- Creating Ground Rules
- Encouraging Participation
- Additional Strategies
- Critical Reading Skills
- Discussion of Current Events
- Additional Resources
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SECTIONS AND LABS
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Group work is one pedagogical strategy that promotes participation and interaction. It also fosters a deeper and more active learning process. In addition to exposing students to different approaches and ways of thinking, working with other students in groups can promote a sense of belonging that combats the anonymity and isolation that many students experience at a large campus. Working together in groups also gives students the opportunity to learn from and teach each other. Classroom research has shown that students often learn better from each other than they do from a teacher (Barkley et al. 2005, 16–20).
It is not difficult or time-consuming to incorporate group work activities into your lesson plan, but there are some general rules of thumb about structuring group work so that it has useful outcomes for students. Here are some basic guidelines to consider:
There are many learning goals that can be achieved by having students collaborate either in pairs or in small groups. In groups, students can summarize main points; review problems for exams; compare and contrast knowledge, ideas, or theories; solve problems; or generate comments for you on class progress or on their levels of skill and understanding. Think about what your goals for the activity are: what do you want your students to get out of this activity?
Small groups or learning teams can be formed in three ways: randomly (counting off or by seat proximity), teacher-selected, or student-selected. Random group assignments avoid cliques and ensure that students interact with different classmates throughout the semester. Once you know your students fairly well, teacher-selected groups can be useful for pairing students, e.g., students with common interests or shared learning styles, etc.
Group size can vary as can the length of time that students work together. Pairing is great for thirty-second or one-minute problem solving. Groups that work together for ten to 45 minutes might be four to six people. Groups can be formal or informal. Informal groups may be “ad hoc dyads” (where students turn to a neighbor) or “ten-minute buzz groups” (three to four students discuss their reactions to a reading assignment). Formal group assignments can serve semester-long group projects. It is useful to assign roles within the group (examples: recorder, reporter to the class, timekeeper, monitor, or facilitator). If students are not used to working in groups, establishing some ground rules with the class about respectful interaction before the first activity can foster positive and constructive communication.
Successful group work activities require a highly structured task. Make this task clear to students by writing specific instructions on the board or on a worksheet. Include in your instructions:
- The specific task: “Decide,” “List,” “Prioritize,” “Solve,” “Choose” (“Discuss” is too vague). Structure the task to promote interdependence for creating a group product. Create an activity for which it is truly advantageous for students to work together. (See Bloom’s taxonomy for help articulating learning objectives.)
- The expected product: for example, reporting back to the class; handing in a sheet of paper; distributing a list of questions to the class.
- The time allotment. Set a time limit. Err on the side of too little rather than too much. You can always give more time.
- The method of “reporting out,” i.e., of sharing group results with the class.
- Closure is critical to the learning process. Students need to feel that the group work activity added to their knowledge, skills, abilities, etc. “Reporting out” is useful for accomplishing closure. A mini-lecture from you that weaves in the comments, products, and ideas of the students in their small groups is also an effective way to close a group work activity.
Tips for formulating productive group-work assignments:
Ask questions that have more than one answer.
Make the material to be analyzed by the group in class short (via handout, overhead, written on chalkboard, etc.). . . maybe a paragraph or a few sentences.
Vary the format of the tasks. For example, on one day students might generate the questions they want to analyze; on another students may give arguments or provide evidence for or against a position or theory, etc.
Try some of these group-work learning techniques:
Think-pair-share: Instructor poses a question. Students are given time (30 seconds or one minute) to think of a response. Each student then pairs with another and both discuss their responses to the question. Instructor invites pairs to share their responses with the class as a whole.
Structured controversy: Divide class into groups of four. The instructor identifies a controversial topic in the field covered in the course and gathers material that gives information and background to support a different view of the controversy. Students work with one partner, forming two pairs within the group of four. Each pair takes a different side of the issue. Pairs work outside of class or in class to prepare to advocate and defend their position. The groups of four meet, and each pair takes a turn stating and arguing its position while the other pair listens and takes notes without interrupting. Each pair must have a chance both to listen and take notes and to argue their position. Then all four talk together as a group to learn all sides of the issue. Next, each pair must reverse its position and argue the opposite position from the one it argued before. Lastly the group of four as a whole discusses and synthesizes all the positions to come up with a group report. There may be a class presentation where each group presents its findings.
Paired annotations: Teacher or students identify a number of significant articles on a topic. Each student individually outside of class writes a reflective commentary on one article. In class, students are randomly paired with another student who has written a commentary on the same article. The two partners read each other’s commentaries, comparing key points to their own commentary. Then the two students team-write a commentary based on a synthesis of both their papers.
Roundtable: Students in small groups sit in a circle and respond in turn to a question or problem by stating their ideas aloud as they write them on paper. Can go around circle, in turn, more than once if desired. After roundtable, students discuss and summarize the ideas generated, and report back to the class.
Three-step interview: Can be an icebreaker or used as a tool to generate ideas and discussion. Ask each student to find one partner they don’t know well. Make sure everyone has a partner. You can use triads if there is an uneven number of students in the class. Students interview their partner for a structured amount of time using interview questions given by instructor. Often questions are opinion- or experience-generated: How do you use writing in your daily life? Should premed students study holistic medicine? After a set time, students switch roles so that both get a chance to be interviewed. Then, join each pair with another pair to form a group of four. Each partner in a pair introduces the partner to the other pair and summarizes the partner’s responses. Other variations on this activity are possible.
Thinking-aloud paired problem solving: Students in pairs take turns thinking through the solution to a problem posed by teacher. The student that is not the problem solver takes notes, and then the two students switch roles so that each student gets a chance to be both solver and note-taker. Then they can go into larger teams or back to the class as a whole and report back about the solutions and the process.
Think-pair-square: Same as think-pair-share except that instead of reporting back to the entire class, students report back to a team or class group of 4-6.
Peer editing: Ask students to hand in a first draft of a writing assignment. Photocopy each paper and identify it with a number instead of the student’s name. Give each student in the class an anonymous paper to edit. It is helpful to give the students verbal and written guidelines for editing criteria. After the students edit a paper, each student receives the anonymous feedback from his or her unknown peer editor. It is often useful to have a class discussion about how this process worked for everyone.
Reciprocal peer questioning: Instructor assigns outside class reading on a topic. Instructor asks students to generate a list of two or three thought-provoking questions of their own on the reading. Students bring these lists of self-generated questions to class. Students do not need to be able to answer the questions they generate. Students then break into teams of 3-4. Each student poses her questions to the team and the team discusses the reading using the student-generated questions as a guide. The questions of each student are discussed within the team. The team may then report back to the class on some key questions and answers generated.
At the GSI Teaching and Resource Center we have other material to help you plan and design group work activities. Come and visit us, or send an email with your comments or questions to gsi@berkeley.edu.
This section draws on the following works:
Barkley, E. et al. Collaborative Learning Techniques. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005.
Cross, K. Patricia. Collaborative Learning 101. The Cross Papers 4. League for Innovation in the Community College, 2000.
Johnson, D., R. Johnson, and K. Smith. Cooperative Learning: Increasing College Faculty Instructional Productivity. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 4, 1991.
Meyers, C. & T. Jones. Promoting Active Learning: Strategies for the College Classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993.
Millis, B. and P. Cottell. Cooperative Learning for Higher Education Faculty. Oryx Press, 1998.
