Group Work
I recently read a post by a fellow student who said "Group Work is used by many instructors as an instructional strategy to enhance student learning by taking advantage of the benefits of peer-to-peer instruction in addition o the important lessons to be learned through cooperation and teamwork. We know that cooperative learning gives students the opportunity for collaboration of skills, knowledge and expertise, communication and teamwork, accountability, time management and peer-to-peer instruction. But we also know group work has disadvantages that can be difficult to manage. For example, managing preconceived ideas toward group work, inactive participants, personality conflicts, and the additional need for monitoring, feedback and effective assessment on the part of the instructor. Research confirms that group work can have a very positive effect on learning outcomes, so what do we need to do to make sure group work is effective?"
This question immediately brought me back to my grade 7 social studies project. I will never forget that experience in group work as it was a negative experience for me. I was the diligent hard working student, while the person I was paired with (not by choice) was a punk guy who did nothing to contribute. I developed a beautiful brochure, and was so disappointed that after the many hours I spent on its design, he equally shared in my mark.
Looking back on this experience now as an adult, I am thankful for having had that experience. It taught me so much about the real world. There will always be those types of people in every group we encounter, whether it be community organizations, jobs, or college courses. There will be the over achievers along with those who closely ride their coat tails. Its simply a fact of life.
Maybe we fall into one of these categories, perhaps we are even the 'alpha' male or female, where we can not help but take over. Is this perhaps from fear that no one can do it as well as we can? Or is it a method of control and power? Looking into this even more closely, I have a strong hunch that we have all likely been both the leader and the follower at times in group environments. There can be so many contributing factors as to why. I know at times I like to lead, those times when I am feeling confident, and perhaps even a little bit more energetic, but there are also moments when I am exhausted or maybe not fully grasping the teaching, and I would rather take the back seat. Introverts may work well with extroverts, and on the other side of that coin, they may not.
As a teacher, I integrate a lot of group work, often times using the peer-teaching model. I however have never 'graded' my students on this work. It provides an open classroom environment where questions arise from the various groups that perhaps others never even considered. To facilitate the groups, I typically do a random assignment of students to work with each other. This is in an effort to get the students comfortable with working well with others - a MUCH NEEDED skill when they get out into their field of work.
"Obviously within that structure leadership roles vary so that different members of the team have responsibility for teaching certain content, drafting particular assessment rubrics, or running specific exercises. But every team member is in class all the time..." (Brookfield, 2015).
Stephen Brookfield makes an excellent point in his book "The Skillful Teacher" - "In the information age, working in project teams is the norm, so it makes perfect sense for our pedagogy to mirror that reality." (Brookfield, 2015).
So, in summary, my personal opinion is that group work is a wonderful way to increase learning and overall skills in our students, however, I am of the opinion that I would not be so keen on assigning a group project that the students would be graded on as I really feel the whole objective has already been achieved through learning from others.
References:
Brookfield, S. D. (2015). The Skillful Teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
