Using group
Student groups can be a great tool in a classroom. It forces studetns to ineract with eachother and step outside of there comfort zone. If the instructor is observent enough they will notice who is driving the group and who is dragging the group. This creates the opportunity to adjust the grop dynamic and prevent one or two people from carrying the group. Watching to see who does produce and who does not is important to studetns when working in groups. No one likes to work alone when they have been assigned a group.
Hi Stephanie!
Couldn't you make it a requirement that all students participate in at least on on-line group activity. I know that I have taken on-line courses that had that requirement.
Keep up the good work!
Jane Davis
ED106 Facilitator
I think that learning groups are great, but I teach online and in my class the students have an option to use a study group or not. How would I engage in students to use this option more?
I realy like a group of three or four. If the group is too big one or two wont do anything and copy the others work.
Your point about grades is valid. Group work or projects work well up to the point of being evaluated for the work they group is doing. There has to be some method of removing people from a group that will not work for the good of the group.
I think that to have groups as study tools is very helpful, especially if grades do not ride on the success of those groups. So, yes, such a method would be very useful in an online environment.
This is a great point. I teach English 111 and 112 in the online environment. I have the ability to assign groups; however, it is not part of any task. The tasks are not group-centric so I utilize the group area for studys sessions in which students who feel that they are struggling can get assistance. I montiore the forums and chat content to ensure that information passed is accurate. If not, I notify the student providing the assistance of the error so that they may correct their mistake without feeling as if they are being belittled or overshadowed if I were to contact the student receiving the assistance. I try to keep everything private in this regards to ensure that they have the opportunity to first, identify the mistake with the other student and second, to correct it. I think this increases their ability to confidently assist others. Many of my students have joined the tutoring program to help others who are struggling in their classes. It seems to help build self-confidence and maintain good raport with others.
Do you have them set up with a leader? I have found that sometimes that helps them stay engaged. It is always very interesting to watch the group dynamic.
I do agree that groups give students a chance to work with different people with different points of view. It can be a great learning tool-learning from each other. It is imporant to give an outline so everyone is on the same page of the task that must be done. It helps them all to get the necessary answers, also helps to break down the steps. This helps to prevent one person student from being too bossy and others students not knowing what to do
