Working in Small groups
I like creating small groups for my students. Small groups incites cohesion which helps build confidence. In the workforce we work in groups and collaborate on many topics. I want my students to understand they are not isolated. By having them join in groups I am looking to enforce two things; team work, and confidence. Sometimes students are not willing to share on there own. But if they have support from another classmate, confidence in themselves can be established.
Daniel, each grouping of students can be somewhat different. The focus is to know your students and experiment to find the best mixture of group and individual activities. Some students feel better working with peers at their own level while others respond better if they feel they can learn from their peers that may understand the materials more then they currently understand. Our task as instructors is to know our students to the point we can put the most appropriate teaching methodologies into our lesson plans to yield the best possible outcomes.
James Jackson
I have had the same experience. You will have groups that overachieve and groups that underachieve. Perhaps shuffling them up would help, though it is difficult over a short semester.
I find that small groups working together can help motivate some students better than working alone. Some students lack the confidence to attempt some things on their own but when teamed up with someone their own age they will contribute in ways they normally wouldn't.
I like my students to work in small groups expecially during lab. Working in a team environment helps them to get ready for their career. I find it also gets the quiet and shy students more involved.
Once the students are divided into their groups, they delegate who is looking up what information then bring their work back to the group.
Esther, great job and working in small groups can be a great way to get your students to interact with each other. How are you managing the workload among students within the individual groups so no one individual student is doing all the work for others? Thanks for anything you can share.
James Jackson
In the class I teach, I have the students broken into smaller groups to work on a project for presentation. This allows the students to be creative in their thought processes and to learn to listen and give effective feedback on others' opinions. This will also foster teamwork and confidence in themselves.
Working effectively in small groups is not easy. Difficulties which include keeping focused on the task, coping with inter-personal conflicts, making decisions, etc. It is possible, however, to summarize many of the things which need to happen in order for small groups to be successful, and to give guidelines on how to approach or handle each of these. Small group success depends on three types of functions being performed: task, maintenance, and personal functions.
Task functions help to keep the group focused and directed towards achieving its goals.
Maintenance functions help group members to stay involved, and ensure that everyone is able to contribute to their maximum potential.
Personal functions address the personal needs of group members to ensure that the group functions in the best possible way - these activities include the ways in which conflicts and disruptive behaviors are handled.
Manuel, taking students out of their comfort zones is beneficial to teaching them life skills. In a work environment they will not always have a choice who they work with so learning early how to work with multiple personalities and skill levels will more resemble a real world scenario.
James Jackson
Here, we allow students to work in groups during their practice labs. However, it seems like once they partner with someone, be it good or bad, they stay partnered up with that person. One take-away from this Course, for me, is the "shuffling' of students in to different groups.
We have lab teams of 4 to 5 students on each team we have about 6 lab teams per class they work together as a team on a lap pack puting into practice what they have learned in the class room and i can go from team to team watching there progress and helping with any questions that they might have.
Maria, can you share some of your activities you use to get your groups to communicate with each other and to share the responsibilities of being group members? Thanks for anything you can share.
James Jackson
Totally agree with this I can always count on getting more out of my students when I team them up in groups. Adult learners are not more willing to share with peers in small group setting. They will make good use of their time and later share with more confidence.
Working in small gorups help the students
I agree with your idea about working in small groups. Sometimes it can also help to find more than one perspective on how to complete a task, or what has been learned.
