Student groups
Students enjoy working in groups. It helps to keep them all engaged when they learn from each other.
I have a different feeling about students working in groups. There always tends to be the student who wants to minimize their workload and group work is a perfect vehicle for that. This puts tremendous pressure on the other group members and can make group work a trying situation.
I think we have to have clear grading guidelines and maybe even a form of formative evaluation so the student who is taking advantage of the group situation can be challenged to be effective and involved.
When I put my students in groups, I usually will pick the groups as this allows students to work with someone they usually don', even in college there are still some "clicks" of groups that are always together. To avoid the students that think the will get a free ride or easy grade, I ask that all the students write a couple of paragraphs about his or her participation in the group.
I agree there can be problems with student groups, but in some situations it is an important part of learning. I give each student at the end of the term a Peer Evaluation form where they grade each person in their group as well as themselves. The better students will grade themselves very critically as well as the other members of their group. This is not the total of their grade but it is a good rubric when working with groups.
I allow my class to figure out who they want to work with. Depends on the campus I am teaching at, but at the technician level class, all of the students seem eager to put in equal amounts of effort because what we are teaching them directly affects their job.
I have a different feeling about students working in groups. There always tends to be the student who wants to minimize their workload and group work is a perfect vehicle for that. This puts tremendous pressure on the other group members and can make group work a trying situation.
I think we have to have clear grading guidelines and maybe even a form of formative evaluation so the student who is taking advantage of the group situation can be challenged to be effective and involved.
