Susan,
yes, this is one of the main reasons I like to tolerate the "pain" of group work.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
It also helps them to learn other ways of testing and diagnoising things in ways they had not thought of before working in a group.
I'd have to say one of the most important reasons for doing group work in class is that it prepares my students for the real world where teamwork will be an important part of their day in a medical office.
Eric,
and with the diversity it helps the students to learn to work with a variety of people as they will most likely be doing in this in their work settings.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
some of the positive outcomes that I have witnessed from putting students into learning groups include the synergy you get from putting like-minded folks into groups where they can bounce ideas off of each other.
Another is that it takes pressure off individuals and put it on the team thus allowing timid members to speak out without fear of "being caught out in the open."
A third would be that humans are social animals and usually a group will get more work done because they like working together.
It creates diversity within the group, it allows students to develop peer relationships, and it aids in the transfer of knowledge between the students
smaller group to manage therefore enhancing student participation.
Eddie,
and those students who understand a concept may have a different or better way to describe the concept to their fellow students.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
The students can draw off of each other life experiences.
I do agree with that, for some reason some students listen or pay attention to one another better than the instructor
It allows students to interact with other student.
it also allows students to take lpart in the discussions that they normallyh do not take part in Allowing them to see the accomplishments they can make.
By putting students into learning groups, there are several great accomplishments. First, every student comes from different backgrounds and will bring something new to the table. This creates a learning that not every instructor can teach. Second, it helps to create social skills in the workplace. All workplaces have some form of a team that each rely on each other.
I teach anatomy and physiology to future healthcare providers. One of the biggest voids in healthcare, in my opinion, is the ability of the provider to effectively communicate with patients. When we place students into groups we are, at least initially, introducing the students to an unfamiliar environment in which they must communicate properly to achieve the goal of completing a specific task.
More class interaction, students undersating the lesson fast, higher retention rate.
I also like the idea of identifying the advanced students earlier in the class. I have a study group formed n one of my current class where some of the students who were performing low have really gained by interacting with the advanced students and their performance have really improved.
The positive outcomes of paring students into learning groups is that the students learn to work together as a team. Also, the students can bring a fresh look at a problem or material that in the future an instructor can work into his or her lectures.
The positive outcomes of putting students into learning groups are the following:
a. You can create a camaraderie among students.
b. You can identify the slow and advance students. By doing this you can mix the group of students and learned from each other.
c. Since it's a diverse group, they would come up with great opinions and point of views with regards to the topic.
d. Students will develop their communication skills and how they interact with their classmates.
Gives students a chance to get to know their fellow students establishing camaraderie
There are many positive outcomes that can be derived by placing students into learning groups. However, the most important benefit is that it will enable the students to be prepared to meet the challenges ahead in a continuing diverse workforce. Cultural sensitivity is an important component of the learning process. Acceptable norms in one culture may be taboo for others.
Students may learn more from an exercise or assignment when working with a learning group because they will be able to use the experiences of the group members to increase their knowledge base and obtain new viewpoints that they may not have previously encountered.
