I remember always hating group work (until I got to Wash U, anyway) because inadvertently, I was more concerned than my fellow group members about ensuring that the assignment was done well. That said, I think that this sort of short-term work might encourage students to actually enjoy or at least appreciate group work, since it won't be graded, per se.
I really liked several of Bean's suggestions for small group work on writing. I think that, in particular, the "frame," "question-generating," "evidence-finding," "norming, " and "rough draft workshop" strategies seem like they will be incredibly helpful in getting students to work together on argumentation and writing practices.
Another thing that I've thought of is trying to put together a sort of thesis workshop in which students will form theses based upon a piece of freewriting that I give them. This will, I hope, give them practice working with forming theses without having to feel silly if others disagree with their positions on issues. I'm not sure if that made sense or not.
I think that most of Bean's suggestions here are ones that I would want to get into early in the semester to allow students to get their feet wet before having to form arguments, frames, etc on their own.
I'm rather torn about how to divide the groups, however. While I realize that groups tend to be more "chatty" around their friends, they are also less likely to be silent and not contribute if it forces their friends, rather than some random classmates, to compensate for their silence. As an undergrad, I was much less bitter about helping a friend than I was some slacker, also. I felt more of a sense of investment in making sure everyone understood the assignment and contributed and was therefore less likely to dominate the conversation. Maybe that's just me. And, while Bean offers suggestions for countering the dominating student (or conversation Hog, as Liz called me), I think that forcing students into roles that they are uncomfortable with might make them unnecessarily bitter. I don't know. What do you think?
--Bri
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I see your concern. I, too, have similar concerns. Where's the fine line between encouraging students to try new things and engage in uncomfortable ways, and, as you say, forcing students into roles? Maybe it's all about balance? Make them do something uncomfortable briefly, then bring them back into a safer situation where everyone appears to feel comfortable? But that's the other thing; I think some of the things that make me vigorously uncomfortable in the classroom are things that most people are comfortable with. I guess the 3-15min-segment approach might be one of the best shots?
I think Claire's point is good.
The thing about teaching is that you never know in advance how good and assignment is. Especially it is true about teachers with no or little prior experience. The same group assignment can work well inone class and nearly fail in another. Concerning groups of friends vs. random groups, at first you do not know about their friendships; later you can try both.
How feasible would it be to ask students to write about their past experiences working in groups? You could offer students time in class to write on this topic, either before they begin group work or after they have completed an assignment in groups, and read through the responses to get a sense of what will work for your class.
Post a Comment