Sunday, June 17, 2012

Annotated Bibliography - Torbett


1.     Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice. (2001). Functional behavioral assessment. Retrieved May 29, 2007, from

The Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice is centered on problem solving and its processes in the addressing of student problem behaviors.  Most of the research and assessments, in particular the functional behavior assessment consists of videos containing intervention plans. It covers the definitions and origins of functional behavioral assessment, what is involved in conducting a functional behavioral assessment and the criteria for determining when one is needed, and other relevant issues surrounding this technique.  The video set will prove helpful, as it will offer insight as to how to perform effective assessments during the data collection process.


2.     Sawyer, R. K. (2007). Group genius: The creative power of collaboration. New York:  Basic Books.

Professor Sawyer, is an Associate Professor of Education, an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology, and an Affiliated Professor in the Program in Philosophy, Neuroscience, and Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis. His focus on “interaction analysis” began while studying his doctorate degree.  This book focuses on guided and planned improvisations that enhance creativity in the collaborative learning environment.  The book presents research on the collaborative nature of the mind, and also offers insight to the creative collaboration process.  This book differs in that it uses comparative research in the workplace, and draws conclusion and connection from the success of both students and group workers in the professional environment.

3.     North, A. C., Linley, P. A., & Hargreaves, D. J. (2000). Social loafing in a co-operative classroom task. Educational Psychology, 20(4), 389-392.

The authors, reasearchers at the University of Leicester, UK, and Roehampton Institute, Digby Stuart College, UK, make reference to ‘social loafing.’  Emphasis was placed on the potential impact of group size on social loafing.  Reference is made to the importance of group collaborations as a means of:  a) developing a variety of transferable and b) assisting the development of students that are less able.  There is a central focus of educational gains acquired by created collaborative classroom activities.  The research data is conducted on Undergraduate college students vs. High Schoolers. 


4.     Negus, K., & Pickering, M. (2004). Creativity, communication, and cultural value.  London: Sage Publications.

The authors, Pickering and Negus, are researchers hailing from the United Kingdom and span studies of musicology, media, and cultural analysis.  The book deals with creativity, the communication thereof, and the culture of it.  The main focus is to counter both the fallacious and opportunistic views of the term.  This reference will be used as a way of breaking down the term “creativity,” and will encompass the use of it in the classroom as a means of studying group interaction while creating.  The main goal of this article is to put into perspective a singular model of the term, and uses of it to enhance communication and cultural growth.  This will serve as a viable resource, as it will help zero in on the term in affiliation with communication and culture.

5.     Moran, S., & John-Steiner, V. (2003). Creativity in the making: Vygotsky's contemporary contribution to the dialectic of development and creativity. Creativity and development (pp. 61-90). New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.

Moran, PhD., human development and psychology, Harvard, and Vera John-Steiner, PhD. Presidential Professor of Linguistics & Education, University of New Mexico, perform research based on the Russian, Lev Vygotsky.  Vygotsky was an icon in the early research and theory of developmental and child psychology. Vygotsky theorized that learning jumpstarted mental development and knowledge construction was a social, cooperative venture. Because of his notion of the zone of proximal development, through which a less capable person learns with the aid of a more capable person, and his extensive work on the role of language in mediating relationships, Vygotsky’s strongest influence has been in teacher training and linguistics.  This will serve as a sound reference, as it is important to understand theories of development prior to collecting data.


6.     Mason, J. (2002). Qualitative researching. London: Sage Publications.

Jennifer Mason, Professor of Sociology, Co-Director of Morgan Centre for Study of Relationships and Personal Life, University of Manchester, UK, has authored the qualitative research document that I will use as a “handbook” while forming the qualitative study.  The book defines qualitative research and presents challenges in obtaining it.  This will serve as a wonderful tool in helping the research process remain true to its type.  This book will serve as nothing more than a tool to help better collect, record, and present data, which makes it quite contradictory to the other references.


7.     Michaelson, L.K., Sweet, M. (2008). The Essential Elements of team-based learning. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 7-14

Larry K. Michaelson, University of Oklahoma, and Michael Sweet probe interest in team –based learning in small groups.  This will serve as an extremely important facet in future research, as it deals with smaller group practices, which will be a similar setting for the research that is to be conducted.  It focuses on assurance testing, peer evaluations and the proper introduction to team based learning in the classroom.  The article also deals with Expanded use of team-based learning in Professional Schools and International settings, which may pose little needed information for this particular study.  However, there is information that is also presented involving team based learning and Instructional Technology, which will serve as an invaluable tool.


8.     Smith, M. K. (2003, 2009). Communities of practice: The encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved May 2, 2009, from http://www.infed.org/biblio/communities_of_practice.htm#conclusion

Mark K. Smith, author of this article, spends time focusing on Wenger’s idea that communities of practice are formed by people who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavor.  There is much ideology placed on characteristics of communities of practice, and the three elements consisting of the domain, the community and the practice.  There is research that emphasizes that to learn to talk is a legitimate peripheral participation.  T=Focus is dealt with Learning organizations and learning communities. Te research concludes with issues and implications or educators and amateurs.


9.     Gokhale, A. A.  (1995). Collaborative Learning Enhances Crtitical Thinking.  Retrieved June 5, 2012, from

The researcher of this article, Gokhale, is an Associate Professor at Western Illinois University, sets forth his independent variable, which focused on method of instruction.  This variable carries two specific categories, Individual Learning and Collaborative Learning.  This information can be helpful as it shows the independent learning variable that can be used to measure individual vs. group learning in either environment. The research is put in specific steps, and clear sets of data measuring tools are used.  The chosen two methods are lecture and worksheet.  Both sets were used on both the Individual Learning Group, and the Collaborative Group.  His findings are quantitative, which could not be used in the research, but his methods could prove as useful tools.

1.  Slavin, R., Schlomo, S.,  Kagan, S., Hertz-Lazarowitz, R.,  Webb, C., Schmuck, R. (1985).  Learning To Cooperate/Cooperate To Learn.  Plenum Press, New York

This book consists of multiple articles stemming form Professors from a variety of Universities to Include John Hopkins, University of Oregon, and study in the Education Departments there.  He brings forth the ideas that over the past decades that human beings have pushed to live closer together and react and learn in closer knot environments.  They claim that there are two “streams” of historical thought that flows from the work of Hohn Dewey and the other flowing out of the work of Kurt Lewin.  The article presents Historical research on the theories of Cooperating Learning.  The main focus of my research will stem from the question of “What happens when we change from the traditional classroom to cooperative methods?”  They have been studied in two principal areas:  student achievement and students social relationships.  This will be a main resource for the upcoming research to be performed.

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