Introduction to OER4Schools
The OER4Schools Professional Learning Resource
Objectives
Objectives for this session are:
- Understanding what genuine groupwork is (not just sitting in a group formation!)
- Learning about the rationale for doing group work - learners share responsibility for learning, research shows benefits for individuals of collaborative learning
- Practising questions for group work that involves same-task and different-tasks
Activity One: Power Point presentation
For this activity, you will need:
- the power point presentation File:Unit 3.1 Group Work for Interactive Teaching.ppt.
- the projector linked to your computer.
- a flip chart or blackboard with the heading ‘A significant aspect about group work that I have just learned is...’
When most participants have read one slide press any key to move to the next slide.You can read the slides aloud if you think it will benefit the participants.
Watch the power point presentation about group work. Write one significant aspect about group work that you have learned from this power point on a piece of paper. Stick them up on a board/wall with sticky tape or lay them out on a table for everyone to see.
Participants need not write their names on the sheets.Allow participants to read other people’s contributions. Read out a few notes that you think are important to be highlighted for the whole group.
Activity Two: Same-task group work and different-tasks group work
Same-task group work involves assigning the same problem to each group. Each group’s presentation provides a different perspective/way of solving the problem. For example,
- “A farmer has a plot of land of size 30 metres x 20 metres. He has to plant 60 trees and 20 shrubs. Which pattern of planting would you suggest to the farmer? Why? Consider that the shrubs should not be shadowed by the trees so that they get light.”
- “New classrooms are being built for grades one and two in another rural area.Tables and chairs are needed for these classrooms. Give suggestions about the size and shape of the tables and chairs to the headmaster. Each group can give one suggestion for a table and a chair. Explain your suggestions with reasons.”
Different-tasks group work involves assigning different aspects of the same problem to each group. Each group’s presentation is like a piece of the jigsaw that completes the whole picture. For example,
- “The Zambian health minister has asked you to make handouts/pamphlets about diseases. The pamphlets will be distributed in hospitals to inform people about prevention of diseases. The diseases for which handouts are needed are: (a) Tuberculosis; (b) Malaria and (c) HIV/AIDS. Three groups will work on the different diseases. In your group, consider which information you want to include and why.”
- “The local environment committee has observed that pollution is increasing in your area. They have asked you to find out the reasons for increasing pollution and suggest ways to decrease it. Prepare a presentation for different types of pollution: (a) air pollution, (b) water pollution, (c) noise pollution and (d) soil pollution.”
Whole group (11 min). Discuss:
- What are your general observations about questions for group work?
- How are the questions for same-task group work different from different-tasks group work? What is the advantage of setting different tasks to groups?
- Suggest a topic that you could teach through same-task group work.
- Suggest topics that you could teach through different-tasks group work.
Reinforce that questions for group work are more motivating when presented as real life problems. Also presentations are more interesting to hear when they are all focused on a different question.
Then highlight the important aspects of the problem that groups should consider. This increases the challenge for the group work.Carry out the last two bullet points (about topics) like a brainstorm. Record the answers on a flip chart or blackboard so that participants can see them during Activity 3. You could ask a volunteer to write them.
Activity Three: Forming questions for group work
Prepare labels (G1, G2 and G3) for group work in advance and place them on tables before this activity.
Stand in a queue. Each person says a number from ‘1’ to ‘3’ at their turn. So, the first person says ‘1’, second says ‘2’ and third says ‘3’. then fourth says ‘1’, fifth says ‘2’ and sixth says ‘3’ and so on. Everybody who said ‘1’ should form group one (G1). Similarly, everybody who said ‘2’ and ‘3’ should form group two (G2) and group three (G3) respectively.Sit on the tables marked with your group number. In the classroom this is an effective way of randomly allocating pupils to groups and it avoids friendship or ability groupings.
Allow 15-20 minutes for group activity. Indicate the time left 5 minutes before the allotted time.
[Group Activity] Formulate open-ended questions that can be assigned to groups during a forthcoming group work activity in your classroom. Each group (G1, G2 and G3) should formulate at least one same-task group work question and one different-tasks group work question. You can devise more questions if there is time.
Visit each group at least once during the activity. Remind group members to:
- Encourage participation/suggestions from all members.
- Accept suggestions only if they agree, otherwise ask questions.
- Negotiate the topic, scope and language of the questions that they are forming.
- Keep an eye on the time.
Allot a number (1, 2, 3... number of members) for each group member. Keep it a secret from your facilitator i.e. do not tell who has which number to your facilitator. All group members should know this information. For young children, assign them a number so they don’t waste time deciding which number to be.
Whole Group (11 min). After the activity, the facilitator calls out a number (1 to number of members). For example, if maximum number of group members is 4; facilitator can say any number from 1 to 4. The group member with this number will present the questions on behalf of the group. Similar procedure is followed for groups G2 and G3.
This procedure means no-one knows in advance who will have to present, so everyone gets involved in case it is them!
Discuss:
- How well did your group work together? Did everyone participate equally? How would you rate your group work on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 is most effective)? Why? Use the ideas in the Powerpoint presentation as criteria for judging effectiveness (see File:Unit 3.1 Group Work for Interactive Teaching.ppt).
- Choose one or more questions that you could use in your class this week
- Are there any aspects of group work that you foresee as potential problems? How will you solve them?
Video watching
These clips show Eness, a teacher in a community school near Lusaka, interacting with a Grade 3 class. The children are devising their own classifications of animals depicted in photographs on tablet computers, and recording their ideas on mini-blackboards. There is one clip of pupils working alone, then one with the teacher present.
Stimulus (11 min). See videos: Eness_vertebrates_6.mp4 (2 mins. 38), Eness_vertebrates_7.mp4 (3 mins. 45).
VIDEO
19 Eness 3 vertebrates 6
The description of the video
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VIDEO
19 Eness 3 vertebrates 7
The description of the video
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Whole group discussion (11 min).
- What was the teacher able to achieve in this small group work that would be difficult in the whole class?
- What is the role of the teacher during group work in these clips?
- How did the teacher involve all pupils in the discussion?
VIDEO
new Abel clip 4.m4v
Video/New Abel clip 4.m4v, https://oer.opendeved.net/wiki/Video/New_Abel_clip_4.m4v, Duration: 12:34 watch on YouTube, local play / download options / download from dropbox)
In this lesson Grade 7 pupils in a semi-rural government school near Chongwe were exploring the relationship between area and perimeter. They worked in groups, using Geogebra software on netbook computers.
Suggested questions for reflection are:
- What is the role of the teacher during group work in this clip?
- How does a teacher know when to intervene?
- How can a teacher encourage peer support during group work? Would Abel’s technique of bringing in older pupils or faster learners to help their peers aid a teacher with a large class?
- How did the use of ICT help the learners’ enquiry?
Suggested questions for reflections on both videos:
- What would you do in your classroom while your pupils are engaged in group work?
- How would you encourage all pupils to be involved in the group work?
- How would you ensure that all pupils have contributed to the final output of group work?
Research shows that teachers intervene in groupwork too much/too soon, however the Abel clip shows the importance of picking up on misunderstandings before they completely obstruct progress. It’s also important to know when groups are finished and need another challenge.
It’s not easy to make a decision about when to intervene – it’s a fine balance. Try to circulate and eavesdrop on groups before deciding where to intervene.
Follow-up activities
1. One volunteer from each group G1, G2 and G3 (formed during Activity 2.3) should post their questions on the googlegroups for all participants. Other participants should reply with a comment when they have seen the questions.
2. Carry out one same-task group work and one different-tasks group work in your classroom. You could use the questions that were formed during Activity 2.3. Plan in advance: (a) how will you form the groups, (b) what will you do while pupils are engaged, (c) how will you ensure that all pupils are participating and (d) how will you encourage agreement, disagreement and negotiation?
Try out the numbering strategy for randomly selecting the presenter.
3. Can you suggest at least 3 other ways in which you might select group members at random for giving a presentation? (if uncertain, refer back to the document “Increasing participation in answering questions”: Unit 2, session 3, activity 2).
