Documentation:GroupActivities

Enhancing Interactive Learning through Group Activities

Introduction

One of the key principles of deep learning, as Rhem (Rhem, 1995) summarizes, is interaction among students; however, we won't reach to the desired results by just putting students into groups. Good principles on cooperative learning should be applied for desired results.(Millis and Cottell, 1998)

Ask yourself these questions when you are designing a group activity:

• Why do you need a group activity?

• How will you form the groups? Do student choose whe they work with or is the decision made by you?

• Do you give enough time to group to reach to a norming stage? Do you provide group roles for learners to choose?

• How sill you monitor students interaction?

• What challenges do you expect?

Group Roles You may want to use

Initiator/Problem poser

Reporter

Summarizer

Time monitor

Process monitor

participation monitor

Literature

Group members not only learn from their own individual efforts, but they also learn from the perspectives of the other members (Betz, 2005).

Millis, B. J. & Cottell, P. G. (1998). Cooperative Learning for Higher Education Faculty. Phoenix: American Council of Education/Oryx Press.

Rhem, J. (1995). Deep/surface approaches to learning: An introduction. The National Teaching and Learning Forum, 5(1), 1-3.

Examples

Types of Group Assignments

Managing Group Assignments