Cool Tools for TeachingMay 2011

Session One

Presenters:Jan Gabel-Goes

Gwen Athene Tarbox

Making Group Projects Work: How to Maximize the OutcomesOf Group Work for your Students

How to get and maintain student

cooperation through team dynamics, norms, roles, conflict resolution, contracts and follow through

Session One

The Philosophy of Collaborative Learning

Why do group work? Helps with retention, self efficacy,

better learning of concepts, improves individual accountability.

Provides students with a vital skill for the world of work, growth in students’ interpersonal skills, critical thinking.

Who should use group work?

Group projects can work well for freshmen through grad students.

Shy students are more likely to learn and participate; outgoing students are more likely to learn to share ideas, rather than direct their peers

Everyone learns strategies to deal with positive and negative group dynamics

Establishing a Collaborative Learning Classroom

What types of projects work well in the group setting? Oral and/or Written

Session Two will concentrate on designing assignments for

group work for your class.

What size classes can use group work? Collaborative learning can work in large

lecture and small hands-on classes and everything in between.

What size should groups be? Group sizes can vary from “pair and

share” to 6 maximum.

Achieving Results in a Collaborative Learning Classroom

What are common problems with groups? How do you overcome the issues?

Strategies for dealing with the “storming” stage of group work.

Strategies for getting students to take responsibility for their group’s performance via contracts

How should groups be organized? Self select v. instructor Organized and diverse, not

homogeneous Must discuss Team Dynamics Group Roles, Norms, Contracts Dangers of Groupthink and

Dysfunctional Behaviors Conflict Resolution & Listening Styles

Group Dynamics Interactions & processes that take

place among the members of a team Phases of team development which are Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing

& Adjourning (Orientation, Conflict, Brainstorming, Emergence, Reinforcement)

Understand and appreciate each other’s strengths (and weaknesses) Checklist sheet

Group Roles Leader/Manager/Organizer Task Oriented: Time keeper, presenter Team maintenance: researcher, get

questions answered Must make sense for the assignment

and students in the team Negative role: self-oriented member with hidden agenda

to meet personal needs only

Group Norms Informal standards of conduct that

members share and that guide member behavior.

Examples: be at all team meetings, be available for out of class meetings, responsiveness to phone/email messages, extent to which equal share of work done, general contributor to team effort, promptness in completing work (sheet)

Contract Ideas/Uses1. Agree on project goals2. Bond first3. Clarify individual responsibilities4. Establish clear processes5. Avoiding writing as a group but can

plan, research, outline together6. Assign task of writing to one person or

divide larger projects among multiple writers

Groupthink & Dysfunctional Behaviors

Groupthink occurs when peer pressures cause individual member to withhold contrary or unpopular opinions. Pressure to conform with accepted norms

Dysfunctional Behaviors & Antidotes1. Ghosts2. Controllers3. Distracters4. Pleasers5. BlamersGet them talking to each other (& you if necessary)Here is where team coaches can help if available.

Conflict Resolution – Goal is Win/Win Strategy

Deal with minor conflict before becomes major

Communication is key – get all parties involved

Openness – get feelings out in the open before dealing with main issue

More conflict resolution Research – seek factual reasons for the

problem before seeking solutions Flexibility – consider all brainstormed

solutions before locking in on just one Fair play Alliance – get opponents to fight

together against “outside forces” such as the competition instead of each other.

Make Team Meetings Count Have an agenda sent out ahead of time Keep discussion on track Follow rules, Parliamentary Procedure Robert’s Rules of Order Encourage participation by all Participate actively; read nonverbals Establish follow up and close

effectively

Listening skills helpful Content listening: to understand and

retain information Critical listening: to evaluate

information and make decisions Empathic listening: to understand

speaker’s feelings, needs and wants Active listening, turn off biases and

filters and listen with whole body

How and when to assess/evaluate group

work? Team scores v. individual scores Instructor feedback, self feedback, and

peer feedback (based on agreed upon team norms)

Timing: at end of the project with check in along the way is best.

Assessment

Session Two tomorrow, same time, same place

Designing assignments for group work: changing methodologies and rubrics to reflect the group situation as part of the grading process. Linking assignments to learning outcomes.

Thanks very much! Questions?

Source: Bovee & Thill, 2011, Excellence in Business Communication 9e, Pearson Education