley, Callanan, Jipson, Galco, Topping, &amp; Shrager, 2001; Goodwin, 2007), we know relatively little about how this occurs within moments of interaction (Mehus, Stevens, &amp; Grigholm, 2010), when this occurs in family activity (Ochs, Taylor, Rudolph, &amp; Smith, 1992), or children&rsquo;s experiences as they move across settings (Leander, Philips, &amp; Taylor, 2010). Drawing upon ethnomethodological and interactional analysis traditions (McDermott, 1976; Jordan &amp; Henderson, 1995 Pomerantz &amp; Fehr, 1997), I analyze data from a longitudinal video-ethnographic study to explore young children&rsquo;s naturally occurring activity at home and school over time. </p><p> I explore how and when children learn to notice, question, and explore by looking across several focal children&rsquo;s interactions in families. I define Inquiry as a Members&rsquo; Phenomenon (Sacks, 1967/1992; Stevens, 2010) to focus on how participants oriented to exploring puzzling situations with others (Dewey, 1938/1981) and to better understand the forms of sense-making in which they engaged during these moments. I also explore two focal children&rsquo;s routine participation over time (ages two to three years, and age seven) within their families. I propose family questioning practices as patterns in interaction (Tuomi-Gr&ouml;hn, 2003) that capture how children come to perceive and know their world. Tracing children&rsquo;s engagement in their preschool classroom allows me to explore why some children were more successful in engaging teachers in questioning similar to family practices. I explain this difference as a result of tensions first between children&rsquo;s expectations for appropriate contexts in which to ask certain kinds of questions and those expectations of teachers, and second tensions in participant interests and concerns. Rather than see such tensions as obstacles, these tensions can be understood as places for future innovation (Engestr&ouml;m, 1987, 1999). Thus, this work contributes to understanding how and when children engage in inquiry, as well as the family practices that shape engagement in inquiry, that might inform research supporting teachers drawing upon how children perceive and know for inquiry learning. </p>

Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to analyze the personal characteristics of high school students enrolled in an alternative school with those enrolled in a traditional school and (2) to compare the achievement observed in selected psychological and educational factors by these students during a semester. Significance of the Study A review of the literature pertaining to high risk students revealed that the majority of the studies focused on the acquisition of basic skills to the relative exclusion of other important areas. For example, there was a paucity of research related to the affective domain. No attempt is made to diminish the importance of reading writing and arithmetic in the student’s academic behavior but equal attention needs to be given to the psychosocial factors that impact on the academic behavior of students. Methods and Procedures. The ex post facto research design was employed in this study. It permitted the investigator to compare the differences between alternative school students and traditional school students on selected psychological and educational variables. The dependent variables were the measure of academic achievement, academic performance, attendance, career maturity, and disruptive behavior. Participants The participants consisted of seventy adolescent students. Instruments The following instruments were utilized to collect data for this study: the Basic Skills Assessment Program, the Career Maturity Inventory, the How I See Myself Scale, the attendance reports, and the discipline records of the participant. Conclusions The following general conclusions were drawn from the findings of this study: 1. Since there was no statistically significant difference between the levels of self-concept and academic achievement of students enrolled in alternative and traditional schools it may be concluded that these students have similar self-concepts and academic achievement. 2. The nature of student academic achievement in alternative schools parallel academic achievement of students enrolled in traditional schools. 3. There is a strong similarity between the academic performance of students enrolled in traditional schools. 4. Students in alternative schools and students in traditional schools have similar attendance patterns. 5. Students in alternative schools experience the same level of career maturity as students in traditional schools. 6. Students in alternative schools experience the same level of disruptive behavior as students enrolled in traditional schools.