Cohort Groups
I have had a couple of experiences with cohort groups. The first was an experience where I had not truly learned class control yet. That particular group was very hard to keep in line and was a big distraction for the rest of the class. Since that point I have learned to find who the cohort groups were and use them to my advantage. For example if I were teaching transmissions, I would first find out who that students were that had been to another trans. class or had field experience. I would then separate that group and make lab team leaders out of them. This tends to have a great outcome in the lab as well as the class, because in most cases that lab group would then come back to class and sit near eachother. This keeps them from getting bored and causing distractions because thaty are kept busy.
Hi Margaret,
You are fortunate in having smaller classes so you can use the student interaction to help strengthen knowledge base for each student. I teach larger classes and strive to do what you are doing through student groups. I set aside some class time for them to work in groups on problems, case studies or strategies for studying. My students are great about sharing and supporting each other. This is important lesson for them to learn as they prepare to go into the workforce and need the ability to work well with others.
Gary
Dr. Meers,
My classes are fairly small. The students do quite a lot of supporting each other. I find that with these groups, I can actually give them more time in class to work on homework so they can ask me questions while they are doing it instead of having to wait.
Margaret
Hi Margaret,
I hope you have had good experiences with cohort groups. I have two classes of them currently and I really enjoy working with them as they have already formed into learning groups. I see a lot of internal adjusting and supporting going on with the cohort groups. This gives me more time to focus on content and skill development.
Has this been your experience?
Gary
In some respects, all of my classes are cohort groups because a group of students will have the same start date, and they will go from class to class as a group.
Cohort groups work well if used as Dennis mentioned and also make the instructors job easier due to the fact that the students with more experience may be able to answer the groups questions or demonstrate a task without having the instructor present.
I find cohert groups to be very effective in learning but it requires practice. The first attempt will probably not go smoothly. People working in groups will inherently have problems and disagreements but it has proven to be the most effective way of retaining info.
I like to initially select the groups myself in the beginning of the course. You make a good point about finding out who has the background and then making those students the leaders in groups. My English class is going to have 70 students so management is very important!
Hi Dennis,
Way to go to use cohort groups to your advantage. As you mentioned if they are not used correctly they can make life very difficult for a teacher. It sounds like you have found a way to keep the groups working together for the mutual benefit of everyone.
Gary
