My students will pick a major social/political issue, the students will then break the topic into sub-topics, each member of the group will take the responsibility for one sub-topic.
Next the students will discuss their strengths they bring to the group whether it be creating powerpoints, researched, organizational skills, leadership qualities etc...The students will maximize their strengths and create a well structured presentation.
By being flexible, the student can find a partner. I can assign groups by number, color, or theme. This keeps the lesson activity interesting.
Michelle,
and I think through this grouping technique, the students get a better feel for working with a diversity of personalities & individuals, similar to the work environment.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I like to make my groups diverse in learning skills. With a leader type of personality and a shy personality. Each student will then have something to bring to the groups table with each offering their strengths and abilities
Instead of randomly assigning students into work groups, a dedicated instructor should take the time to form groups that will maximize each student's participation. I believe that a leader should be present in each group and ideally one who can encourage the participation of each student in the group. Likewise it would be very important for the instructor to provide clear instruction about the outcome that is expected for the student work group.
Russell,
these are great ideas for groups. Also, this illustrates the need for us to know each of our classes & their individual "make-ups."
Dr. Ryan Meers
Groups of 3-4 students work best for me. When I first started teaching, I let the students form their groups. Rookie mistake. The quality of work varied greatly, but more importantly, feelings were hurt with the lonely student left behind. No more. Students usually sit in the same seats each day. If I have a group assignment, I will ask them to count off to three or four. This enables the "friends" who sit together to interact with the other classmates. Sometimes I will assign groups as the students enter the classroom or ask questions like "Who loves coffee? Tea? Hot chocolate?, and assign them as groups. Random and fun facts that makes the students interact with one another. Assigning one "smart" student with an average and a struggling student can also be helpful. Mixing it up all the time, enables each student to work with someone different each time.
When teaching a chapter out of the course book, sometimes I organize students into groups of three or four. Then I give each group a main idea from the chapter. The groups then research and build a small presentation to present to the class on their topic. This encourages peer teaching and helps me to see what the students find important about each "main idea."
Lynne,
this is a great strategy & I've found can often help those students who are weaker.
Dr. Ryan Meers
When I feel that there is a good balance of experience and knowledge in the class, having them draw colored slips from a "hat" provides a fair way to set the groups and mix up the class as well. When there is to great a range in their strengths then I find it best to pair the groups so that they can learn from one another and build new relationships in a "safe" setting.
Based on common interest, geographic areas so they can study together, major field of study.
We typically partner strong academic students with weaker students.
I use several methods: random draw, student choice, or instructor selected. Depending on student group, all methods have met with success or failure. Random draw has probably resulted in more dissapointing results than others but student choice sometimes leads to some student being left out. It amazes me how adults (student age 20 to 50)can still act like middle school students.
group dynamics can be tricky - at first I tried to use normal techniques but that did not help (I teach on-line) so there is little way to put the groups together and see the interaction - I have had at times accept a partial group project and grade it as if it was whole to give the students that worked on it a reasonable grade
I have had problems with group participation in the past but I saw a light at the end of the ... by redoing the assignment to force interconnection of assignment responsibility from student to student
You can make the strong students the leaders and evenly distribute the slow ones among the groups.
I like to mix it up as well depending on the assignment/project. Sometimes I play jeopardy or vacabulary race in my classroom, so I would divide the groups equally. When it comes to projects, I let them choose their groups. In mini assignments, I seperate all the strong students and put them together. This way, no one student is taken advantage of and everyone works together as group. Also, in group presentations, I always grade the students individually.
I have recently decided to pick their groups for them if they are first year students. If they are second terms students I allow them to pick their own groups because they have a better idea of each other's strengths and weaknesses.
I try to engage the students within their 3- to 4-person group by pairing an introvert with an extrovert, or a visual learner with an auditory processor. Not only does it create balance, it helps the students develop a sense of empathy.
I like to mix it up. They need to learn to work with all types of students, otherwise they alwys let the same person be the leader.
