DAY FIVE

I have mentioned using small group work several times in the first four “ideas” as an effective approach for breaking up the long hours of class, promoting student engagement and reducing mental fatigue, etc. The fifth “idea” here will answer some of your questions about how to do this effectively. Of course, several variables that affect that decision are the size of the class, the physical arrangement of the classroom and how much flexibility you have to change it, and the types of tasks that you want the small groups to work on. We’ll discuss each of these briefly in a moment, but first let me share with you some research findings about in-class small group work and student learning.

1. Peer teaching and student-led discussions are superior for learning compared to teacher-led discussions, even if the teacher provides the discussion questions. Why?

a. Preparing to teach and explain promotes more learning than hearing the explanations of others.

b. Constructing thought-provoking questions demands analysis of the readings.

c. Accepting responsibility for helping each other learn is motivating and gets students to class!

2. Using small groups regularly reduces absenteeism (students feel more accountable to their group).

3. Each student talks more in small groups than in whole-class discussions:

a. They ask more questions of each other when confused.

b. They work harder to explain and help those who are confused.

c. They offer positive feedback to each other.

d. They feel compelled to work toward having the meeting stay on track.

4. Heterogeneous groups are more successful than homogeneous ones. Use exam performance, learning style inventories, your first-day “getting to know them” surveys, or ??? to distribute groups evenly, or do random assignment such as birthdays between January and March. Natural group formations may work well too, e.g. all students at a DL site, the same employer or time zone.

5. Learning facts is not necessarily better than in non-group learning environments, but motivation is higher, students are more curious about the course content, and they develop deeper thinking skills.

6. Higher amounts of structure are needed if learners have little prior knowledge and little experience working in task-oriented groups.

7. Ideal group size in face-to-face groups is 5-6 and in virtual groups is 4, unless the virtual groups are only discussing, in which case up to 10 is workable.

Now, knowing these things about effective groups, you can think about your classroom situation and how these research findings fit. For example, if you teach in an auditorium with immovable, tiered seating, groups of 5-6 may not be feasible. Perhaps four would work, so that two can turn around to the two behind them. Perhaps your room has tables and chairs, but they all face forward and the room is not big enough or there isn’t time enough to move them for every class. Again, if two sit at each table, how about having them turn around their chairs to form a group of four? The point is, you want enough in each group so that if one is absent, you still have a group! And you want the group large enough for many tasks you might give them to draw on the expertise and points of view of several students.

Now, there may be times where you just want students to turn to one other person, discuss something for 2-3 minutes, and then share; in this case, you don’t need a larger group. But if you can see value in having students work through study questions together, practice applying course concepts to real-world scenarios or problems, produce a number of mini-deliverables on a large-scale project, or other learning activities in which groups are ideal and need blocks of time to do these tasks, small group work is possible to do in an evening class or extended time class. Plus, for all the reasons cited in the research and the positive impact small group work can make on keeping students engaged when in class for 2-4 hours or more, they are worthwhile!

If your students do not have much experience working effectively in groups, you may want to provide some group scaffolding for them, at least until they have had a chance to learn how to do it effectively and efficiently. Consider reviewing our “Groups and Virtual Teams” resource for additional guidelines on how to accomplish this.