Group Work
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How does group work improve learning?
- By interacting with others and the topic, participants learn actively and remember more
- Promotes engagement with mulitple perspectives.
- Provides an opportunity for articulation and defense of thought in a public setting.
- Participants can engage with the topic at a more personal level
- Participants can ask questions and get feedback
- Participants can teach each other; the one who explains something generally learns more that the one who sought help
- Group work increases accountability
What helps groups work well?
Building trust among group members and identifying positive communication practices
- Introductions on first meeting, going beyond name, talking about what you bring to the group
- Recognizing the diversity in the group (what unique attributes each team member brings to the group)
- Respecting view points other than your own
- Ask questions that lead to deeper exploration of key concepts, issues, and skills. Try to be specific with language and ideas.
- Don’t assume consensus, check to see if individuals agree or have alternatives.
- Allow time to explore ideas, get feedback from others. Avoid jumping to conclusions.
- Agree on tasks, goals, and deadlines. Be clear about goals (long and short terms), but be willing to change them as needed.
- Distribute the work evenly, and try to complete your task(s) on time.
- Check in with each other periodically regarding, workload and deadlines.
- Ask for help when you need it. Your questions will help the group in the long run.
Asking students to periodically evaluate their group and their individual contributions, early enough that they can make improvements
- Reflecting on and/or evaluating the groups progress (provide a prompt or tool)
- Acknowledge the value (and challenges) of developing skills in group work
Helping groups chunk the work for long-term projects
- Practice successful time management; establish milestones, and provide timely feedback
- Recognize and address roadblocks / problems in a timely manner
Supporting specific skills for online groups:
- Help students identify and develop skills for good Netiquette. These include re-reading posts before sending them, since they don’t have the writer's smile or voice to make the tone clear. Set clear expectations, and/or provide guidelines such as Basic Netiquette for On-line classes by Deanna Molinari [[1]] and Netiquette, Guidelines for On-line Course Work by Molinari, Allen, Gass and Spuck[[2]]
Examples of group work
What are common problems/concerns with group work?
Assumptions and Concerns
- Takes too much time
- Less Content Coverage
- Less Learning
- Difficult to assess learning
- Student resistance
- Learning is a solitary practice
- Students must be taught certain amount of information before they can work in groups.
Strategies / Resources
Navigating the Bumpy Road to Student-centered Instruction, by Richard M. Felder and Rebecca Brent [[3]]. Common problems students and faculty face regarding group work and practical strategies to address them.
Richard Felder, Hoechst Celanese Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University, has many suggestions about using group work, especially short in-class activities in the sciences or engineering, available at his website [[4]]
Working in Groups: Quick Guides for Students, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard University. These six handouts address: Getting started; Including everyone and their ideas; Focusing on a Direction; Group Leadership, Roles individuals can take. Offer practical approaches and examples. [[5]]
Team-based Learning: A Transformative Use of Small Groups. Michaelsen, Larry K.,; Knight, Arletta Bauman.; Fink, L. Dee. Westport, Conn. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002. [6] (ebook via Netlibrary database)
What can you do to design and manage group work so it's effective?
Identify your goals for the group work.
Define the criteria that suggest good group work.
Theoretical Underpinnings of Group Work
Social learning / constructivism
Tuckman (1965) suggested a framework for understanding the developmental progression a group goes through. He suggested that groups go through four distinct phases.
Forming consists of coming together and recognizing who/what makes up the group.
Storming is where individuals explore the boundaries of the group.
Norming consists of group members coming to a common understanding of mission.
Performing is where the group becomes highly effective (and efficient) in meeting their mission.
Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63 (6), 384-399.
External Links
- [7] Collaborative Learning: Group Work and Study Teams - Suggestions for designing, supporting, and evaluating group work. From the hard copy book Tools for Teaching by Barbara Gross Davis; Jossey-Bass Publishers: San Francisco, 1993.