Angie,
I would say in regard to the students not cooperating this is definitely a challenge. However, the students need to learn & understand that in the work environment they don't get to work just with their best friends or with those that they really like. Appreciating the diversity & opinions of others is part of the maturing process.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Monica,
this is an ongoing problem with student groups. I have found that with clearly delineated roles & some type of accountability in the grading process these challenges can be diminished (unfortunately not completely eliminated).
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I have two challenges creating groups, one my classes are small, sometimes as few as two people so they are always working together. The other issue I run into is the group of students in the class, some have know each other in high school and do not care for each other. I have tried putting them together and separating them. When I put them together of course it did not work, when I separated them we still had issues because the abilities of the other students did not work well together.
Everyone not sharing the work load equally and domination by particular group members
LaToya,
I agree that developing a method or system that allows for some individualized accountability is best for group work. While it's not perfect, this does tend to reduce the amount of slacking off.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
A major challenge of putting students in groups is that some students may work harder then others, while other lack participating. For instructors it can be difficult at times to see who put in the work and who did not. Some students take advantage of this situation and still get credit. Having a format that evaluate each students performance is always best in this case.
Paul,
this is definitely true. I think a helpful idea is to ensure that there are clearly divided roles & job responsibilities.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
One of the challenges is making sure everyone is pulling their weight. It may not be that other students are lazy but certain personality types like running the group. Those over-achievers can dominate a group and not allow everyone to perform at their full potential. This can ruin a group dynamic.
Anthony,
and the small groups are a great way to make these students more comfortable in sharing their ideas & opinions with others.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Carolyn,
I like to have clearly explained & delineated roles for the group members; this seems to help with the division of duties.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Sometimes one or several members are very introverted by nature and are a bit slower to ramp up to full speed. I have found however, that these students are usually the strongest finishers.
It is a challenge to get every students participating. Usually you have one or two students take charge and the others sit back and watch.
William,
this is a great strategy to assist the students. You are right, most workplaces utilize teams of some kind & that work is typically done "on the clock." Additionally this acknowledges that you, as instructor, recognize that you don't have to be the center of attention for learning to occur.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
A major challenge with evening commuter students is that it is hugely difficult for them to get together away from the campus. Therefore, I have found it best to dedicate at least some classtime for their group project interactions. Most workplaces would allow (and promote)these interactions. I also allows me the ready opportunity to observe and to assist as needed.
Brian,
I think this demonstrates the various uses to which we can put student groups. In your case, you wouldn't want a group welding, but you can use the groups to demonstrate.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Identifying my Alpha students with the followers. If I put my Alpha leaders together very little is accomplished other than flipping and flopping tasks and ideas. I try and balance my leaders and followers together so the other students can learn from each other. Diversity is key.
I think the challenges is definitely those who don't contribute an equal amount of effort. I like the idea of the grade being based on a three part system and will definitely be implementing that approach when I use learning groups. Thank you for offering that technique.
To assure participation, I have the group divide the project parts. I then grade the group as a whole and let them have input on each other's participation.
My biggest challenge is that welding is an Individual thing. It is an individual basis on their learning. Some people don't get it because it has alot of hand eye cordination and some people just can't comprehend. I show the students in groups examples and get feed back on how each one views what they seen as far as a weld goes and how will they adress it in their situation of welding.
Liset ,
this is definitely one of the biggest challenges of students groups. Through delineation of tasks hopefully each group member will pull his/her weight & also receive some positive pressure from the other group members.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
