Small group discussions to enhance involvement
I regularly use small groups during class discussions to encourage the more timid ones to become actively involved. My experience is that they are more likely to chat with a few other students versus the larger group.
Do any of you have experiences with small groups? Do they work well for you?
Julia,
Your method seems to be a very good on for getting students involved, even the shy ones.
Judy Mohammed
How to keep the students focused on the topic at hand as well as staying engaged?
I try to put different students in groups with those they are not as familiar with. I also offer perks for total involvement.
How to get those who are shy or reluctant to share?
I give each student a different question to answer getting everyone engaged!
Heather,
This is great. Instead of drawing straws, I sometimes assign roles and I find that this works very well also.
Judy Mohammed
I use small groups in my medical assisting clinical classes and have had good results. Instead of asking open questions to the entire class as 'one big group', and discovering that the same students are always responding, I break them into smaller discussion groups and have observed the 'quieter' students opening up and voicing their opinions and thoughts. To prevent the tendency to gather with fellow "buddies" in the classroom, I have used a 'drawing straws' method where each person has a letter which represents the particular small group that they are assigned to for that class period. This method encourages students to branch out in their relationships as well as gives them a taste of what collaboration is like in a 'real world' healthcare setting.
Jviveros,
This is very true. Many students open up to other students first and small groups do help to bring out quiet students.
Judy Mohammed
I think that students do open up more to each other in small groups and gives them a chance to know each other better.
Tula,
It seems that you are doing a good job using your observations and intuition, these are necessary in teaching. You are so right about classes being different from each other and we have to pay attention at the beginning so that we will know how to handle the diverse classes.
Judy Mohammed
I have used small groups before and I truly enjoy it! I do not get to use them as often as I would like though but I am always looking for new ways to get my students involved. I have recently turned the small group discussions into a game at times. Which has then made more of my students willing to become involved. Though I have noticed that it does not work for all my classes. I have had classes which do not like to work in groups and rather be asked a questions directly. I have learned to adjust my teaching style to the class but it does make it difficult when I would like to see group participation. If anyone has a suggestion for classes who are very independent that would be great.
Thank you.
Ashley,
This is an excellent way to engage shy students. They open up in small groups to other students.
Judy Mohammed
I use small groups discussions as well. In the field they will be going in to will require them to get use to conversing with a variety of different people. So getting them "out" of their shyness during class helps out a lot.
Robert,
Small groups work well for the same reason you have given. Some shy students open up more to other students and this can eventually lead to them being more forthcoming in classes.
Judy Mohammed
