Group Learning Styles
Each group of students develops it own personality. Year after
year you will find the dynamics change and thus so must your teaching
strategies. Learning groups are often a very useful tool to get students
actively involved in their own education. Some students constantly complain when
lessons are taught this way, saying "Do I have to be in a group? I work better
alone." My answer, "Yes, you have to be in a group. One of the skills you must
learn is how to work with others toward a common goal."
Learning Groups-Nuts and Bolts
I am a strong proponent of all types of cooperative learning
experiences. Believe it or not I used this method often a quite effective
teaching tool in a lock down institution. It is one of the best ways to
integrate the learning of social skills that our students desperately need. Not
only do learning groups provide students with content information but they
provide "hands on practice" in areas of teamwork, responsibility, cooperation
and tolerance". Learning Groups also stimulate learning in students who
generally find school boring and unimportant. Teachers must be active in these
groups walking the room to moderate progress, understanding, and to curtail
talking outside the scope of the assignment. A method that works well is to tell
students ahead of time that points will be docked from their grade if you come
upon their group and chit chat is dominating the discussion.
Before attempting to use any group learning model with your
students two things are very important. The first and most obvious, is to make
sure you understand how the method works. This sounds like a redundant thing to
say but believe me I've seen some real bombs when teachers are unsteady using
the method. You have to feel comfortable or it won't work! Students seem to
smell unprepared ness in their teachers and use it to create mayhem. The second
is that your students understand the teaching model being used. This is
particularly true of older students. If they don't understand what is going on
they may not participate willingly which takes all the wind out of your sails.
The goal is to involve the student not confuse or alienate them. Once your
students are used to the idea of learning groups and how they work you're set to
explore all the possibilities.
The Jigsaw Method
The Jigsaw
Classroom
