I agree with Deb. The students need something very concrete and specific to accomplish within their group time to make it most effective and productive.
Too often, if there is not anything that the students need to turn in, many of them will not see the value in doing the assignment and will procrastinate. However, if they know that points are assigned to the project and that they need to hand something in, they are much more diligent in getting their work done.
Having an assignment that is structured so that there are logical checkpoints is helpful. If the group has reached a checkpoint in the appropriate timeframe, then they are making progress. Groups that are lagging behind may need an extra push or input on how to proceed.
Examples of checkpoints would be:
specific topic selected
brainstorming of main points to be covered
checking on sources of information
having an outline prepared
rough draft
I like the prize idea, too, especially for task-completion type goals.
I have had students in groups for various projects and I like the idea of them grading each other. they are usually very honest.
Rubrics for the groups, and the pressure of time seem to help. Often, having an older adult in each group can help the younger ones to remember they are no longer in high school.
The rubric of course will define the ultimate goal. If I do not have rubrics pre-made for each group, I will have an overall set of rules or guidelines in plain sight on the board...sometimes letting the group set up their own goal and giving them a flip chart is a good way to let the students feel as though they are taking control of their own learning too...which is a great motivater for staying on course.
Letting the students know that this is likely a "real world" situation - That they will seldom use their skills in their career of choice in a vacuum. They will almost always be relying on others to complete their task gives importance to a group school assigment.
I like your idea of offering a small prize. I've used that before in trivia when prepping for an exam but only on an individual basis. I'll have to try it in a group setting.
I have found that giving the students specific goals with dates works very well. With in class work I give students those goals by defined times.
I send the students to work in groups to obtain information about job and employment opportunities for the group. Each group reports to me and I forward all the information to the group. They are essentially gathering information and learning to use different media to research jobs. The students are excited about the opportunities they find and share with the group.
I have found that each type of class that you have can be a challenge with differant type of groups, so I try to act like an employer and put them into groups that have a large differance to teach them how to interact with each other.Every time I get a new class I have found that alot have had the same group for a few classes and they work well or is some cases play well, but to make them realy understand they they need to be able to work with any person is important.And every one learns from this, even myself, I can then learn what problems can occure as what and when to step in to make sure thing do not happen. So we all do lear from working in groups.
I have had success by creating a friendly competition between the groups.The students get both an individual score and a group score.
I have used a competition element for the groups where the group with the most points at the end gets a small prize such as a candy bar. Students at all levels respond to this because they are tapping into the spirit of playing a game and the want to win. It also teaches them that it pays to stay on task and come to class prepared.
Hi Stanley! I really like the approach of using the learning group project as a preface to the individual assignment; plus the outline you provide certainly provides guidance for the brainstorming sessions. Some instructors also have the group develop some "team ground rules" to help keep things on course.
Thanks for you suggestions! Bravo!
Jay Hollowell
ED106 Facilitator
I have found that using group projects can be handy in helping students learn a complicated procedure (usually in some type of applied math). I will present each person in the group with a general outline of how the project is to be done. Then, I turn them loose for a given length of time, with instructions to follow the guideline outlined. As the project proceeds, I will wander around to each of the groups and see how they are proceding. If necessary, I will pose question which are meant to help the people in the group stay on the correct path or to get them to think.
What I have found with this approach, is that it gets more students to participate in areas where they might be relunctant to in larger groups. Also, when four, five or six people are brainstorming, some people might introduce ideas which others would not think of. After the group project, I will give the same type of problem as an individual assignment for the next week. This way, fewer people are clueless about how they are to proceed. I have found that I usually can keep groups on course by exercising a sort of "hidden" control by wandering through the classroom as referee and facilitator.
I think it's important for groups to have accountability so that they stay productive. Breaking their project down into smaller tasks with deadlines is critical. For example, if they are to present a topic to the rest of the class, some tasks/deadlines would include: choose an appropriate topic; submit an outline of how the topic will be presented and who is doing what; have visual support materials ready for the instructor to evaluate. Without these intermediate deadlines, students tend to procrastinate, and the resulting presentations are not as good as they might have been.
