Collaborative Group Work Research Articles

Effects of ICT group work on interactions and social acceptance of a primary pupil with Asperger's Syndrome

AbstractThe aim of this study was to ascertain whether collaborative group work on a computer, facilitated by an adult, could provide a means for a primary schoolboy with Asperger's Syndrome (AS)—moderately‐highly affected in all areas of the “triad of impairments”—to develop appropriate task‐related interactions with his peers. Data were gathered before, during, and after group work sessions. A combination of interviews and questionnaires established background data and concerns of parent and teachers. Sociometric testing of classmates was used to determine social acceptance and friendship grouping among the child's immediate peer group. During the adult‐facilitated ICT sessions an interaction process schedule (IPS) was used to record interactions of the three children involved. The results indicate moderate improvements in the child's ability to interact with his peers, both in social and task‐related contexts, as well as a raised social profile among his classmates in general. Although this was a discrete setting, the findings are encouraging and this strategy may be replicated in schools to support mainstream inclusion for children with AS.

Developing ‘Learning to Learn’ Skills Through Experiential Challenges

A group of Year 6 pupils (aged 10–11 years) at Newbarns Primary School, Barrow-in-Furness (4 boys and 2 girls, all identified as highly able by their class-teacher) took part in a project using MTa PASS (2002) materials in order to help them develop their learning skills. The activities they undertook as part of this project were known to them as ‘challenges,’ and the main focus of the evaluation was to examine the extent to which pupils were applying the skills they had learned from these ‘challenges’ to their wider learning. MTa PASS materials are designed to help participants find out about their skills and abilities, develop constructive attitudes to learning, and improve their intra- and inter-personal skills. The package contains 17 different activities (many of which bear repetition), based around a set of constructional equipment. The activities are graded for degree of difficulty, but no specific sequence has to be followed. Collaborative small group work is central to all the activities, as is a significant plenary element, involving high levels of review and reflection.

How not to integrate computers with group projects: an example from the field

Designing and implementing pedagogies that support collaborative groupwork experiences and which also incorporate the use of information and communications technology is a commonplace, yet complex, task. This article describes a case study that uncovered problems with such an approach that employed interdisciplinary group projects in an undergraduate business program. Described is how the use of computers, in this context, constrained the participants' joint activity and therefore did not foster the elaboration of knowledge and critical thinking hoped for within the ideals of an integrated approach. The participants, instead, specialized with some students working hard to piece together a report whilst others loafed.

Concurrent PET/CT with an Integrated Imaging System: Intersociety Dialogue from the Joint Working Group of the American College of Radiology, the Society of Nuclear Medicine, and the Society of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance

Rapid advances in imaging technology are a challenge for health care professionals, who must determine how best to use these technologies to optimize patient care and outcomes. Hybrid imaging instrumentation, combining 2 or more new or existing technologies, each with its own separate history of clinical evolution, such as PET and CT, may be especially challenging. CT and PET provide complementary anatomic information and molecular information, respectively, with PET giving specificity to anatomic findings and CT offering precise localization of metabolic activity. Historically, the acquisition and interpretation of the 2 image sets have been performed separately and very often at different times and locales. Recently, integrated PET/CT systems have become available; these systems provide PET and CT images that are acquired nearly simultaneously and are capable of producing superimposed, coregistered images, greatly facilitating interpretation. As the implementation of this integrated technology has become more widespread in the setting of oncologic imaging, questions and concerns regarding equipment specifications, image acquisition protocols, supervision, interpretation, professional qualifications, and safety have arisen. This article summarizes the discussions and observations surrounding these issues by a collaborative working group consisting of representatives from the American College of Radiology, the Society of Nuclear Medicine, and the Society of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance.

In the eye of the beholder: A visualization-based approach to information system security

Computer system security is traditionally regarded as a primarily technological concern; the fundamental questions to which security researchers address themselves are those of the mathematical guarantees that can be made for the performance of various communication and computational challenges. However, in our research, we focus on a different question. For us, the fundamental security question is one that end-users routinely encounter and resolve for themselves many times a day—the question of whether a system is secure enough for their immediate needs. In this paper, we will describe our explorations of this issue. In particular, we will draw on three major elements of our research to date. The first is empirical investigation into everyday security practices, looking at how people manage security as a practical, day-to-day concern, and exploring the context in which security decisions are made. This empirical work provides a foundation for our reconsideration of the problems of security to a large degree as an interactional problem. The second is our systems approach, based on visualization and event-based architectures. This technical approach provides a broad platform for investigating security and interaction, based on a set of general principles. The third is our initial experiences in a prototype deployment of these mechanisms in an application for peer-to-peer file sharing in face-to-face collaborative settings. We have been using this application as the basis of an initial evaluation of our technology in support of everyday security practices in collaborative workgroups.

Acoustics and sociolinguistics: Patterns of communication in hearing impairing classrooms

In elementary school classes, noise during student led activities is often taken as evidence of successful interaction and learning. In this complex social environment of elementary school classrooms, acquisition of complex language and social skills—the focus of activities in early education—is expected to take place in hearing-hostile environments. Communication and language processing in these contexts requires interactive strategies, discourse forms, and syntactic structures different from the educationally desired forms used in acoustically advantageous environments. Recordings were made of the interaction of groups of students in grades 1–3, 5, and 7 during collaborative group work in their regular classrooms. Each student wore microphones at the ear level and head-mounted video cameras. Each group as a whole was also audio- and videotaped and noise level readings were recorded. Analysis of the acoustical and phonological properties of language heard by each student has demonstrated that the language variety used in these noisy and reverberant settings is similar to that of individuals with hearing impairments. This paper reports similarities between the syntactic structures and pragmatic strategies used by hearing impaired children and normally hearing children in noisy contexts. [Work supported by Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, University of British Columbia.]

Motivational interviewing in community-based research: Experiences from the field

Motivational Interviewing (MI) has been established as an effective psychotherapeutic treatment for problem drinking in clinical settings. Consequently, there is a growing interest in applying MI to facilitate change across other health behaviors, such as tobacco use, eating habits, and physical activity in a variety of community-based research settings. These extended applications pose new challenges regarding implementation and evaluation. For instance, investigators must consider how best to train intervention counselors; implement strategies for preserving the MI spirit, despite limited client contact time; incorporate adjunctive strategies that support brief MI sessions; and develop a plan for monitoring and evaluating MI treatment fidelity. This article highlights specific examples of how several behavior change research projects applied MI across a variety of settings and populations, provides lessons learned from our experience as a collaborative workgroup, and offers strategies for consideration in future community-based research.

Dynamics Of Composite Work Groups & It's Impact On An Organization

Groups are everywhere; in industry, in business, in government, in schools, any professional associations-it is omnipresent wherever people go together to get things done. Indeed, the peoples' management approach has made the collaborative group work as one of the inevitable feature that has swept through organizations during the last two decades of the twentieth century. Organizations have sold on the value of collaborative group work. One issue, which usually remains unaddressed, is how these performing groups are able to bring about drastic change, bringing good to the organizations' bottom line. Much has been written and said about the after results of the performing group. However, what is important to study is ultimately, what is the processes intervention that takes place from the formation to the working of a performing group. These are the dynamics that when left unattended; only widen the gap between what is promised and what can be accomplished. To gain further insight, authors have taken a case of a T.V. Glass manufacturing plant, a retrospective study to underneath the process of interventions and especially the various processes and their impact on the group, its members and on the overall performance of the group.

Mitigating the Impact of Hospital Restructuring on Nurses

A decade of North American hospital restructuring in the 1990s resulted in the layoff of thousands of nurses, leading to documented negative consequences for both nurses and patients. Nurses who remained employed experienced significant negative physical and emotional health, decreased job satisfaction, and decreased opportunity to provide quality care. To develop a theoretical model of the impact of hospital restructuring on nurses and determine the extent to which emotionally intelligent nursing leadership mitigated any of these impacts. The sample was drawn from all registered nurses in acute care hospitals in Alberta, Canada, accessed through their professional licensing body (N = 6,526 nurses; 53% response rate). Thirteen leadership competencies (founded on emotional intelligence) were used to create 7 data sets reflecting different leadership styles: 4 resonant, 2 dissonant, and 1 mixed. The theoretical model was then estimated 7 times using structural equation modeling and the seven data sets. Nurses working for resonant leaders reported significantly less emotional exhaustion and psychosomatic symptoms, better emotional health, greater workgroup collaboration and teamwork with physicians, more satisfaction with supervision and their jobs, and fewer unmet patient care needs than did nurses working for dissonant leaders. Resonant leadership styles mitigated the impact of hospital restructuring on nurses, while dissonant leadership intensified this impact. These findings have implications for future hospital restructuring, accountabilities of hospital leaders, the achievement of positive patient outcomes, the development of practice environments, the emotional health and well-being of nurses, and ultimately patient care outcomes.

Do Children with ADHD Benefit from Psychosocial Intervention?

Do Children with ADHD Benefit from Psychosocial Intervention?Sam GoldsteinSam Goldstein1. member of the editorial board and is also on the faculty of the University of Utah Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, as well as in private practice at the Neurology, Learning, and Behavior Clinic, 230 South 500 East, Suite 100, Salt Lake City, Utah 84102Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online::May 2005https://doi.org/10.1521/adhd.12.6.1.55254PDFPDF PLUS ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations AboutReferencesAbikoff , H., & Gittelman, R. (1985). Hyperactive children treated with stimulants: Is cognitive training a useful adjunct? Archives of General Psychiatry, 42, 953–961. Crossref, Google ScholarArnold , L.E., Abikoff, H.B., Cantwell, D.P., et al. (1997). National Institute of Mental Health Collaborative Multi-Site Multi-Modal Treatment Study of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (The MTA): Design Challenges and Choices. Archives of General Psychiatry, 54, 865–870. Crossref, Google ScholarConners , C.K., Epstein, J.N., March, J.S., et al. (2001). Multi–modal treatment of ADHD in the MTA: An alternative outcome analysis. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 40, 159–167. Crossref, Google ScholarFabiano, G.A., Pelham, W.E., Gnagy, E.M., Burrows–Maclean, L., Massetti, G.M., Wymbs, B.T., Coles, E.K., Chacko, A., Walker, K.S., Arnold, F., Robb, J.A., Garefino, A., Keenan, J.K., & Hoffman, M.T. The single and combined effects of three intensities of behavior modification and four intensities of medication in a summer treatment program classroom. Unpublished manuscript. Google ScholarHechtman, L., & Abikoff, H. (1995). Multi–modal treatment plus stimulant versus stimulant treatment in ADHD children: Results from a two-year, comparative treatment study. Paper presented at the proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. New Orleans, Louisiana, October 1995. Google ScholarKlein , R.G., Abikoff, H., Hechtman, L., & Weiss, G. (2004). Design and rationale of controlled study of long–term methylphenidate and multi–modal psychosocial treatment in children with ADHD. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 43, 792–801. Crossref, Google ScholarMTA Cooperative Group (1999). A fourteen month, randomized, clinical trial of treatment strategies for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56, 1073–1086. Crossref, Google ScholarPelham, W.E., Burrows–MacLean, L., Gnagy, E.M., Coles, E.K., Wymbs, B.T., Chacko, A., Walker, K., Arnold, F., Keenan, J.K., Onyango, A.N., Fabiano, G.A., Hoffman, M.T., & Massetti, G.M. A dose–ranging study of behavioral and pharmacological treatment for children with ADHD. Unpublished manuscript. Google Scholar Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Cited byCited by1. Effects of computer collaborative group work on peer acceptance of a junior pupil with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)Online publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar Volume 12Issue 6Dec 2004 Information© 2004 by The Guilford PressPDF download

Developing a practical approach to creativity and collaborative groupwork

Developing a practical approach to creativity and collaborative groupwork

Illuminating and facilitating professional knowledge through case work

In the spring of 2002 the Ontario College of Teachers began a research project in order to foster awareness of the Standards of Practice for the 187 000 teachers in the province. Case work, in which 18 teachers representative of the College's membership wrote narratives describing their professional dilemmas, was the methodology chosen. Through reflection and collaborative group work these practitioners co‐created a set of cases, mapping them back to the standards in order to ascertain how the standards had been embedded or absent from their daily practice. To validate the effectiveness of this method, we used the cases in pre‐service, in‐service, principal and supervisory personnel venues. We also recorded the impact of the ‘case institute’ in a focus group session with the original writers. Augmented by commentaries from internationally known teacher educators, this text will be sent to all provincial school boards as part of a resource kit to educate teachers about the standards of practice. Au printemps 2002, l'Ordre des enseignantes et des enseignants de l'Ontario amorçait un projet de recherche ayant pour but de sensibiliser les 187 000 enseignants de la province aux normes d'exercice de leur profession. L'étude de cas rédigés par 18 enseignants membres de l'Ordre est la méthode qui allait servir à présenter divers dilemmes professionnels. Ainsi, ces praticiens ont réfléchi et travaillé ensemble pour présenter des cas et les rattacher aux normes afin de déterminer la présence ou l'absence des normes dans leurs pratiques quotidiennes. Pour valider l'efficacité de cette méthode, nous avons mis les cas à l'épreuve lors d'activités organisées pour les étudiants des facultés d'éducation, des enseignants en perfectionnement professionnel, des directeurs d'école et des agents de supervision. Nous avons également réuni les 18 rédacteurs pour discuter de l'impact des ateliers de rédaction de cas. Le texte, auquel s'ajoutent les commentaires d'éducateurs de renommée internationale, fera partie de la trousse de ressources qui sera envoyée à tous les conseils scolaires de la province pour initier les enseignants aux normes d'exercice de la profession. Im Frühjahr 2002, unternahm das Ontario College of Teachers einen Forschungsprojekt mit dem Ziel, das Bewußtsein der Normen der Praxis unter den 187,000 Lehrer des Bundeslandes Ontario zu fördern. Die gewählte Methodologie war die Untersuchung von spezifischen Fallberichten, in denen 18 Lehrer, die repräsentativ für die Mitglieder der Organisation dastehen, ihre Entscheidungen im beruflichen Alltag begründeten. In einem von Überlegung, Zusammenarbeit und Gruppenarbeit geprägten Verfahren schufen diese Lehrer und Lehrerinnen einen Korpus der Fälle, die sie anschließend zu den Berufsnormen zurückverfolgten, um festzustellen, wie die Normen sich in der täglichen Praxis eingebettet hatten oder das Gegenteil. Um die Wirksamkeit der Methode zu bestätigen, wurden Einzelfälle in vorberuflichen, beruflichen, Direktor‐ und Aufsichtsstellen‐bezogenen Umgebungen ausgesucht. Die Wirkung der Falluntersuchungen wurde auch in einer Diskussionsrunde mit den Autoren aufgenommen. Dieser Text, bereichert durch Kommentare von Lehrerausbildern von internationalem Ruf, wird an alle Schulverwaltungen im Bundesland Ontario als Bestandteil eines Ressourcen‐Compendiums versandt, mit dem Ziel, Lehrer über die Normen der Berufspraxis weiterzubilden. En la primavera del 2002, el Colegio de Profesores de Ontario inició un proyecto de investigación para crear conciencia entre los 187,000 maestros en la provincia sobre los estándares de práctica profesional. La metodología elegida fue el ‘Estudio de antecedentes’ en la que un grupo representativo de la membresía del Colegio, conformado por 18 maestros, redactó historias contando sus dilemas profesionales. Tras mucha reflexión y trabajo mancomunado de equipo, estos profesores crearon colectivamente un conjunto de casos, trazando un mapa vinculándolos a los estándares y así poder determinar de qué manera estos estándares habían estado arraigados en su práctica profesional cotidiana o si los habían dejado de lado. Para validar la eficacia de este método, aplicamos los casos en varios contextos docentes: estudiantes de la facultad de educación, capacitación profesional para docentes, directores de plantel y superintendentes de las juntas directivas escolares. También tomamos nota del impacto del ‘Taller para la redacción de casos’ en una sesión de enfoque grupal con los propios autores. Este texto, que ha sido complementado con comentarios de capacitadores de maestros conocidos internacionalmente, será enviado a todas las Juntas Directivas de las escuelas provinciales como parte del kit de recursos para educar a los profesores sobre los estándares de práctica profesional.

Research Findings

Research FindingsLaura KnouseLaura Knouse1. University of North Carolina at Greensboro.Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:May 2005https://doi.org/10.1521/adhd.12.5.12.50741PDFPDF PLUS ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations AboutImpact of Parent and Teacher AgreementWolraich , M.L. et al. (2004). Assessing the impact of parent and teacher agreement on diagnosing Attention–Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 25, 41–47. Crossref, Google ScholarFathers' PerspectivesSingh , I. (2003). Boys will be boys: Fathers' perspectives on ADHD symptoms, diagnosis, and drug treatment. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 11, 308–316. Google ScholarDelay–Related CuesSonuga–Barke , E.J.S. et al. (2004). AD/HD and the capture of attention by briefly exposed delay–related cues: Evidence from a conditioning paradigm. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 274–283. Crossref, Google ScholarExecutive Deficits in ODD versus ODD/ADHDvan Goozen , S.H.M. et al. (2004). Executive functioning in children: A comparison of hospitalized ODD and ODD/ADHD children and normal controls. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 284–292. Crossref, Google ScholarLongitudinal Study of Genetic BasisRietveld , M.J.H. et al. (2004). Heritability of attention problems in children: Longitudinal results from a twin study, age 3 to 12. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 577–588. Crossref, Google ScholarCombined Predictive Power of Diagnostic and Symptoms Checklist DataFerdinand , R.F. et al. (2004). Improving estimation of the prognosis of childhood psychopathology: Combination of DSM–III–R/DISC diagnoses and CBCL scores. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 599–608. Crossref, Google ScholarFamily Clusters?Rasmussen , E.R. et al. (2004). Familial clustering of latent class and DSM–IV defined attention–deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) subtypes. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 589–598. Crossref, Google ScholarSpecificity of Executive DeficitsGeurts , H.M. et al. (2004). How specific are executive functioning deficit in attention deficits hyperactivity disorder and autism? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 836–854. Crossref, Google ScholarStory ComprehensionLorch , E. P., O'Neill, K., Berthiaume, K. S., Milich, R., Eastham, D., & Brooks, T. (2004). Story comprehension and the impact of studying on recall in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33, 506–515. Crossref, Google Scholar Previous article Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Cited byCited by1. Effects of computer collaborative group work on peer acceptance of a junior pupil with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)Online publication date: Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar Volume 12Issue 5Oct 2004 Information© The Guilford Press.PDF download

Michigan State University Extension Portal Planning and Implementation

ABSTRACT Michigan State University Extension is launching a portal-based information system to help address information delivery, archiving, and cataloging, in addition to geographic dispersion and time and/or budget constraints. The system, expected for public launch during the first quarter of 2005, is described from the planning stages to current configuration. Library staff are cataloging and loading organizational content and helping to develop global content modules. Portal technology facilitates workgroup collaboration–a major design goal in addition to information management and delivery.

Heart failure

Heart failure

Enhancing conceptual change using argumentative essays

We show the utility of following up collaborative group work with written exercises. In a previous paper we discussed promoting conceptual change using collaborative group exercises in a manner based on the notion of conceptual conflict developed by Hewson and Hewson in which representatives of differing viewpoints debate their outlook. In this paper, we describe an enhancement of this method based on Feyerabend’s principle of counterinduction—the process by which one theory or idea is used to affect change in its rival. Students were required to follow up the conceptual conflict exercises with a written critique. Evaluations were done using the same enhanced version of the force concept inventory as administered to the students in the previous study.

A ubiquitous, semantic based virtual shared environment for collaborative virtual work groups

Collaborative Virtual Work Groups (CVWG) are small groups of people that work together but are distanced geographically, temporarily or organisationally, keeping their connections through technologies like groupware. Groupware enables a shared environment for CVWG and informs its state and changes through a mechanism called Awareness. When Awareness notifies users about changes automatically, it can overload users. We argue that the relevance of these changes can be inferred from the semantics of user actions taking into consideration an interpretation context (work context) and the state of users when being notified (user context). This approach allows us to control and deliver notifications ubiquitously and to encapsulate this behavior in an awareness server so that classic groupware applications can be adapted to benefit from this behavior. The mechanism is a Multi-Agent System (MAS) with a rule-based reasoning approach. We briefly discuss the experience we obtained when building applications over this mechanism.

Left ventricular assist devices: bridges to transplantation, recovery, and destination for whom?

Application of mechanical cardiac support now requires consideration of a wider range of goals beyond bridging to transplantation to include destination therapy and perhaps bridging to recovery.1,2 Responsible dissemination of the technology requires identification of patient populations from which to select candidates most likely to benefit. At this early stage, benefit is most apparent against a high background mortality from end-stage heart failure. Heart failure affects an estimated 5 million patients in the United States. Of those, ≈60% have heart failure with left ventricular dilation and reduced ejection fraction. Trials demonstrating benefit of therapies for heart failure have focused primarily on mild–moderate heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, generally with annual mortality in the range of 8% to 18%.3 Advanced heart failure has been defined as symptoms limiting daily activity (New York Heart Association class III and IV) despite attempted therapy with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, β-blockers, digoxin, and diuretics,4 a description that applies to ≈300 000 to 800 000 patients in the United States. Although often labeled as “refractory,” many patients enjoy improved quality of life and decreased hospitalizations after referral to experienced heart failure centers, where aggressive medical strategies focus on relief of congestion. Surgical approaches include complex revascularization, valvular repair/replacement, or ventricular reconstruction. When technically successful, biventricular pacing can improve functional status for many of the 25% to 40% of patients with marked ventricular asynchrony.5 If early stabilization allows institution of β-adrenergic–blocking agents, prognosis is further improved.6 Dedicated heart failure management programs that facilitate patient education, compliance, and fluid balance have been integral to benefits observed with these therapies. The highest-risk heart failure populations are best identified after optimization of current therapies. Low left ventricular ejection fraction is not sufficient description of either function or prognosis once heart failure has become advanced. Neither …

CSCW-based system development methodology for health-care information systems.

Health-care organizations are now moving toward integrated delivery systems to provide high-quality care, as they are being held to an ever-increasing scope of accountabilities. Distributed applications such as telemedicine and electronic patient records (EPR) are seen as key requirements for the future to deliver cost effective and high-quality health-care services. This initiative would provide dynamic environments for health professionals to access patient information and thereby increase the decision-making capacities on patient care procedures. Although telemedicine applications and EPR contribute to the improvement of healthcare services, poor communication mechanisms and practices negatively impact on quality of service (QoS) in teamwork environments of patient care. Awareness and responsiveness are becoming important factors in dynamic group collaborative work environments in healthcare facilities. This paper reports on a detailed case study of group communication patterns in a patient service environment. Further, an ethnographic approach that addresses group communications patterns, identifies tools and techniques in light of Computer-Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW), which requires the application of a number of disciplines including sociology, organizational science, psychology, and computer science. In cooperative work environments, it is important to understand the activities of others for human interaction and communication in general. This is very important for future development of CSCW-based distributed architectures that focus on the challenges of improving QoS in healthcare environments.

ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT OF LARGE RIVERS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE MISSOURI RIVER1

ABSTRACT: The technocratic approach for managing the Missouri River and other large rivers is not effective in resolving conflicts among competing uses of water and dealing with uncertainty about how river ecosystems respond to alternative management actions. Adaptive management offers an alternative way to address these and other issues. It has the potential to alleviate management gridlock and provide lasting solutions to management of the Missouri River and other large river ecosystems. In passive adaptive management, simulation models and expert judgment are combined to select a preferred management action. While passive adaptive management is relatively simple and inexpensive to use, it does not necessarily provide reliable information for making management decisions. Active adaptive management uses statistically designed experiments to test assumptions or hypotheses about ecosystem responses to management actions. It is best carried out by a collaborative working group. Active adaptive management has several advantages, but the inability to satisfy certain prerequisites for successful application makes it more difficult to implement in large river ecosystems. A second‐best approach is proposed here to select, implement, monitor, and evaluate a preferred management action and retain that action provided ecological conditions improve and socioeconomic indicators do not fall below established acceptability limits.