This is awesome because it allow the student to teach each other...
I have always found that random assignments are the best method. When I choose teams based on member experience/abilities, there are always questions that are asked and too much focus on why people are in this team or that, rather than why they are in a group to begin with. I like to let the students choose their random groups themselves, such as by drawing their team from a hat or drawing a certain suit from a deck of cards. This way, at least they had some "say" in their group and at least have a chance of being teamed up with or not teamed up with certain classmates.
John,
I think there is room to use a variety of group selection techniques; cater to the individual reasons & situations.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I have tried various ways of organizing students into groups such as, "okay we are breaking into groups, find two other people ..." or randomly assignming people to groups utilizng slecton criteria like a deck of cards, high card to this group. I also formulate groups based on group dynmaics and individual needs/ interests.
Benjamin,
I too am a big fan of getting that diversity in the groups so the students learn to work with a variety of people which is similar to the working environment.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Depending on the number of students in the class I like to organize them into groups of 4 so that the work can be distributed equally. Since I generally teach a lot of science courses the type of group project are in the form of doing oral presentations where it requires students to do power points or poster board presentations. Ill give four major things that I want to see transpire and I will have them to designated those portion to each individual in that group. This allows the pressure to be taken off of one individual.. The group projects seem to always go over well and I also enjoy getting to hear my student teach for a change and I get to learn..
As a way to introduce real life application to class content, students learn that you cannot choose who you work with in the real world. In nursing, you cannot choose who your patients are, what docs you work with, what co-workers you work with etc.
Diversity in the work place needs to be initially learned in the classroom.Students learn valuable skills like active listening, cultural diversity, teamwork, and creative problem solving.
In nursing, one of the mantras we repeat continually is "Am I using critical thinking skills here?"
I feel it is important to get a mixture of people in each group, so that students are using their different strengths. Also it is very important to give them new groups on a regular basis.
If we have groups, we organize them into groups of 2. In the past I have allowed them to choose their partner, but it always turns out that they pick their friends and not someone that they work well with. I strongly believe choosing for them is the best way to go.
Sharon,
yes & I feel this is a great representation of what the real life work world will be like.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I like to mix it up. They need to learn to work with all types of students, otherwise they alwys let the same person be the leader, often rotating leadership from one member to another help them grow as students and leaders.
Dennis,
great question. I would play with this number a little. Personally, I think 6-8 is a little large, I prefer groups of 3-5 & that may be a little more conducive to online.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Tammy,
and this is a much more accurate reflection of what they will encounter in their career paths.
Dr. Ryan Meers
But do you follow the idea of group size being 6-8? Would this be the same size for both land and online courses?
Many of the classes I teach are small in size, between 6 and 8 students, so I've not taken advantage of grouping students often. Does anyone have experience with working with groups in such a small class environment?
When I have taught a larger class I have assigned random groups of 4-5 students each and give students similar, but not identical, research topics.
The results have been mixed. Natural leaders can build a team that works together to achieve. If a team has no such personality, there is often a communication breakdown. Documenting the project steps in simple terms is sometimes not enough - it appears that egos get in the way of progress. What other ideas has anyone tried to get less cohesive teams back on track?
I have students pick numbers for group assignments. Not all of my students are happy with the group they are in but I stress that they need to be able to step out of their comfort zone sometimes. They don't have to always like everyone in their group but if they want to be successful in their chosen field they need to be able to work with many different personalities.
A very effective strategy when working with large classes. assign a strong student in the course material( testing/studying) to work with the rest of the group who may not be so strong in taht area of the course . what i have realized is that some students respond better to their peers than authority figures.
I am reading on these posts that some instructors find it beneficial to let students form their own groups. With my students, and the type of environment in which I instruct, I do not allow students to form their own groups. I choose the groups, and I try my best to mix up different types of personalities, talkativeness (is that a word), levels of knowledge, and the like. And then I constantly monitor, monitor, monitor.
In creating the groups in my disapline, I often mix the members of the group based on the individual interest in the subject, ie. removeable dentures. Not all residents are interested in the subject, but they must be exposed and other residents draw them into the discussion with interest.
I choose three of four subjects and create specific information I want the group to learn for each topic. I break the student's into groups of four or five and give each one a piece of information that they are responsible for. Once each group member finds their information, they talk among themselves to correlate it all together so it can be presented to the other students. This keeps every student in the group focused and feeling like they have contributed.
