Group activities
I am looking for ways to promote better and more affective ways of conducting group sessions with students. I've mostly have gotten some students that want to participate and others just sit in the group and basically do nothing to contribute. When they are told they must participate that get MAD.
Not and easy task at times. I need suggestions please.
Rose,
yes, sometimes that forced rotation of duties or roles is a good idea to force all to be involved.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
WOW! That is tough. Perhaps the students who dont want to participate, or the ones who just sit, "these" students should be put in the lead or in charge of the group so it gives them the sense of control, since the "group activity" may be making them feel out of control, which is why they dont want to participate. Reverse psychology.
MICHELLE,
this is a difficult situation. Two quick ideas that you've probably already tried: tie a significant portion of their grade to the participation in the group. This becomes somewhat difficult as you have to have a way of assessing this, but there's a little more accountability involved. The second idea is to spend time talking about the importance of groups & teamwork in most career settings. This might give it a little more importance. Best wishes.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Hi, Michelle! I found a number of the suggestions in this module to be very helpful in regards to setting up effective student work groups.
First and foremost, I feel a group has to have a clear and specific outline or plan that details what the group is supposed to accomplish and how they should go about doing it. This plan should address individual group member expectations, as well.
Second, I feel that a "three-tiered" form of grading works best in group situations. I usually give each student an indivdual grade that reflects their personal level of participation. I then give the group an overall grade. I also allow each group member to anonymously evaluate the other group member's performance. These three grades are then weighted appropriately and combined.
