Hailey's Reading Notes #4

When I realized that we would be discussing group work this next week, I was thrilled. I am, not surprisingly, a person that enjoys working with others. This is not to say I haven’t had my fair share of horrible group experiences. In fact, I used to not be a fan at all. However, what changed my opinion were the few amazing group experiences I had during my final two years of undergrad. Yes, there was a “bad seed” in both groups, but those of us that did work well together managed to deliver projects that I still include in my professional portfolio.

Needless to say, when I began my readings with Lang this week and within the first page and a half he talks about how not only do most people assume group work is unsuccessful but that teachers prefer to learn through reading and writing, I was a little stunned. (Pg. 104-105) I guess I’m an exception to this rule. I prefer active learning about 85% of the time. Am I an abnormality? Is this really true that most educators prefer to learn through reading and writing?

As you’ll see in my teaching philosophy, I believe the main point of higher education is to prepare students to enter the workforce, and like Lang points out quoting Mara Sapon-Shevin, “It is hard to think of a single job today that doesn’t involve working with others at some level.” (pg. 106) Davis also discusses how groups provide an opportunity for higher-order thinking. (pg. 191)

When it comes to forming groups, I have mixed feelings. Lang mentions that many researchers believe that groups work best when they are formed by the instructor. (pg. 112) Davis discusses how research shows that diverse groups of individuals work best (pg. 194). I understand the argument that instructors should form formal groups in order to keep groups diverse, but I have to reflect on my best group experiences. These groups were self-chosen. Does nobody have faith in student’s abilities to choose their own groups? I think that if they choose purely based on friendships, they will learn in the end and deserve whatever grade they get. One activity I remember doing in undergrad is presenting our “resume” to the class where we highlighted specific skills we had and experiences that would contribute to the group. We chose teammates based on aspects of the resumes that we wanted in our group.

Davis stresses the importance of the instructor “checking in” regularly during formal group assignments, especially when they last multiple weeks. My question is how much is too much checking in and how much is not enough? On a similar note, what do you do when they are flat out off track? Yes, it is the job of the instructor to offer guidance, but does it ever fall on the group for not putting in the effort or not paying attention? I struggle with this in class relatively often: how much is too much help?

In summary, I love formal group work. I love case studies, debates, and while I’ve never done video game learning, that sounds pretty fabulous as well.