Nancy,
I agree that these type of evaluations are very helpful & somewhat critical to successful group work. This can also provide a great feedback/self-awareness tool for group members to see how they perceive themselves vs how others perceive them.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Making sure everyone gets along and everyone is doing there part. I don't like to be in groups myself, but I do use them and realize their importance.
I have had the same problem when using student groups. One possible solution is to have a detailed self evaluation and group evaluation form for each student to complete. On the self evaluation form the student writes what their contribution to the group was, in deatail. On the group form, each student writes what the other members of the group contributed, in detail.
cynthia,
this is a great way as it helps prepare them for the work & the learning & also teaches them to reflect & evaluate.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
When assigning a group task, I have the group members meet and discuss how they are going to accomplish their goal. Then each group submits a plan listing how each individual member will contribute to the work of accomplishing the task. After the group work is completed, I also again ask each individual in the group to explain how their specific contribution added to the success of the goal.
Sandi,
this is definitely an ongoing challenge & requires us to spend some time teaching our students the skills they need to seek the ideas of others & to share their own when appropriate.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
The biggest challenges with student groups is ensuring that all of the members actively participate. Often times, the more outgoing personalities need to be balanced with the more reserved personalities in the group. Groups should build comunication skills and encourage all students to particpate.
shannon,
this is definitely a common problem. One helpful thing to try is to have identified roles & tasks associated with those roles as this can help everyone know what is expected of them & hopefully keep them a little more on track.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Some of the challenges that I have experienced with working with groups is that the workload is not evenly distributed. Some students feel like they are doing more than others and therefore do not work well together.
Cheryl,
this is a great idea as it stretches the understanding & knowledge of the students & also makes good use of otherwise "dead" class time.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
On test days, the instructors at my school are prohibited from dismissing students early, so I always have a project that relates to a recent unit. I teach math, so the project is usually a problem-solving puzzle in which students use the math skills they have recently learned to solve a puzzle that often has no perfectly "right" answer. I look at HOW the students solve the puzzle and how they justify or explain their answers. I allow students to work with ONE OR TWO other people; since they start this project as they finish the test, I can't really create the groups, and I'm always afraid there'll be one student who will feel s/he needs to teach the others "the way" to solve the problem. I hate when this happens, because I want all students to try their hands (and minds) at solving a unique problem, and some students who think they're not good at math often have an intuitive sense of how to approach the problem. As the students work on the project, I walk around the room and listen in of what they're saying, trying to encourage them to think without telling them how to work. Some of the students enjoy this, but many absolutely hate it. They have grown up in classrooms where there is always the RIGHT way to solve the problem, and there's always ONE correct answer, so when I throw this at them they get frustrated and upset with me. What is kind of funny, though, is that the students who passed high school math because of their ability to memorize and regurgitate formulas and theorems often are the least able to solve these puzzles and dislike them the most. These are the "honor roll" students, the students who are so convinced they are the best and brightest in the class, and they can't deal with a unique problem.
Robert,
this is a great point & an important skill for anyone working in groups or teams to learn.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Bibi,
I completely agree, as we learn to work with the diversity that is all around us & that we will experience in our work environments.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I have experienced challenges myself when working in groups but ultimately the outcome of having to deal with different personalities helps us cope better with others.
I BELIEVE THAT HAVING THE GROUP DECIDE ON SPECIFIC TASKS WILL BUILD NOT ONLY GROUP SOLIDARITY BUT ALSO IDENTIFY CLEAR RESPONSIBILITIES FOR PERFORMANCE BY EACH PERSON IN THE GROUP TASK. IN OTHER WORDS, THERE IS CLARITY AND LESS CHANCE OF AVOIDANCE BY ANYONE.
Jon (Jack),
I also believe there is real value in mixing up these groups & having a blend of the "clowns" & the quieter students. This helps the students learn how to work with a diversity of personalities & opinions.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Ensuring that you get the right balance of personalities within each group will maximize the learning. If you place the "clowns", students whose personalities are out-going in one group, and the quiet/timid students in another group, the learning will be maximized. A teacher should know their students prior to organizing groups so they can obtain a good blend of student personalities.
I agree, Tim. That's why I use student work groups only for short-term assignments. I have found that longer projects are more suitable to individual student work.
A big challenge for me is the clashing of personalities. I teach a smaller group of adults. Even though they are considered adults, there always seems to be one or two students who get singled out as an oddball. I will say that for the most part, these singled out students tend to not work as hard and try to coast off of the other student's hard work. In group work, I try to be fair to the students who worked hard from those who simply did the very minimum.
One of the major challenges I have found is student personalities. We tend to choose the students groups instead of letting the students pick their own. This results in personality conflicts. Certain students don't want to work with certain people. Also, there are some challenges keeping people on task. They tend to socialize more. The opposite can also occur. Some people are very shy and do not like working in groups.
