Brooks, C. M., & Ammons, J. L. (2003). Free riding in group projects and the effects of timing, frequency, and specificity of criteria in peer assessments. Journal of Education for Business, 78(5), 268-272.

Students in an interdisciplinary business course (n=330) worked in teams on 3 modules and completed 3 peer evaluations. An evaluation system that provided specific feedback at early and multiple points during group projects helped reduce the problem of free riding and improved student perceptions of group work.

Morita, N. (2004). Negotiating participation and identity in second language academic communities. TESOL Quarterly, 38(4), 573-603.

This article reports on a qualitative multiple case study that explored the academic discourse socialization experiences of L2 learners in a Canadian university. Grounded in the notion of "community of practice" (Lave & Wenger, 1991, p. 89), the study examined how L2 learners negotiated their participation and membership in their new L2 classroom communities, particularly in open-ended class discussions. The participants included 6 female graduate students from Japan and 10 of their course instructors. Students self-reports, interviews, and classroom observations were collected over an entire academic year to provide an in-depth, longitudinal analysis of the students' perspectives about their class participation across the curriculum. Three case studies illustrate that students faced a major challenge in negotiating competence, identities, and power relations, which was necessary for them to participate and be recognized as legitimate and competent members of their classroom communities. The students also attempted to shape their own learning and participation by exercising their personal agency and actively negotiating their positionalities, which were locally constructed in a given classroom. Implications for classroom practices and future research are also discussed.

Mueller, A., & Fleming, T. (2001). Cooperative learning: Listening to how children work at school. Journal of Educational Research, 94(5), 259-265.

Cooperative and collaborative learning are recognized as valuable components of classroom learning. However, many questions remain regarding how teachers might structure and guide children's group-learning experiences. An ethnographic case study of 29 Grade 6 and Grade 7 students who worked in groups over 5 weeks was examined to determine what was learned. Data included audiotape recordings of 6 groups of children working together across 11 work sessions, student interviews, children's self-evaluations and drawings, and research reports. Findings revealed that when working in groups, children require periods of unstructured time to organize themselves and to learn how to work together toward a mutual goal.

Rambo, E., & Matheson, N. (2003). The effect of "coodinator roles" on student group-work productivity. Journal of Policy Studies, 14, 11-26.

Short cuts and commandeering of group direction are some problems that can occur when students are granted autonomy in project-oriented group work (Leki, 2001). The authors identified these problems in an advanced presentation course, and implemented an approach that emphasizes more accountability for team work (Olsen and Kagan 1992, Dornyei 1997) as well as more support for collaboration and productive discussion (Cohen 1994, Bruffee 1999). Each student on a team selected from among six "Coordinator Roles" (for example, "Audio Visual Coordinator" and acted as a leader for that area. After one semester, qualitative information from student portfolio work as well as questionnaire responses were examined and appear to validate the use of coordinator roles as a way of making project-oriented group work more productive.

Ronesi, L. M. (2003). Enhancing postsecondary intergroup relations at the university through student-run ESL instruction. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 2(3), 191-210.

This case-study research examines the prosocial potential of a cooperative-learning, content-based English as a second language program in which native-born and immigrant undergraduate pairs work to develop the immigrant students' academic English. Majority and immigrant student interpretations of their partnerships regarding status and stereotype confirmation/disconfirmation were investigated. Twelve informants comprised 6 pairs representing the program's 3 cooperative models. All 6 native-born informants were White women ages 18 to 26. Four male and 2 female participants, ages 20 to 36, were immigrants from Cambodia, Laos, Cape Verde, and Hong Kong. Data collection included interviews, document review, and observation during two semesters. The theoretical frameworks are cooperative learning, decategorization, and investment informed data analysis. This research found partners' personalized interaction instrumental in promoting status equalization and undermining category-based preconceptions. Interaction between the participants' activated identities and the contact's structural features influenced the development of stereotype-disconfirming and -confirming relationships.

Liang, X. (2004). Cooperative learning as a sociocultural practice. Canadian Modern Language Review, 60(5), 637-668.

This study investigates Chinese immigrant high school students' perceptions of cooperative learning and their interactions during cooperative learning activities in English as a second language (ESL) classes. The findings present a complex picture of cooperative learning in the ESL classroom. The interview results demonstrate that the Chinese students had multiple and contradictory views of cooperative learning. They simultaneously liked and disliked working in groups. The observation data show that these students also produced multiple and conflicting discourses of cooperation, non-cooperation, and mis-cooperation as they worked on cooperative learning tasks. The themes of these contradictory discourses suggest that the Chinese students' everyday lived experiences of cooperative learning in ESL classes were shaped by dilemmatic qualities. The dilemmas these students encountered during cooperative learning tasks seem to derive from conflicting values and practices of the cultural, socio-economic, and educational worlds that these students experienced before and experience now.

Veenman, S. [s.veenman@pwo.ru.nl], Denessen, E., van den Akker, A., & van der Rijt, J. (2005). American Educational Research Journal, 42(1), 115-151.

In this study, the effects of a teacher-training program on the elaborations and affective-motivational resources (i.e., intentions and attitudes toward help seeking, help giving, and achievement goals) of students working on a cooperative task were examined. Participants were teachers from seven primary schools and 24 dyads of sixth-grade students. In general, the program showed moderately positive effects on use of elaborations among the treatment dyads. Dyads with experience in cooperative learning achieved more than dyads without such experience. Mastery- and performance-oriented goals were negatively related to use of high-level elaborations and to student achievement, while use of high-level elaborations was positively related to student achievement.

Lim, K. Y. T. [ytklim@nie.edu.sg] (2004). Enhancing fieldwork in social studies through remotely conducted structured academic controversies. Teaching and Learning, 25(2), 189-196.

The Structured Academic Controversy was developed in the United States by Johnson and Johnson as a way of developing in students an appreciation of multiple perspectives on an issue. Much of the time, the exercise is conducted in a face-to-face group setting in a classroom. This paper explores Structural Academic Controversy in an out-of-class situation in which it is used in enhancing fieldwork in social studies. The paper describes a pilot study involving a class of secondary school students in Singapore, in which they were required to use the strategy of Structured Academic Controversy to analyse socio-economic issues pertaining to several field sites. Pairs of students conducted their collaborative investigations in real-time while still in the field, using modern technologies of text- and picture-messaging.

Nathan, E., & Lee, C. K-E. [clee@nie.edu.sg] (2004). Using structured academic controversies in the Social Studies classroom. Teaching and Learning, 25(2), 171-188.

This article explores the use of Structured Academic Controversies (SAC) in the teaching of secondary Social Studies. Social Studies as a subject abounds with many controversial issues ranging from local ones, such as Singapore’s separation from Malaysia, to conflicts in Sri Lanka and Northern Ireland and the United Nations as a world organisation. An example of a Social Studies lesson which has been trialled in a neighbourhood school is provided. Implications for the use of SAC in Social Studies classrooms are discussed.

Abrami, P. C. [abrami@education.concordia.ca], Poulsen, C., & Chambers, B. (2004). Teacher motivation to implement an educational innovation: Factors differentiating users and non-users of cooperative learning. Educational Psychology, 24(2), 201-216.

This study applied expectancy theory to integrate the numerous and disparate explanations that researchers and educators have proposed to account for teacher resistance to implementing cooperative learning as an educational innovation. The cooperative learning implementation questionnaire (CLIQ) contained 48 items grouped under three broad motivational categories: perceived value of the innovation, expectancy of success, and perceived cost. These items accounted for 42.3% of the total variance in self-reported use of cooperative learning among 933 teachers. Expectancy of success issues were most important in differentiating users and non-users, suggesting that increased emphasis on professional development should be used to enhance teachers' beliefs that they can succeed in implementing an innovation in their own context. This may require both follow-up support and adaptation of the innovation.

Hendry, G.D., Heinrich, P., Lyon, P. M., Barratt, A. L. [alexb@health.usyd.edu.au], Simpson, J. M., Dean, S.J., Gonsalkorale, S., Hyde, M., & Mgaieth, S. (2005). Helping students understand their learning styles: effects on study self-efficacy, preference for group work and group climate. Educational Psychology, 25(4), 395-407.

Small tutorial groups in higher education are often composed without regard to students' gender or broad knowledge background, for example, yet research indicates that composing groups on the basis of gender and prior qualifications may have significant effects on assessment outcomes. Previous studies have also investigated the effects of composing groups on the basis of learning style preference and found no effects. The effect of combining group composition with training in learning styles is unclear, however. In this study we report on the effects of workshop training in learning styles on balanced group members' study self-efficacy, preference for group work, group climate, and assessment performance. Although we found no effects, students reported greater self-awareness of their own learning and acceptance of others' styles. We conclude that in collaborative learning environments, training may need to go beyond facilitating growth in students' self-awareness to include a focus on how to apply this understanding to improving group function and helping others to learn.

Peterson, S. E. [petersonse@duq.edu], & Miller, J. A. (2004). Comparing the quality of students' experiences during cooperative learning and large-group instruction. Journal of Educational Research, 97(3), 123-133.

The authors compared the experiences of college students during cooperative learning and large-group instruction. Undergraduate educational psychology students were assigned to small groups to discuss how they could apply important psychological principles to teaching-learning projects. Students were interrupted during cooperative learning and large-group instruction so that the authors could measure perceptions of their experiences with the experience sampling method (M. Csikszentmihalyi, K. Rathunde, & S. Whalen, 1993). Overall quality of experience was greater during cooperative learning; benefits occurred specifically for thinking on task, student engagement, perceptions of task importance, and optimal levels of challenge and skill. Students were more self-conscious and reported more difficulty concentrating during cooperative learning. Quality of experience did not differ across instructional contexts for high- vs. low-achieving students; high-achieving students experienced greater overall quality of experience in both instructional contexts, particularly in the areas of engagement, perceived skill, and self-esteem.

Borman, G. D. [gborman@education.wisc.edu], Slavin, R. E., Cheung, A., Chamberlain, A., Madden, N., & Chambers, B. (2005). Success for All: First-year results from the national randomized field trial. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 27(1), 1-22.

This article reports first-year achievement outcomes of a national randomized evaluation of Success for All, a comprehensive reading reform model. Forty-one schools were recruited for the study and were randomly assigned to implement Success for All or control methods. No statistically significant differences between experimental and control groups were found in regard to pretests or demographic characteristics. Hierarchical linear model analyses revealed a statistically significant school-level effect of assignment to Success for All of nearly one quarter of a standard deviation-or more than 2 months of additional learning-on individual Word Attack test scores, but there were no school-level differences on the three other posttest measures assessed. These results are similar to those of earlier matched experiments and correspond with the Success for All program theory.

Crouch, C. H., & Mazur, E. [mazur@physics.harvard.edu]. (2001). Peer instruction: Ten years of experience and results. American Journal of Physics, 69(9), 970-977.  To obtain a soft copy, go to
http://mazur-ww.harvard.edu/notification.php?i=Z2VvcmdlQHZlZ2V0YXJpYW4tc29jaWV0eS5vcmc=

We report data from ten years of teaching with Peer Instruction (PI) in the calculus- and  algebra-based introductory physics courses for nonmajors; our results indicate increased student mastery of both conceptual reasoning and quantitative problem solving upon implementing PI. We also discuss ways we have improved our implementation of PI since introducing it in 1991. Most notably, we have replaced in-class reading quizzes with pre-class written responses to the reading, introduced a research-based mechanics textbook for portions of the course, and incorporated cooperative learning into the discussion sections as well as the lectures. These improvements are intended to help students learn more from pre-class reading and to increase student engagement in the discussion sections, and are accompanied by further increases in student understanding.