Teams
In my 4 years of teaching at a Career College, I can count the number of times I've had my students work in groups. Now that I have taken this course, I am excited to try it out toward the end of the term.
The old cliché of "two heads are better than one" comes to mind. If I am able to put students together in small groups, I believe they will be able to motivate each other in different areas where another group member may be lacking. As a result, the best possible outcome should be obtained through a planned group effort.
I always work my students in teams in lab and some class activities. I find that when they bounce ideas off each other they learn better.
I try to mix up my group by having them count off by 4's (1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, etc.) This way they have to work with other people they normally don't mingle with. In reality, they will have to work with other people whom they may like or not.
I have found that group and/or partner work in class is generally successful. It gives the students a chance to think about new perspectives and engage with others. On that note, I like to randomly assign the groups so that they don't just default to the people they are sitting next to.
Recently I tried an outside-of-class partner assignment that was not so successful. I got the idea that not every partnership had equal contributions by both members.
