One way to organize students is identify student's strengths and match students that compliment each other.
After a few weeks of class, I basically know who my informal leaders are within each class. I always split these folks up...so there is one of them in each student group. This allows me to form each group with diversity. Meaning, experience, knowledge and leadership qualities.
I do the same. I also try to make it a point to put students in groups together that I know may not associate with each other outside of class. It helps them to get to know each other.
Students tend to sit near people they feel comfortable with. I usually go row 1, row 2, etc. and pick up the absents next time.
I like to put at least one strong student in a group to help start the discussion and to motivate the rest of them.
When selecting groups I try to keep each groups diverse, everyone learns from eachother. I also pick each student randomly rather than looking at them and think which student to put where, I retrieve their badges, put them in the hat, and select without looking. I find that the students like the selection that way and it prevents them from thinking that favorites get chosen first. They like it.
I organize student work groups randomly, using day shift, swing shift and night shift designations. One student gets to be the shift supervisor & assign tasks for meeting the group goal(s). However, I sometimes see the quiet/recalcitrant student modeling this behavior even in a small group. Suggestions from the forum regarding how to draw them out & engage in the work group?
The course said that one of the best ways to organize student groups is to have them organize themselves. I have found this to be true this term. My students had previous been in another course with me. I worried that they would not include the newer students within their study groups. But, they worked themselves into groups that are good fits. They included new students without being forced to include them.
Generally, in a class that has hardworking students that want to succeed, I will let them choose their own groups. Otherwise, if a class is more mixed with those that want to do well, and those that don't seem to care as much; I will select the group members.
I like student groups... I really like to mix it wup the all vereables inc. race, slow learner and fast learner the uninvolved wtih the "I know all the answeres type. this mix for me was worked well
I change the way I pick groups every time I do group work. My students never know who they will be partnered with and most of the time I end up breaking up clans. It seems to work for me.
Excellent Tammy!
Very valuable information that you have shared. I"m curious - do you change your groups often during a semester or class session?
Keep up the good work!
Jane Davis
ED106 Facilitator
I love group work. I always create random groups. Some of the ways I do this is by having the students count-off one though however many groups I want and then all the one's group, all the two's group, etc. Another way is I have a bucket of colored chips and all the blue chips create a group, all the yellows create a group, etc. but this method will only create five groups. I have also divided my students up by grouping them by using the third letter of their last name; example a-g is a group, h-n is a group. I try to never pick groups the same way.
I put the strong students with the ones who may be weaker in the task. It brings the class together and they all want to share and help each other.
AS an instructor in the Laboratory I woulf like to put the studeents of different levels of grades ;using different machines during the lab-class and switch the groups a few times during the class.
PUT A STRONG STUDENTS WITH WITH STUDENTS THAT DONT LEARN AS FAST SO THEY CAN HELP EACH OTHER
Most of the group work that is done in my class consists of brainstorming problems encountered in the workforce and coming up with ideas to overcome the problems. These are group activities that do not require large volumes of time. I find choosing the groups randomly has the best outcome in this scenario. Often I will pass out candy to the students. It seems like a nice gesture from their perspective, but then I will say all the tootsie-roll people are in one group, the lolly-pop people are in another group, etc. It adds an element of surprise and the students do well with their completely random groups.
The material suggests groups of 5-6 members. While this may be a good rule of thumb, I think the instructor must evaluate his/her own topic and the makeup of the students to find the best number that works. For my subject, I find 2-3 is the optimal number.
Sometimes I just use random counting off, other times I make sure some students are separated so they don't rely on someone to help them.
Hello,
For me it depends on the activity and whether it is a formal or informal assessment. If it is just a class activity, they can choose their partners as long as the dynamics of the group don't become a distraction (chatting unrelated to the task at hand). At other times, I will pair strong students with weak students so that the weak students can benefit from the skills mastered by the strong student and the strong student can feel accomplished ny helping a classmmate understand the concepts. If it is a formal assessment and part of their grade I tend to group them by level of proficiency so that the strong students can demonstrate their abilities without feeling that in order to get a good grade they need to do all the work. The weak students then really need to concentrate and prepare better as to be able to complete the task successfully. What I see is that the weak students will be more active and feel more accountable for their performance.
