Five-membered Group Research Articles

Mapping out the structural relationship of middle school students’ use of talk and gestures and group outcomes’ quality in collaborative science problem-solving activities

ABSTRACT The current study explores the connection and affordances of talk and gesture in collaborative science problem-solving activities using an emerging analytical approach. A total of 15 three to five-member groups of middle school students participated in a set of clinical collaborative science problem-solving activities. Six groups (three low- and three high-performing groups) were selected for further analyses. The data consisted of successive statements in student conversations that were coded as different types of talk and gestures. Pearson Phi correlation test and Epistemic Network Analysis were used to analyze the data. We found that certain types of gesture were moderately associated with certain types of talk. In addition, we found high-performing groups were significantly different from low-performing groups in the use of higher cognitive engagement and collaborative regulation talks. We did not find a significant difference in the use of gestures on their own. However, we found that when talk and gestures were combined, high-performing groups tended to use higher cognitive engagement and collaborative regulation talks with representing and pointing gestures. These findings support previous studies on the affordances of talk and gesture in collaborative science activities and provide more evidence for how multimodality is important in science learning.

Unravelling the Potential of Ylides in Stabilizing Low-Valent Group 13 Compounds: Theoretical Predictions of Stable, Five-Membered Group 13 (Aluminum and Gallium) Carbenoids Capable of Small-Molecule Activation.

Computational investigations provide evidence toward the remarkable ability of strongly electron-donating ylidic functionalities in stabilizing singlet group 13 carbenoids with promising ligand properties. All of the proposed carbenoids are found to be considerably nucleophilic and possess significant singlet-triplet energy separation values. The calculated activation barriers and reaction free energies obtained for the cleavage of different enthalpically strong bonds by these carbenoids are found to be either comparable to or lower than those of the experimentally evaluated aluminum and gallium carbenoids, thereby indicating their potential in small-molecule activation.

An Investigation into Technical Writing Difficulties, Causes and Solutions

This study aimed at deeply scrutinizing and identifying the technical writing difficulties Saudi university students face, figuring out what caused these difficulties and creating solutions to them. Two five-member focus groups of engineering students were deployed, and the brainstorming technique was used to create questionnaire items. The draft developed was given to three specialists to revise, edit and proofread. The second version of the survey involved eight quantitative and qualitative questions of three types (Likert scale, checkbox, and rating). This version was piloted on 25 undergraduates, amended consequently (See appendix A), created by Google Forms, and lastly circulated via WhatsApp groups. Fifty-three university students from different majors participated in it. The findings revealed that spelling, technical terminology and coherence were the most difficult areas in technical writing, writing practice deficiency, lack of terminology and lack of vocabulary were the main causes that stand behind technical writing difficulties and practicing writing a lot and developing habits of intensive and extensive reading were the most effective solutions that can help students overcome these difficulties. Based on the findings of the study, some interpretations were discussed, and some recommendations were made.

Traženje, kristalizacija i zrelost autorskog izraza arhitekte Milosava Miše Mitića (1932-1970) u šestoj deceniji XX veka

The subject of the research is the beginning of the design work and professional engagement of architect Milosav Miša Mitić in the 1960s. Until now, this period of Mitić's design practice and construction activity has not been the subject of any scientific research, and it has still not been assessed in architectural historiography. The aims of the paper are to shed light on the lesser-known facts about Mitić's work at the beginning of his professional career, to determine the basic characteristics of his practice and to critically re-examine his contribution to the overall picture of Serbian architecture in the second half of the twentieth century. The scientific analysis covers significant unrealized and accomplished architectural achievements, both independently in the project studio Atrium (1956-1959), and jointly within the architectural group Belgrade Five (1954-1970). It examines in detail Mitić's developmental creative path in three phases (1956-1960): the search for authorial expression during the 1950s in the project studio Atrium, when his authorial duality comes to the fore, imbued with a strong sense of modus operandi and modus vivendi; crystallization of the author's expression within a five-member group, through a series of competitions and the first major accomplished project in the first housing estate within the Central zone of New Belgrade; and reaching full authorial maturity in his first major independent contracted design and construction project, for the EFGH local community center complex, with the S-10 commercial and residential tower. This is historical evidence of the possible different physiognomy of the future center of New Belgrade, with its recognizable architecture.

“Give me five” – an amino imidazoline-2-imine ligand stabilises the first neutral five-membered cyclic triel(i) carbenoides

We designed an amino imidazoline-2-imine ligand, which stabilized neutral five-membered group 13 carbenoides. These new compound complete the gap between known four- and six-membered triel(i) carbenoides.

Financing Smallholder Agriculture: An Experiment with Agent-Intermediated Microloans in India

Recent evaluations of traditional microloans have not found significant impacts on borrower production or incomes. We examine whether this can be remedied by delegating selection of borrowers for individual liability loans to local trader-lender agents incentivized by repayment-based commissions. In a field experiment in West Bengal this design (called TRAIL) was offered in randomly selected villages. In remaining villages five-member groups self-formed and applied for joint liability loans (called GBL) with otherwise similar terms. TRAIL loans increased production of potato (a leading cash crop) and farm incomes by 27-37%, whereas GBL loans had insignificant and highly dispersed effects. Both schemes achieved equally high repayment rates, while TRAIL loans had higher take-up rates and lower administrative costs. We argue the results can be partly explained by differences in selection patterns with respect to borrower risk and productivity characteristics.

The Effect of Real-Time Individual Process Performance Feedback on Computer-based Group Idea Generation

In computer-mediated idea generation where contributions can be anonymous, the ability to accurately monitor performances is limited, inducing social loafing. Prior research has suggested that social loafing is likely an important factor in reducing task performance. Researchers have theorized that loafing could be minimized if clear performance feedback is provided. Our prior study evidences a substantial performance gain by the provision of real time performance information about who is contributing and who is not. However, our prior study incorporated the quantity feedback only to create a larger pool of ideas based on the long-standing assumption (i.e., quantity breeds quality), not considering the quality feedback. As a result, taking advantage of anonymity in the form of pseudonymity, individuals in almost all groups exhibited a tendency of self-presentation by capitalizing on ideas of which quality was low and even frivolous (i.e., junk comments) toward the later stages of the session. Thus, we have learned that the quantity performance feedback alone does not have enough restrictiveness to consistently control the performance behavior throughout the session. Since a process chart allows participants to monitor process variation by comparing new performance data to past performance data, we incorporated real-time visual process performance feedback to reveal performance histories by connecting the sequence of idea quality scores in a time-series format. Using this environment, a laboratory experiment was conducted with five-member groups that examined the influence of both identifiability (i.e., anonymity versus pseudonymity) and process performance feedback (i.e., yes or no) in a <TEX>$2{\times}2$</TEX> factorial design. The result showed that groups in the process performance feedback treatment outperformed groups in the no feedback treatment. Additionally, process performance feedback and identifiability interacted such that groups in the process performance feedback/pseudonymity treatment had the highest performance. The implications of these findings for future research, as well as the implications for the design of group idea generation procedures are discussed.

Complicated Spiritual Grief II: A Deductive Inquiry Following the Loss of a Loved One

Recent studies have revealed an association between complicated grief—a severe, prolonged response to the loss of a loved one—and complicated spiritual grief—a spiritual crisis following loss. Furthermore, bereavement research has benefitted from a number of studies using qualitative inquiry as a means of examining the experiences of individuals grieving a variety of types of losses. However, a gap in the literature remains in terms of the qualitative investigation of spiritual struggle following loss. Thus, using participants' written responses to open-ended questions along with systematic exploration of this topic with a five-member focus group, we designed this qualitative study to better understand the firsthand experiences of bereaved individuals who have suffered a crisis of faith after the death of a loved one. Specifically, our directed content analysis of bereaved focus group members' responses revealed 17 different common and salient themes subsumed in an overarching narrative of resentment and doubt toward God, dissatisfaction with the spiritual support received, and substantial changes in the bereaved person's spiritual beliefs and behaviors. Thus, our study clarified the construct of complicated spiritual grief, and laid the groundwork for development of more specific assessment and treatment of this condition.

Understanding the dynamics of motivation in socially shared learning

The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of the dynamics of motivation in socially shared learning from both individual and group perspectives. Higher education students’ motivation was analysed in the context of collaborative learning tasks, applying quantitative and qualitative methods. The research questions were: (1) what kind of motivations and task-specific goals do individual students have and (2) how do they combine their motivations as a group in socially shared learning? Three- to five-member groups of university students ( n = 99) were observed as they worked with three different collaborative learning tasks in an educational psychology class. The experiment included differently organised conditions for collaboration, ranging from face-to-face situations to virtual collaboration situations which were perceived as motivationally and emotionally challenging. Self-reports and video-tapings were collected. The results show that the students who studied in face-to-face settings reported significantly more learning goals and fewer performance goals during the collaborative tasks than the students in the virtual group. Therefore, the collaborative process of volunteer face-to-face groups was analysed qualitatively and an attempt was made, by observing their shared motivation, to uncover the reasons why they achieved their learning goals.

Selenium content in the blood serum and urine of ewes receiving selenium-enriched unicellular alga Chlorella

The effect of selenium supplementation in inorganic and organic form was investigated in three five-member groups of ewes and their lambs in the course of 7 months. The basal feed ration contained 55 &amp;micro;g Se, ewes of experimental group E1 received a supplement of 180 &amp;micro;g Se in sodium selenite, and ewes of experimental group E2 were applied a supplement of 180 &amp;micro;g selenium bound in the biomass of the alga Chlorella. Control group C did not receive any selenium. The ewes were in the stage of non pregnant, pregnancy and lactation during the experiment. Average contents of Se in the blood serum of ewes were as follows: E1 114.2 &amp;plusmn; 23.6; E2 103.1 &amp;plusmn; 20.3; C 68.6 &amp;plusmn; 16.8 &amp;micro;g/l (&lt;i&gt;P&lt;/i&gt; &lt; 0.001). A decrease in serum Se was recorded in all groups in the last third of pregnancy and in the first week post partum. Average contents of urinary selenium contents were also higher in experimental groups: E1 25.4 &amp;plusmn; 13.5; E2 18.7 &amp;plusmn; 9.6; C 13.3 &amp;plusmn; 4.5 &amp;micro;g/l (&lt;i&gt;P&lt;/i&gt; &lt; 0.001). The positive effect of supplementation of Se to ewes was reflected in its higher average concentration in the blood serum of born lambs: E1 48.5 &amp;plusmn; 7.3; E2 53.5 &amp;plusmn; 3.4; C 30.3 &amp;plusmn; 7.4 &amp;micro;g/l (&lt;i&gt;P&lt;/i&gt; &lt; 0.05). The effect of selenium bound in Chlorella biomass was higher and persisted until 30 days of lamb age: E1 52.9 &amp;plusmn; 3.4; E2 59.0 &amp;plusmn; 7.0; C 35.5 &amp;plusmn;5.8 &amp;micro;g/l (&lt;i&gt;P&lt;/i&gt; &lt; 0.01). The average number of lambs born per ewe was 1.0 in group C and E1, and 1.8 in group E2.

Theoretical Designs for Neutral Five-Membered Carbene Analogues of the Group 13 Elements: A New Target for Synthesis

Potential energy surfaces for the chemical reactions of neutral five-membered group 13 carbenoids have been studied using density functional theory (B3LYP/LANL2DZ). Five five-membered group 13 carbenoid species, HCMeP(PhN)2X, where X = B, Al, Ga, In, and Tl, have been chosen as model reactants in this work. Also, three kinds of chemical reaction, C-H bond insertion, alkene cycloaddition, and dimerization, have been used to study the chemical reactivities of these group 13 carbenoids. Our present theoretical work predicts that the larger the angleNXN bond angle in the neutral five-membered group 13 carbenoid, the smaller the singlet-triplet splitting, the lower the activation barrier, and, in turn, the more rapid are its various chemical reactions. Moreover, the theoretical investigations suggest that the relative carbenoidic reactivity decreases in the order B > Al > Ga > In > Tl. That is, the heavier the group 13 atom (X), the more stable is its carbenoid with respect to chemical reactions. As a result, we predict that the neutral five-membered group 13 carbenoids (X = Al, Ga, In, and Tl) should be stable, readily synthesized, and isolated at room temperature. Furthermore, the neutral five-membered group 13 carbenoid singlet-triplet energy splitting, as described in the configuration mixing model attributed to the work of Pross and Shaik, can be used as a diagnostic tool to predict their reactivities. The results obtained allow a number of predictions to be made.

The effects of stand-up and sit-down meeting formats on meeting outcomes.

The effects of meeting format (standing or sitting) on meeting length and the quality of group decision making were investigated by comparing meeting outcomes for 56 five-member groups that conducted meetings in a standing format with 55 five-member groups that conducted meetings in a seated format. Sit-down meetings were 34% longer than stand-up meetings, but they produced no better decisions than stand-up meetings. Significant differences were also obtained for satisfaction with the meeting and task information use during the meeting but not for synergy or commitment to the group's decision. The findings were generally congruent with meeting-management recommendations in the time-management literature, although the lack of a significant difference for decision quality was contrary to theoretical expectations. This contrary finding may have been due to differences between the temporal context in which this study was conducted and those in which other time constraint research has been conducted, thereby revealing a potentially important contingency-temporal context.

Improving the Accuracy of Group Judgment: A Process Intervention Combining Group Facilitation, Social Judgment Analysis, and Information Technology

Interacting groups fail to make judgments as accurate as those of their most capable members due to problems associated with both interaction processes and cognitive processing. Group process techniques and decision analytic tools have been used with groups to combat these problems. While such techniques and tools do improve the quality of group judgment, they have not enabled groups to make judgments more accurate than those of their most capable members on tasks that evoke a great deal of systematic bias. A new intervention procedure that integrates group facilitation, social judgment analysis, and information technology was developed to overcome more fully the problems typically associated with interaction processes and cognitive processing. The intervention was evaluated by testing the hypothesis that groups using this new procedure can establish judgment policies for cognitive conflict tasks that are more accurate than the ones produced by any of their members. An experiment involving 16 four- and five-member groups was conducted to compare the accuracy of group judgments with the accuracy of the judgments of the most capable group member. A total of 96 participants (48 males and 48 females) completed the individual part of the task; 71 of these participants worked in groups. Results indicated that the process intervention enabled small, interacting groups to perform significantly better than their most capable members on two cognitive conflict tasks (p < .05). The findings suggest that Group Decision Support Systems that integrate facilitation, social judgment analysis, and information technology should be used to improve the accuracy of group judgment.

Cooperative Learning Strategies for Teaching Adult Business English

Abstract This study tested the hypothesis that the achievement of adult students who participate in cooperative learning groups in business English will be superior to the achievement of students who learn solely through teacher-directed methods. The study was conducted with 58 students enrolled in a 1-year business education training program at a technical institute. Two experimental classes worked on the exercises in four- or five-member groups, and the control group worked as a whole class with the instructor calling on students at random. Analysis of pretest and posttest scores showed no significant differences. However, a stronger spirit of participation, cooperation, and helpfulness was observed among group members in the experimental classes.

The United Nations Creates a Working Group on Arbitrary Detention

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which met from January 28 to March 8, 1991, in the shadow of the gulf war, nevertheless completed what many observers considered its most productive session in recent history. The Commission took action on a record of nineteen country situations—creating new rapporteurs on Iraq and Iraqi-occupied Kuwait—began plans for a 1993 World Conference on Human Rights, and set up an intersessional working group to complete a draft declaration on disappearances. The most important long-term accomplishment of the Commission, however, was the creation of a five-member working group to investigate cases of arbitrary detention throughout the world.

Earth-approaching asteroid streams

The osculating orbital elements of 139 Earth-approaching asteroids ( (through 1990KA) are compared with the D discriminants to identify the asteroids traveling in the most similar orbits. No Apollo associations are noted, but three Amor groups are identified whose members, if they were meteors, would be classified as comprising a shower or stream. Two of the streams have five members each, and are shown to be inconsistent with random groupings. One involves two V type asteroids, and the other five-member group has a secondary minimum in mutual orbital separation in the main belt, perhaps pointing to the location of a collision. The three meteorites with known orbits are also examined. Innisfree is most closely related to 1989DA, Pribram is questionably associated with 4486 (1987SB), and Lost City may be an outlier of a four-member asteroid association. Independent corroboration of these asteroid streams is provided by Halliday et al. (1990, Meteoritics 25, 93–99), who find four streams among 89 meteorite-producing fireballs, three of which are evidentally the meteor components of the asteroid streams. It is remarkable that in the face of disturbing perturbations asteroid streams could survive for any length of time, but if they are true nonrandom associations then the opportunity exists for studying an “exploded” asteroid in the near-Earth environment and through examination of pieces dropped by stream fireballs. The prediction is made that near-Earth asteroid search projects should find more members if they search the mean orbit of the streams.

A Time Series Analysis of Minority Influence on Majority in a Group

The present study examined how the consistent behavior of a minority affects both the behavior and the internalization of the behavior of a majority. The formation processes of the majority's attributions (judgements of confidence and competence) to the minority were also investigated. The subjects, 80 male undergraduate students, comprising five-member groups and were randomly assigned to either a 10-trial or a 20-trial condition. One of the group members was a confederate. For each trial subjects were required to construct a 70cm vertical line as accurate as possible on a screen at a distance of 3.3m. A confederate continued to present a deviant response (an 85cm long line). After the trials subjects were required to construct some vertical lines privately (posttest). Results showed that (1) in progress of trials the majority became to conform toward the minority although the internalization of the behavior was not always found contrary to prediction, (2) the majority became to judge the consistent minority to be less competent but more confident than themselves, (3) in this attribution the majority was less sensitive to the judgement about confidence than to the one about competence, and (4) the majority judged the minority to be more confident than themselves when the majority's behavior was larger discrepant to the minority's.

PROMPTING A CONSUMER BEHAVIOR FOR POLLUTION CONTROL1

A field application of behavior modification studied the relative effectiveness of different prompting procedures for increasing the probability that customers entering a grocery store would select their soft drinks in returnable rather than nonreturnable containers. Six different 2-hr experimental conditions during which bottle purchases were recorded were (1) No Prompt (i.e., control), (2) one student gave incoming customers a handbill urging the purchase of soft drinks in returnable bottles, (3) distribution of the handbill by one student and public charting of each customer's bottle purchases by another student, (4) handbill distribution and charting by a five-member group, (5) handbills distributed and purchases charted by three females. The variant prompting techniques were equally effective, and in general increased the percentage of returnable-bottle customers by an average of 25%.

Variation and consistency in the social behavior of two groups of stumptail macaques (Macaca arctoides)

Social interactions of two five-member groups of stumptail macaques were observed. Behavior of all but one of these animals has been reported in two previous studies. In the third study, high-ranking females maintained their positions in the dominance order when the alpha male with whom they were previously associated was either removed from the group or displaced by a male added to the group. The results of all three studies indicated a tendency for interaction among animals holding adjacent hierarchical ranks. The data suggested that one function of selective grooming was pacifying the grooming partner, and that one function of selective adult play was behavior testing under conditions of moderate arousal.