Hi everyone: Some thoughts.
There are certain tensions involved in the formation of groups. If given the opportunity, students tend to self-select their friends or acquaintances for their project groups. If the groups must do a good deal of their work outside of class, self-selection can be an advantage, because friends often live together and have similar work and class schedules. This facilitates scheduling outside group meetings, and avoids a great deal of wasted time and frustration.
Self-selected groups tend to be cohesive: The members care about the appraisal of the others, and want to maintain their affection and respect. The research literature (that I am familiar with) suggests that some level of group cohesion is necessary for a successful outcome. But the high level of group cohesion the may occur among close friends can be counterproductive. First, high cohesion can produce classic "groupthink" phenomena, in which individuals' concerns about their friends' opinions of them, can suppress the expression of dissenting opinions, or novel, potentially unpopular ideas. Such opinions and ideas often lead to the most productive or creative outcomes. Second, friends tend to have relatively similar attitudes, values, life experiences, ethnic backgrounds, and even physical environments. Such similarities can make the group a comfortable place to be, but it can seriously limit the range of ideas and information available to the group, and thus, the quality of its work and outcomes. Finally, a self-selected work group often will have a core of friends plus a stranger (filling the last, vacant spot). This dynamic is not necessarily detrimental. But often, the stranger can feel (or be) left out, and be overly preoccupied with issues of acceptance by the group.
Groups that are randomly or arbitrarily formed by teachers benefit from the greater diversity that is likely to result. But they may lack the minimal level of cohesion necessary to sustain effective group effort. Of course, part of the learning experience is to create such cohesion through the shared experience of focusing on the work of the project. To the extent that learning how to work with a group of strangers is an important goal of the group project, this method of group formation may be desirable.
In my research methods class, I use a kind of hybrid model for group formation. I present ten possible topics for group work on the webpage for the course, and encourage students to discuss them informally. Then, during a class, I randomly pick a student (from a deck of name cards) and ask her to choose her favored topic. The next name is picked, and that student picks her favorite (with the results written on the board). When any topic has three names, it is temporarily "closed out." What results is a fairly dynamic, slightly chaotic process, with a good deal of switching (I see that Ann wants topic 3; I'd be willing to go out of 3 into 5, if Bill would go from 5 to 7, which he said he actually likes just as much."). The process seems to maximize the likelihood that each student will get into a group devoted to a topic of interest, and which contains at least one person her or she would like to work with. Because the names are initially chosen in random order, the process seems to prevent any group being constituted by people who are there simply because their best friends are there too.
For what it's worth...
Steve.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steven J. Gilbert, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology & Department Chair
State University of New York, College at Oneonta
[log in to unmask]
Phone: 607-436-2557; Office: FITZ 127A
Office Hours: MW 1:00; T 10:00; Th 11:00
Home Page: http://employees.oneonta.edu/gilbersj/stevepage.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Savannah Liangmei Bao
Sent: Thu 9/10/2009 5:12 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: How to Form Groups?
Hello all,
I learned the idea of forming groups (3-4 students in each group) at the beginning of the semester from The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. I found that forming groups at the beginning of the semester helps students to build a sense of belonging, particularly the shy students who hesitate to participate in class discussion. The groups are formed by alphabetic order. It is also a quick way for me to remember students' names. This way, students get to know each other (at least the group members if not all), learn to work cooperatively in a group, and conduct in-class discussions throughout the semester. Although it is informal, sometimes groups are asked to stand up to share their ideas in front of the whole class and at the end of the discussion we will talk about group presentation skills. This is to prepare them for the final group presentation project that I assign in the middle of the semester.
For the final group project, the groups are formed based on their interests on the topics that I provide and students sign up. Normally, I provide broad topics and each group narrows down the topic. Meanwhile, every group is asked to fill out a sheet including details such as the outside classroom meeting time, location, and individual assignment within the group. It counts toward their grades. I keep checking their progress in the following classes. As for the rules, I ask students to come up with classroom rules and group rules in the first day of class. I propose some rules if students did not include them and I require that every group member must speak up during the group presentation, in-class discussion group or the final group presentation. I distribute the copy of the rules to every student in the following class. I found that students love to make their own rules and I bet some of the students probably regret the rules they made later. Overall, this has been pretty effective in my class.
I hope this helps.
Savannah Liangmei Bao, Counselor
Alumni Network Development
Educational Opportunity Program
Office of Special Programs
332 Netzer Administration Building
SUNY College at Oneonta
Oneonta, NY 13820
Phone: (607) 436-3095
Fax: (607) 436-3211
From: Teaching Breakfast List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Joanne Curran
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 3:05 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: How to Form Groups?
I've also used jigsaw for groups and I agree with Amy that it works well. All of the literature on cooperative learning would be helpful as well. In short, this advises you to assign distinct responsibilities for each person in a group, and then assess each area for a total group. I give individual and group grades so that the members of the group are expected to deal with each other, work together, and also do their own personal best. Check out http://www.nea.org/tools/32842.htm Joanne
From: Teaching Breakfast List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Amy Crouse-Powers
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 1:28 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: How to Form Groups?
Jim,
I always try to use a "jigsaw" model for group work. The idea with the jigsaw is that every person in the group is responsible for one part of the puzzle. Each person has to become an "expert" on one area. When you put them all together, they've each dug deeply into their part of the topic and their parts together make a coherent presentation. I quickly googled and found this site that will explain the idea: http://www.jigsaw.org/overview.htm.
Amy
From: Teaching Breakfast List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jim Greenberg
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 1:20 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: How to Form Groups?
TBers,
I would like to put my students into small "groups" this semester to work on a final project. I've done this before with various levels of success. I worry about group compatibility, assessing their work as a group and individually, etc. Can folks on this list tell me what they've done that has worked (and not worked)?
How did you form the groups?
How do you keep the groups functional?
How did you assess the groups work? (and the individuals work)?
Thanks.
Mr. James B. Greenberg
Director Teaching, Learning and Technology Center
Milne Library
SUNY College at Oneonta
Oneonta, New York 13820
blog: The 32nd Square at http://32ndsquare.blogspot.com/
wiki: The 32nd Square at http://32ndsquare.wikidot.com/
email: thismessage:[log in to unmask]
phone: 607-436-2701
fax: 607-436-3677
IM: oneontatltc
Twitter: greenbjb
"Ignorance is curable, stupidity lasts forever"
P Think before you print! Please consider the environment before printing this email