Transcript General

Managing Large Classes
with Group Work
Georgeanne Cooper, Director,
Teaching Effectiveness Program
http://www.uoregon.edu/~tep/
Leslie Opp-Beckman,
Technology Coordinator, Instructor,
American English Institute
http://oelp.uoregon.edu/
Topics of Discussion
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Definitions
Pros and Cons
Timelines
Mixed Ability Classes and Groups
Tips for Assigning Students to Groups
Student Accountability in Groups
Giving Every Student an Opportunity to
Participate
Assessing Group Work Activities
Definitions
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Ideal vs. “large” language classroom
Classroom management (managing student
behavior, managing class activities and
learning, managing your workload)
“Traditional” teaching vs. cooperative learning
or group work
Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs)
Pros
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You can design group work to take only a few
minutes or to take an entire class session.
You can actively engage all students (do not
allow individuals to dominate groups).
You can form groups to take advantage of
various skill levels. Group more capable
students with struggling students, and
encourage peer teaching.
Group work can help build relationships
between students and help them form study
groups.
Learning group skills is a valuable asset for
being successful in the workplace.
Cons
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Some group work requires a significant
amount of time and may not fit conveniently
into a lesson plan.
Occasionally there are conflicts with group
members that must be resolved.
In some cases it is difficult to determine
accountability. More capable members are
tempted to “take over” the activity to ensure a
good grade.
It can be difficult to design a good group
activity that keeps students fully engaged.
Timelines
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Group activities can be designed to fit into a
variety of time allotments from two or three
minutes to an entire class session. Be sure to
let students know how much time they will
have for an activity.
If the activity will take more than a few
minutes, remind groups periodically how
much time they have left. If the activity is
divided into parts, remind students (when they
have two minutes left for a part) that they must
finish and prepare to go on to the next part.
Mixed Ability Classes and
Groups
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There are several ways to group students
when there are mixed abilities within the
groups.
You may want to group by ability and give
those groups different tasks that support
success with each group.
There may also be advantages to mixing
abilities and teaching more capable
students how to teach others rather than
doing the work for them.
Tips for Assigning Students to
Groups
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Group size should be appropriate to what you
are asking students to do. When students
work in pairs or threes and abilities are not a
main concern, you can group students quickly
by counting off into groups of three from
where they are sitting in the room.
If you want students to be in particular groups
according to abilities you can do one of the
following…
Tips for Assigning Students to
Groups
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Post the groups on the blackboard before
students enter the room.
Pass back homework with a number on the
back. When it is time to get into groups tell the
students to look for the number on the back of
their homework. If you use this method, have
the areas where students with the same group
number will assemble clearly marked.
Count off by the number of groups you want
and then ask each group to assemble in a
specific place in the room
Activity #1: Two (or Three)
Heads are Better than One
This is an activity using the theme or topic
“Holidays around the World.” We will start with
one of the upcoming holidays in the USA,
Christmas.
Divide a piece of paper in half so that you have
2 columns. We will give you the topics for
each column. Work alone. Take one or two
minutes and quickly write as many words as
you can in the first column by yourself. (Note
that pronunciation and spelling are issues to
address at some point, but are not the focus
of this particular activity.)
Student Accountability in Groups
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The best group activities are those which truly
require a group to accomplish the task.
Have the group produce something together
that is evidence for their efforts.
If the task has several parts, ask groups to
divide the responsibilities among group
members and produce something (a written
document) which holds them accountable for
the task.
Student Accountability in Groups
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If you have time to ask groups about their
activity, call on someone in the group who
tends to struggle rather than someone who is
always able to complete a task.
Tell groups beforehand that you will be calling
on different members and that it is their job to
be sure everyone in the group is prepared to
answer.
Giving Every Student an
Opportunity to Participate
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Discuss the guidelines for productive
group behavior.
Group work gives students a chance to
learn how to share leadership roles,
develop good listening skills, help and
support one another, and teach each
other.
Activity #2:
A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words
You will see a picture on the same topic
“Holidays around the World, Christmas in the
USA.”
We will look at three levels of peer or group
teaching activities, from easy to more
complex:
 Building vocabulary
 Creating noun phrases and verb phrases
 Writing a short narrative or story
Giving Every Student an
Opportunity to Participate
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As groups continue to work together they can
become more productive. This is the advantage
of keeping students in the same working
groups.
You can also change groups if it is important to
have students working with a variety of other
students.
How you group students and how long they
stay in the same groups depends on what you
are trying to accomplish with group work.
Assessing Group Work Activities
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If you are new to doing group work, take it slow.
Keep your groups small (pairs or threes) and
keep the activities simple and short. Structure
the activities and ask groups to show you what
they have accomplished in writing.
Be sure you have students doing enough
individual work to understand their levels of
knowledge and skills so that their grades
accurately reflect their effort. If you are grading
students on their group work, credit for the
group activity should never bring an individual
student’s grade down. It should only add to their
individual scores.
Assessing Group Work Activities
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If students are turning in a written record of
their group activity, ask them to sign their
names and give a brief sentence or two about
their contribution to the task.
You can also ask students who have been
working together in a group over a period of
time to “rate” each other’s performance. This
should be done in confidence and each rating
should be accompanied by an explanation for
the rating.
Managing Large Classes
with Group Work
Georgeanne Cooper, Director,
Teaching Effectiveness Program
http://www.uoregon.edu/~tep/
Leslie Opp-Beckman,
Technology Coordinator, Instructor,
American English Institute
http://oelp.uoregon.edu/