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As you plan your in-class group work, there are at least three teaching principles that I’d like you to keep in mind. One is this notion of practice and feedback. To learn new skills, students need practice using those skills and they need feedback on that practice. Group work allows us to build practice and feedback into our classes and to do it kind of at scale. So there’s only one of us, right? There’s one instructor, and so we can only give so much feedback ourselves. But with group work, students can receive feedback from their peers as they learn. And again, peers are not expert givers of feedback, but even novice givers of feedback can be really useful to the learning process. So, that’s principle number one. Group work provides opportunities for practice and feedback, which is key to learning.
Principle number two is what I like to call, learning communities. So students can certainly learn from you, the instructor and from their textbook and other readings and sources, but they can also learn from each other. And in fact, structured ways for students to learn from, and with each other, can enhance the learning experience for all students. I like to call this turning the class into a learning community, where students are learning from and with each other. And group work makes time and space for this. And structured group work can ensure that all students are able to participate equitably.
The third guiding principle that I’d like you to keep in mind is a term called interdependence. See, group work works best when the students are required by the tasks themselves to collaborate. So, if the tasks are too simple for students, it’s pretty easy for students to just kind of divide the work and not actually engage with each other around those tasks. And so, you want to create a sense of interdependence, so that students do need to work on each other and in fact, rely on each other to get the job done. And you can actually do that through either the task itself or perhaps the structure that you’re using for your group work. So, three guiding principles, practice and feedback, learning communities, and interdependence.
As you plan in-class group work, there are at least three teaching principles to keep in mind:
- Practice and Feedback: To learn new skills, students need practice applying those skills and to receive feedback on that practice. Group work allows us to build this kind of practice and feedback into our class sessions, at scale.
- Learning Communities: Structured ways for students to learn from and with each other can enhance the learning experience for all students. Group work can help ensure that all students participate in this endeavor equitably.
- Interdependence: Group work works best when the tasks at hand require students to work together and indeed rely on each other. You need tasks or group work structures where students must collaborate to be successful.
Discussions
Share an example of an in-class group activity that you’ve experienced, either as an instructor or a student. How did that activity exhibit one or more of the three teaching principles listed above?
Please share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below.