I will frequently let students organize themselves into groups because I feel if its someone they want to work with there is less reasons for excuses. I will select the groups if it serves a purpose to do so. Maybe to individuals are less productive if they are working together.
When organizing students into work groups, you should take into account their past and previous experience. It would be best to group both strong and weak backgrounds together. You can assess these experiences from their classroom introductions and details on their current/past careers. This way, not only are the experienced learners able to share their knowledge, but the not so experienced learners can express their thoughts of the topics, with a “fresh-set†of eyes. In most cases, those who are more experienced do not take the time to listen or view the topics from the eyes of someone who has never been exposed to certain topics. In this instance, you are forcing the team, but the end result will be beneficial to both parties.
Something I do with many of my group assignments is require that students discuss issues amongst themselves before they come to me with questions. In the past, I have found that students sometimes try to break assignments into parts and approach those parts as individuals, especially with research-based assignments. In order to encourage communication within the group, I only take questions when *the group* asks them.
I typically will assign students in groups that they normally do not interact with each other. This allows students to learn to work with a variety of personalities. I have also assigned groups with a stronger students to assist weaker students. I use this with caution, because I do not want the weaker students to "bring down" the stronger ones.
This module indicated that random selection is the best way to form learning groups. Will this method necessarily form culturally diverse learning groups consistently?
We can group our students according to their afinity, and their own background.
Diversity and Balance are two key phrases. Diversity of cultural differences and balance of "strong", and "weaker" students as reflected in academic performance; allows for input and compromise that demonstrates a finished product that passes the test of "where the rubber meets the road".
Greeting Ruth!
This approach really feels more like picking like-minded people rather than randomly picking. So - what other method could you use for selecting groups?
Keep up the good work!
Jane Davis
ED106 Facilitator
Great Colleen!
This is a real world approach. Employees want always be compatible with other group members but they have to keep in mind the organizational outcomes. Therefore, they must work together in the accomplishment of the common goal.
Keep up the good work!
Jane Davis
ED106 Facilitator
Randomly, assigning numbers, according to their background, previous experiences, common interest, etc.
I organize groups randomly by having the students count off 1 through 4 or either pick a number 1 through 4 out of the hat. This adds diversity to the groups and gets the students to interact with other students that are not their friends or part of their clinical groups. It can be uncomfortable for some of the students to get outside of their cliques. I explain that in their professional careers as nurses they will be working with a diverse population of both mangement, co-workers and clients and need these skills of dealing with different personalities and backgrounds.
I break the class into groups of 5 and then have 4 sit around the edge and one at the head of the table. The head of the table becomes the "chairman" of the group. Every week the class rotates so another member of that group becomes the chair. By the end of class each student has the opportunity to be part of the committee and the chairman. This method has worked well and the students enjoy the role playing.
I always put students with others that they normally do not sit with and it seems to work great.
as there will be several disciplines/majors in my class, groups will be formed containing at least one person from each discipline. using a deck of cards, each major picks one then we assign groups by suits or pips.
-this helps in preventing cliques from forming and allows all students, esp. the shy/quiet/insecure/new, into a group.
-each student becomes the "expert" in their field,i.e., they will instruct the others in their specific discipline. for example, in anatomy dissctions, the athletic trainers need to point out muscles, biology will explain function, microbiology will discuss pathogens etc. this also gives me an evaluation method as i can see which topics by group is adequately covered.
-i emphasize in forming random groups, in the "real world" you don't get to always pick your group ("friends") and need to become comfortable in working with others of different backgrounds, education and experience.
I do not like to let students pick there own groups because they usually pick their friends. One way I organize my students into groups is to have them pick names or numbers out of a hat. This way it is random and no chance of discrimination.
Some ways to organize students into work groups are :
- choose and set members on each group by random assignment
- organize students into work groups based on experience, personality and their potentials
- self-selection
I am as diverse as possible when assigning group projects. I mix stronger more knowledgeable students with the weaker students in hope of getting them more engaged in their learning. By working with the other students they see other methods of communication, research and study.
Look for different strengths, weaknesses and knowledge.
When putting students into groups you always put weaker and stronger students together. The weaker students seem to work harder to keep up with the stronger. The stronger students actually become their mentors.
the best way is by intuition as to who will work with others. I also strive to at least once put together some of the tough personalities so they can try to work things out before the real world gets them. We cannot always pick who we work with but we do need to cooperate with fellow workers no matter where we work if we are going to be succesful
