Download Thinking about Group Work

Thinking about Group
Work
Gordon Lewis
Beijing, October 18-20, 2008
Care
Community
Context
Coherence
STUDENT
Challenge
Connections
Curiosity
Creativity
Teacher
Why bother with group work?
 Break
into pairs
 list three reasons
 share your answers with another
pair
Why bother with group work?
Most obvious reason is increased practice
 Increased motivation (maybe)
 Promotes responsibility and autonomy (if teacher
allows)
 Promotes noticing



Learning from peers by listening and watching
Digital World is collaborative
Participate
Create
Connect
Reorganize
Share
Why bother with group work (2)


What is your learning goal and how will group
work contribute to it?
Ask yourself:
Does collaboration flow naturally from the task?
 Is collaboration a prerequisite fof task
accomplishment?


Are there other alternatives to increase exposure
to the target language?
How do we know if group work is
useful? What criteria?



Group work is simply generally accepted- but
what really happens?
How do we know group work improves
learning?
Understand group work will take away time
from your learning goals you could achieve in
presentation-if you measure goals in this way. Is
it worth it?
The Primacy of Product



Even among YL, the reasons to learn English
are instrumental.
Group work as a process is not understood as a
goal in itself.
Need to link group work to a product- (with a
grade?) to help students perceive its importance
and help demonstrate improvement.
Primary EFL in China

Learner-centeredness
Positive attitudes
 Develop thinking skills
 Autonomous learning

Group work has the potential to contribute to
achieving these goals, but…
Skeptical Teachers


Fear lack of control
Prefer teacher-guided instruction



Teachers make decisions for students
Feel comfortable in the PPP model
Teachers are products of their own education- teaching
ghosts.
Teachers need to pay more than lip service to groupwork. It must become a core course component,
linked to overall objectives and assessed
Reflect


Do you use group work in your class?
Share some examples with a partner.
Does your activity include a task?
 Does your group work require true collaboration?

Is collaborative learning the same as
group work?


Is the goal challenging or complex enough to
warrant group work?
Social aspect in group work. Is there real
communication or simply drill?
Challenges of Group Work




students in groups often do not do what the teacher
expects.
difficult to generalize about student behavior in group
work
To what extent students learn about how to behave in
groups is based on their earlier experiences of group
work
If the task is too stimulating- students will be
compelled to resort to their L1 to express themselves.
Setting Up Groups:

Explain the task clearly


Relate big picture first
Final product or goal


Have students form groups before you give them
instructions.



Share your rationale for using group work
Specific steps (with time estimates)
Keep track of time and announce it. Students will work more
effectively.
Use visuals

Written instructions (ppt,OHP, or handout)
Setting Up Groups (2)

How to divide up students





by proximity? birthday, height, hair colour
Let students choose?
By learning style?
Group size- how large is your class?
Give each learner a role- this role makes the learner
an important contributor to the overall group success


By sub-task (., recorder, spokesperson, summarizer, checker,
skeptic, organizer, observer, timekeeper, conflict resolver,
liaison to other groups)
By information (information gap-jigsaw)
Managing Group Activities


Start with an ice-breaker task
Provide strong modeling of target language


Modeling amongst peers in group as well
Monitor the groups

Provide assistance but resist impulse to get too
involved.
Assessing Group Work

Students should be made aware of assessment
before starting the project
assessment method
 criteria (product and/or process)


Product vs. Process
assessing the product - measuring the quantity and
quality of individual work in a group
 assessing the process - evaluating individual
teamwork skills and interaction

Assessing Group Work



Ask students to reflect on the group work
process
Recognize that groups might not come up with
the ideas you intended them to
Encourage student reflection
How to evaluate group work

Communicative goals

Cognitive goals (thinking skills)

Social/affective goals (learning community)