I have created a peer reveiw rubric which assigns each student a point bank to distribute amongst their team members based on contributions and participation. Their evaluations are factored into their quiz scores. Out of a class of 24 students, I only have had one student's grade affected negatively from their peer review. This is a new teaching method for me, so I am still trying to work out any bugs.
Cherie, great job. Creating learning teams is a great way to get students to interact with each other. How are you managing the work load among members of the groups so no one is doing more work than the others? Thanks for anything you can share with our readers.
James Jackson
I teach Head & Neck Anatomy and have implemented team based learning methodology. This has definitely contributed to the student's feeling of security simply by being able to rely upon a team mate to contribute to arriving at the correct answer.
I typically have my students work in teams of 2 - 4 students. It works very well. I didn't know I was helping student's autonomy until I did this lesson though!
Smaller teams also reduce the tendency of students to "ride on the coattails" of the sharper, faster students. Now they are more likely to get their "hands on" experience that they need.
I enjoy putting students in teams to watch how they work,if they are team players, and to see how vocal they are when the setting is less formal. I also like to mix up teams and encourage the students to get to know one another, breaking up the cliques that are sometimes formed in the classroom setting.
Putting the students in small groups helps because each person brings something positive to the table.I encourage them to rotate duties to build their confidence level.
Working in small teams is a very effective tool. Students also need to grouped so that the weakest learners are not " in their own crowd." This will help the weaker students because they will be working with more capable students, which will help them progress.
I like small groups also it allows more people to get hands on experience without diluting the content of the subject.
