home

=Welcome to Time Savers for Busy Teachers: Group Work 1 = Authors: Bailey, Nick and Jason

**What is group work?**
Simply put, group work is the practice of breaking a class up into groups, with each group working and co-operating with each other toward the achievement of a common goal. Usually the task entails some kind of synthesis of information on a given topic.

[|Working in a Group Video]

Benefits:

 * Forces students to collaborate with peers they may have had little interaction with otherwise.
 * Reinforces valuable interpersonal skills such as co-operation, compromising, conflict resolution, group problem-solving and decision-making.
 * Encourages students to plan tasks and divide the workload among themselves; when students work independently, initial planning often doesn't get done until just before the assignment is due.
 * working in a group can lead to an increase in diversity of ideas.
 * with each student responsible for a section of work, reinforces the individual's capabilities.
 * involves the passive students into taking a responsibility
 * increases interest and confidence of the students

Challenges:

 * Personal conflicts can arise within the group. The most common conflicts involve internal power struggles and disagreement over distribution of the work load.
 * There is always the risk that some group members will be less participatory or neglect their share of the workload. Peer evaluations can help to address this issue.
 * Each member of the group will have a different level of motivation. Some will want an A+ while others are content with a passing grade.
 * Having a large group can increase the difficulty in arranging a time suitable for all parties to meet.
 * Some group members may not finish their task, or may even drop the course affecting the whole group.
 * Some individuals work better under pressure and will procrastinate until the last minute

Uses

 * Useful for icebreaker exercises; getting to know each other in small groups can be less intimidating than introducing oneself to the class as a whole.
 * Analyzing case studies
 * Debates
 * Generating questions and answers on a given topic or piece of information.
 * Compiling and presenting a concise synthesis of information on a given topic.
 * use for problem-solving tasks

**What is the teacher's role?**
1. Review your course of study and decide which topics may lend themselves to group work. 2. Allocate class time for group work, research, presentations. 3. Prepare topics and assessment strategies. 4. Give rationale for using group learning.
 * Planning**

1. Provide assistance if a group doesn't understand, but don't hover over groups 2. Give positive reinforcement for good interaction skills
 * Monitor the Activity**

__How many students in the group?__ The optimal number of people in a group is 5 - having an odd number eliminates the possibility of a deadlock - having a larger group increases the difficulty of communication
 * Forming Groups**

__How will groups be formed?__ - Diverse student interaction ||  || - Possible increase in group conflict ||   || Long-term tasks || - Student involvement in decision making ||  || - All groups may not be balanced ||   || Short, informal tasks ||
 * <  ||   || Positives ||   || Negatives ||   || Best Suited For: ||
 * < Teacher Assigned ||  || - Balanced groups based on student skills
 * < Student’s Choice ||  || - Less group conflict

1. Discuss with the students the results of the activity 2. Discuss the positives and negatives of the assignment 3. Assessment
 * Debrief**