place older experienced students with younger students with less life experience.
Mariann,
Good way to mix the groups. The more the students have in working with others the more successful they will be in their careers. Learning groups help them to gain such experience while developing their problem solving skills.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Assigning students to different groups and teams. When assembling these teams place students with different cultural groups and different age groups. Pair students with different grade levels. Try to empower all students.
Encourage imput from all.
Mariann Urbancsik
Lewis,
Students need to learn how to interact and discuss with others topics that are relevant to their program. With the structure you have in your school you are doing this as well as keeping them focused on the progress they are making in their career development. Good preparation for their growth in the work world.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
In one school where I teach on-campus non-traditional Master degree students the course is established with strict rules about not deviating from the syllabus. The assignments are all to be done individually and graded. I engage in discussion sessions before class with those students who arrive early. Of course, discussions are part of the class too on study topics but the point here is I try to build a learning community mentality to foster group learning meeting learning objectives.
Virginia,
What a great class you have. Enjoy your time with them. This is one of the rewards of being an instructor. You get to be the learning leader of a bunch of dedicated and motivated students. This does not happen that often so relish your time with this class.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I have been very blessed with the students in my class. They have become a team rather than just individual students. They share phone numbers and have even created a private page on facebook for the group to post homework, grades, a place they can go to study together when they are at home. It has been great for all of the class. My class has an age range of 19 to 45. The younger students have pulled the older one into their group as if there is no age difference. My 45 year old has brought her life experiences and her sense of humor about life's ups and downs to keep things light and make it easier to learn the course material. Overall, the class has been able to remain positive and supportive of each other.
James,
Good advice to share with students. These are valuable life lessons that are being taught.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Advise them to find someone at home, work, and/or school that they feel comfortable with. Have them discuss their goals with this/these person(s) and ask to give input about how they can continue to be successful in the classroom. This will carry over to their professional life after graduation.
Jason,
This is a very good way to provide support. Just knowing you are there to help if needed increases the confidence that student have that they can be successful in the course if they are willing to put forth the effort.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I think that in addition to groupwork and colabrative learning, sometimes just outlining support systems to students that are already in place helps them understand the support system. Also, just being available when they have a question with a quick response helps them understand that you are part of their support system.
Matthew,
This is a good place to start with your students. Having them express the reasons for being in school helps them to see how their efforts will move them toward their career goals. This increases the value of your course and their motivation.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
When ever students are feeling challenged, I like to start by indentifying their motivations to be in school. This helps to create an internally generated support. Once we have a good idea about their commitment and drives we begin to investigate what kinds of support they need and whenther there are people in their lives who can fit that need. Friends, other students, ride share boards, parents, partners, etc... Often students have a hard time asking for suport so I will then have a discussion about these challenges and even practice what the communication might look like. Also, I try to follow up in a timely manner to see if they acutally had the conversation with their support person.
I think the first step in helping students identify and create personal support systems starts with their introductions on the first day. If you have them introduce themselves in a fun and purposeful manner they immediately start to relax and get to know one another. We do a lot of partner, small group, and large group activities that as a bonus help in this process. What I do to intentionally help with creating support systems are pair students that are struggling with peers that are not. Creating groups with students that consist of low-level, medium-level, and high-level learners, and changing the group participants based on this model regularly allows all learners to interact. Providing structure based on the task(s) of the group gives me the opportunity to ensure each student can choose to work to their strengths, or decide to grow by developing an area they have struggled with in the past. It is important to make every attempt not to embarrass a learner.
I make it a class project! Our students are together as a cohort through a two year program. Understanding both the strengths and needs of their classmates is very valuable to them - we just need to get it started. A few weeks into the program we hold a session where each student identifies three of their obstacles with school and writes them anonymously on an index card. The cards are collected and redistributed, with each recipient offering solutions follwoed with open discussion. It doesn't take long for students to recognize that they are not alone and that other students have very helpful ideas. They run with it from then on.
Karen,
What a great resource you are providing for your students. By helping them work through the personal side of their lives you are helping them to be able to stay in school and develop the professional side of their lives as well as create a future for themselves. This is so important for student retention. More drop out as you know for reasons like lack of child care than for the rigors of the courses.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
At our student orientation, we have the students fill out a questionaire about themselves. Among other things, students are asked to consider transportation methods and child care options. These are two issues that are frequently problematic for our students. We ask them to have "backup plans" in case their normal routine fails.
In our student lounge, we have a bulletin board where students can place notices/requests about ride-sharing. We have many different programs at our school, and it may be possible for a vet. tech. student to commute with a medical assisting student, for example.
We also have a tutoring center we refer students to, when they are struggling with their coursework.
Cheryl,
I use learning group assignments a lot in my classes for the reasons you list. They are a great way to get students to interact with each other. They are going to have to work with others when they are out in their careers so they need to learn how to do it while in school.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I find that if you create group assignments it open up a source of communication between students. i normally allow students to work the assignment within class time so that I can provide feedback.
Freda,
This is a very good way to get your students working together and realizing the importance of relationships with other workers. They need to be able to become a part of a team so they can see how to work together once they are out in the workplace.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
