You know you should include some group work in your instruction, right? I mean, we've been told that and have endured group activities as participants in professional development workshops, so it must be true. But, if no one was looking and your response was just between you and me, would you admit that you HATE group work?
Many instructors I know are sailing the "you have to do this in a group" boat even though they would, if they were the students, prefer to NOT participate in a group.
I have a theory that the reason so many of us dislike group work is because we were never taught how to be successful with a learning group. Like us, I'm betting OUR teachers disliked group work, too (and probably for the same reasons). As educators, I think we have the responsibility to help our students learn not only the subject matter related to the title of the class we teach, but the real world skills they need to be successful (like how to effectively contribute as a member of a group).
I just read an Eduforge article entitled "Disigning engaging online group work". If you're interested, I recommend the full article [Link to full article ]. Just to give you a dose of context from author Anouk Janssens-Bevernage, he lists these 10 components which we MUST include in any group work assignment:
Look ma! No more UGH!
Many instructors I know are sailing the "you have to do this in a group" boat even though they would, if they were the students, prefer to NOT participate in a group.
I have a theory that the reason so many of us dislike group work is because we were never taught how to be successful with a learning group. Like us, I'm betting OUR teachers disliked group work, too (and probably for the same reasons). As educators, I think we have the responsibility to help our students learn not only the subject matter related to the title of the class we teach, but the real world skills they need to be successful (like how to effectively contribute as a member of a group).
I just read an Eduforge article entitled "Disigning engaging online group work". If you're interested, I recommend the full article [Link to full article ]. Just to give you a dose of context from author Anouk Janssens-Bevernage, he lists these 10 components which we MUST include in any group work assignment:
- Design a well-structured meaningful task
- Clearly describe the expected deliverable
- Give a deadline
- Give students clear directions
- Develop a clear strategy for group composition (including team roles)
- Explain your rationale (why is group work important for this particular course?)
- Explain how the group task supports the learning objectives of the course
- Grade the activity; if you can't (e.g. because of moderation requirements), link work to individual assessment
- Design a feedback strategy that is motivational for all the learners involved
- Drama controversy make learning more exciting it should always be fun!
Look ma! No more UGH!
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