Myself, I try to let them know that they can do this stuff. Some have been beaten down most of their lives. So I've find most of those types of students require a little bost in themselves. It only takes being a good person to them. Rather than just being an instructor,but someone whos caring and not standing above them and looking down.
Hi Steven, as you reference, some students may not carry their weight in the learning group environment - just like the workplace! Often, other students will apply peer pressure to bring lagging students around.
Clarifying (with the group)your expectations and desired learning outcomes, establishing ground rules (sometimes group members will do this themselves), and guiding the group along the way may help.
Thanks for your comments,
Jay
ED106 Facilitator
Hi Eva, true, as we move toward a more hands-off approach with responsible students at that level, empowerment ensues - building their self esteem, enhancing their learning, and increasing their repsonsibility and accountability for the workplace. Bravo!
Jay
ED106 Facilitator
The most significant outcomes are peer learning, which aids students in retaining and developing learned material, and enhancement of learning through a social process, which helps students develop much needed teamwork skills.
To me, the most accurate teaching method is one that is a bit hands-off, but always there to guide or re-direct as needed.
The positive is the development of social skills and learning to share information in the quest for answers.
The negative is a student allowing someone else to do all the work or not speaking up for equal time or input into the outcome. In larger groups, sometimes dictated by class size, there will be students that do not receive all of the information they need. Different learning styles? Maybe...
Hi Robert! Excellent points; planning is the key! Sometimes, in addition to the examples and introductory questions, I also have group members identify what they see as the desired objectives and learning outcomes, and mold that into the plan; it's amazing to me how on point students are when given a chance to be active learners and knowing they have an investment in the process.
Thanks for your comments!
Jay Hollowell
ED106 Facilitator
Hi David, thanks for your comments! To your point, setting the expectations and guidelines initially is crucial to effective student learning groups; I particularly like the idea of providing an outline and examples; a visual outline can help keep the group on course and examples certainly provide suggested ways that group members might approach tasks, roles and responsibilities.
Jay Hollowell
ED106 Facilitator
I believe some of the greates outcomes of group learning is that it can help all students get involved and/or be heard. I have seen many times a student that was very shy and quiet open up and become a group leader.
The challenge with this is that you must as an instructor be able to monitor each group and provide some guidance. Before we start group activities a discuss in general terms how a group might work and give some examples.
To help stay on course I give a timeframe or an outline as to what is expected from the group. I also keep a close eye on progress.
I use learning groups Intermittently and find it brings out the best in class participation, creativity, and overall consideration of the subject matter. The most significant challenge occurs when you place someone in the wrong group. If they feel they don't belong, they can become disruptive to the progress of the group or may not participate at all.
I feel planning plays a large roll in the success of the project. It is important that the students understand what they are trying to accomplish. Giving some examples of how the project might turn out helps. Once the groups have been established, have each group answer and discuss a few basic questions about the subject matter. Have the student groups evaluate the other groups results but not their own. They will generally show appreciation for the other group's work.
Hi Benson! I really like your crab analogy!It's true, they usually work off of each other to both get out of the bucket! Thanks for providing excellent points about how you organize student learning groups. I too think it's a balance between letting students choose their own groups and ensuring that the group composite is conducive to learning outcomes.
So often I hear that we should form groups randomly so that learners have a chance to work with different people, particularly since we usually cannot choose our groups in the workplace. This is true to a point, but sometimes, as you referenced, certain learners just want to work together, and the chance to do so simply maximizes the experience for them.
As you said, getting to know your students in advance is the key.
Thanks again for your comments,
Jay Hollowell
ED106 Facilitator
Thanks, Timothy, you're right, smaller learning groups tend to be more productive in getting hesitant students to participate, yet sometimes even in a smaller group size, there may be a student who dominates the conversation and activities. In that case, the instructor may have to approach the student individually, appreciate the student's initiative and involvement, but at the same time encourage the student to pull back so that others have a chance to participate.
Jay Hollowell
ED106 Facilitator
My students work in small groups primarally and i see this helping keeping them on the same learning rate,unlike if they are in a larger gruop they may not get involved and be left uot and not fully understand the info.
I usually have the students in class for a while before having to divide them into groups, so I get to know their personalities. We are social creatures by nature, so it makes sense that we will learn better in groups. My method is to let my students chose their own groups, but if I see a problem, like all slow learners in one group and all fast learners in another, I will make adjustments. All of my students are adult leaners so I rarely have any problems with switching out one or two menmbers of a group befroe the get started on a task. As for keeping them on task when they get started, I give them a checklist of what has to be done and when it is due. With encouragement along the way they all bring themselves up to a higher level of learning. If you put a crab in a bucket he will just stay there, but if you put two crabs in a bucket they will help each other climb out.
Good strategy, Craig, if a learning group is positioned effectively, team members will often encourage each other to participate. On another note, it may be that a quiet member is still a contributor; though we hope that the group setting will help engage the more shy learners, I have found that a quiet participant may effectively assume the role as the group notetaker, and can really keep things summarized and the team on course.
Thanks for your comments,
Jay Hollowell
ED106 Facilitator
Depending on which class I teach, dictates the group size that I use. I find that if I have groups of 5-6, there is usually a student or two that does more observing than contributing due to their shyness or learning style. When this happens (and I know it will)I explain to them that contributing to the group will help them learn more. I also talk to the "stronger" members of the group to encourage the observers to contribute.
Thanks Chris! Interesting that you have taken it another step; not just a focus on the desired outcome of the group's activity or assignemnt, but also how it relates to the career goals of the students. I would imagine that seeing the bigger picture certainly facilitates staying on task. That, along with clear objectives, expectations and team ground rules, can really move a learning group forward.
Jay
ED106 Facilitator
I have just recently started using learning groups. In that short time, I have found that making the outcome, or purpose of the excerise detailed in a way that shows benefit to the students' career goals greatly improves their participation level, and their ability to remain on task.
Hi Victor! To your excellent point...
"separate them in groups and give them a goal to reach to keep them focused and on task"
may I add,
"including clear expectations of group outcomes, roles and responsibilities while guiding them along the way."
Thanks Victor!
Jay
ED106
by find the leader in your class you can separate
them in groups and give them a goal to reach to keep them focused and on task
Hi Olga! Thanks for your input!
True, one of the characteristics of learning groups is that some members carry their weight, and some don't - very typical of the world of work (smile).
Assigning tasks specifically to group members is a good method as long as the tasks are all interrelated and, to some degree, mutually depend upon outcomes. - that way, group dynamics often facilitates positive outcomes.
Sometimes, I ask students in the group, under my guidance, to develop their own set of team ground rules regarding expectations, participation, activities, assignment completion, etc. The group leader (assigned, chosen or just emerges), who is usually a strong student, may have the role of ensuring that the ground rules are followed. Peer pressure, if utilized the right way and for the right reasons, can be very beneficial.
What do you think?
Jay
ED106 Facilitator
