do students learn better in groups?
What are your feelings about group projects?...I've always been against them, but now I'm starting to change my views. Since most companies want to have workers with the "soft skills", can group projects stimulate that learned behavior?
Keith,
This is so important because having the ability to work with others is a skill that will be needed in every aspect of one's career development.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Group learning is imperative in today’s business world. So what is a better forum to introduce to some students the process of working in a group, team building, and brainstorming.
Cindy,
I agree. I put my students into small groups frequently as we do different case studies. They like these types of discussions and appreciate the interaction with the other students. Also, my shy students contribute more when they are in small group.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree students learn better in groups when they can interact with others in a different age group, and learn from their adult students on their wisdom from their working experiences, and the adult students can connect with the younger students on their interests.
KIZHAKKEPARAMPIL,
I use group work for the reason you state and because I want my students to learn how to work with individuals from different generations and backgrounds because they will have to in the work place. They more they know how to do this the more successful they will be in their careers.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Group works can be more effective than individual works if the members are cooperative and in same age group. The diversity of the student skills enhances the problem solving. Today, also in the work environment, as the economy has become more global teamwork has become the primary mode of business operations.
Hi Richard,
I really understand your comments about group work. I felt the same way and then I started figuring out how you can use groups as effective learning tools. By having each member contributing and spreading the work out while evaluating each person individually groups can accomplish a lot.
Gary
This is all very very interesting to me. Before reading I was 100% against group projects (as a former student and a teacher). But now (after reading here) I see the positive benefits that I had not considered before.
However...I do agree with all the "CONs" listed above.
I must have been scared for life as a youngster...because I was always the person who ended up DOING EVERYTHING because the rest of the kids would not do the work. But I see here that there is (maybe) an age appropriate time for group projects.
(and PS - it's not that I'm a control freak, I would have gladly NOT done my part of any given project...but a strong work ethic prevailed even as a kid. Plus I knew the difference of letting the slackers dictate my grade and me just taking care of it!)....thanks for letting me vent (after all these years)...ha.
Collaboration with other students helps the adult learner achieve social success and develop new skills. Students form relationships and practice the kind of teamwork they are likely to find in their job. I divided my class of 16 into 4 groups based solely on where students were seated. This resulted in diversity in the groups of age, race, and gender. At first some students resisted the idea, preferring to work independently. We discussed that groups will have leaders, who initiate the effort and that others in the group need to add their skills -- perhaps they are good with graphical content or proofreading. The rubric for group work has to include that everyone participate. In addition each student submits a confidential evaluation which assesses his/her own effort as well as each individual‘s effort, with comments encouraged. This encourages everyone to participate and gives a way team members can vent frustrations.
I think group projects are a great way to introduce teams. In a work environment you may have to work with teams in order to complete tasks. Having students learn this before they enter the work force will make them better employees and team players
Hi Diane,
I can appreciate your comment about students not fully appreciating group projects. Even though working with others is going to be essential if they are successful in their careers they sometimes feed like their individual work is not being accurately evaluated when their efforts are lumped in with other students. I evaluate their individual contributions to the projects as well as how the groups performs in completing the project. This helps to reduce their frustrations concerning individual efforts.
Gary
It teach IT and group projects are essential in areas of programming, networks, and databases. I agree with you that employers today seek individuals that have good team skills. Many students have no opportunity to develop them on a day to day basis. When seeking employment, they can at least refer to the group projects that they participated in during class. They can address any questions posed about it because they have experienced it first-hand. I am quite fond of group projects. However, students have yet to appreciate them :-)
I think this is situationally dependent on the learners that you have in your course--as many people need different types of stimulation in order to process new information.
I always incorporate a group element to my courses with the idea that we all bring a different skill set to the table--and working together, we are able to share our skills with one another.
Some students may be strong organizers while others are great at writing descriptions. Some students may be excellent with grammar and spelling while other students think in a more abstract manner. When you put all of these students together, they are able to pool their skills to create high quality work--they will also learn from one another!
Hi Sarah,
Glad you brought up the point about peer review/grading. If it is set up right this method of evaluation can be very valuable to both the students being evaluated and those doing the evaluating. Both sectors really get the opportunity to use their skills in their area. This prepares them for the work world where they will be asked to do evaluation of peer workers throughout their careers.
Gary
I agree that grading student individually is ideal. I have found that peer review/grading is also beneficial.
Hi Joseph,
I was just like you. I hated working in groups. In fact I still do! When I attend meetings and they split us out by groups I just want to skip off to the bathroom. So when I first started teaching I decided to avoid putting the students in any type of group work, but then I noticed my students were unresponsive. It was terrible! I could only get the few "usual" students to speak up in class. I began putting them into small groups and sometimes in pairs. I found that if I had them work together first they were more willing to discuss what their group came up with. We began having great discussions! Now I'm a huge fan. I can put mix the students up and teach them how to work with different types of people. I can get the shy students to speak up after they've talked about their ideas in a small group. I can put different learning levels together and they strengthen each other. Now my classes are a mix of group work and independent work and I feel like my students are learning at a much better level.
I haven't tried a group project but I like the idea of an in-class project. It could help support the lesson as well as having them learn to work with their peers.
Hi Joseph,
This has been my experience with student groups as well so I do what you do and grade each student individually. I use student groups a lot for case studies and problem solving but always let the students know that their grade depends on what they contribute individually to the group effort.
Gary
I have mixed feeling about group projects and here's why.
Pro: The pro's to group projects is the students are allowed to work in a collaborative environment to find the solution to a problem or develop a process. The students will in turn learn from each other and also learn the skill of communicaton.
Con: The con's to group projects is some some students will be uncooperative and some make in fact hinder the group from succeeding. Some members of the group my also be non-productive and allow the group to do all the work and simply reap the benifits.
In order to have group projects I have found each member must be graded separately and be held accountable for their part of the group project or process.
