Sunday, September 21, 2008
Group work
My first class (Health Promotion) was a face to face-and it had a group project. A presentation with 7 people, all of whom had to talk. Groups were formed by e-mailing our preference to the prof, so we would be gathered by interests. Fine, except few people emailed. I did, and got into preschool/school age group, then 5 people who all knew each other picked my group so they could be together. One final person was added when other groups were full (she had shown up late to class that day, so had little real choice). We were given class time throughout the semester to work on the project, however, most of the time the people who knew each other chatted about their other classes, and agreed with each other. Someone came up with an outline of what they thought should be covered, and then sectioned it off. I was assigned to talk about depression, ADD and bed wetting. Lovely. After a time, I returned to the group and let them know I wanted to add a section- HOW these important ideas about Health Promotion in preschool/school age children could be taught- what opportunities are there, how do you reach the children/parents, some developmentally appropriate teaching methods, what resources are out there, etc. This was received well, and I shortened my assigned part to a couple paragraphs, and then put together some great stuff, which I am still quite proud of. We had some separate group meetings- these are a challenge for everyone I know so don’t think I am complaining, but it was hard for me to set up a time and to get to campus. The trip takes at least an hour there and an hour home, and that is without considering actual meeting time. Our final practice- we had one of these meetings. We had tried to meet directly after class, but 3 people said they were not prepared then, so we scheduled for a couple days later. Fine. Then those same 3 people did not show up to the meeting (Grrr). They had not submitted their ppt slides to our collector, but assured us they would be ready to go. Those of us present had a good session. Me in particular. Since I did not know these folks well, it was particularly gratifying when they sat up and took notice when I began to talk. I was to speak last, and also shared with them a 6 min video clip exemplified the groups’ message. Fantastic. Presentation day. One final member (the one who was late to class) still had not submitted her ppt slides or even any explanations. She was not even present as we began. We altered the presentation order on the fly- she was now to be last. She came in part way through. She had her own (huge) handouts to add to the packet we had put together. I talked about my stuff- and it went great. For her portion, it was like a different world. She had shown no one her slides or materials, had no concept of what the group format was, and we had not seen her practice. She went on and on just talking about issues she personally saw in her job as a public school nurse. We had to stop her talking when time ran out, and did not show my video that the group had agreed upon. I believe we all got As. Group work. Think about it.
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2 comments:
Group work is particularly challenging to incorporate into a class from an instructional standpoint. As a student, I always volunteered to be "the speaker" and waited for an assignment because I knew all too well the general chaos that often resulted from group work. I typically preferred independent assignments. As an instructor, however, I see the need for group work. Collaboration is an important 21st century skill to learn, and my Deweyan roots frequently point me in this direction. Plus, increasing class sizes makes it all but impossible to feasibly grade an assignment from each student.
That said, I do struggle with the inequity of individual participation in group work. Part of me wants to accept this as an introduction to committee work and other professional collaborative endeavors, relying on group processes and any truly problematic behavior to be brought to my attention (it typically is), but I also often flirt with the idea of incorporating more group feedback re: individual participation. On one hand, I want to let the group socialize as it will, but on the other I hate to see good work by students spoiled by less conscientious attention of group mates. I wonder how students generally feel about this. Would they rather be treated like professionals who will govern their own groups or would they prefer some sort of instructor attention to be paid to participation in group work?
Group work has been even more nerve racking online. I have lucked up with amazing group members. When I started the program in the Fall of 06, it was not online. Taking classes with other master's students helped me form a solid peer group. I was great to have perspective from FNP, CNS, and Education majors. My experience was enriched by this. I don't know if I would have made it through the online portion of the program if I hadn't had a more traditional start.
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