1.0 Introduction
Active learning has been one of the major focuses in the Polytechnic to create engaging, fun and creative learning environment. Collaborative learning and group work are an important element of active learning. Several studies have also shown that students prefer strategies promoting active learning to traditional lectures (Bonwell, 1991). In addition, students of today are of a very different generation compared to decades ago. Students of today prefer collaborative group work (Black , 2010) Therefore group project works has been widely used in the Polytechnics to engage students. Educators also favours group work because it can offer students the opportunities to work on more complex and challenging tasks. Furthermore, employers prefer graduates who are competent to work in groups and possess some teamwork skills. However, there are some undesirable elements of group work. Educators are constantly concerned with freeloader and their learning, whereas students are concerned with differential contribution and the unfairness of assessment. This will demotivate the students instead of the initial intention of motivating them if the assessment is not done correctly.
In the Polytechnics, there are modules where the group works contribute 65% of their module assessment. Without an effective group work assessment, students might be getting a grade that they do not deserve and definitely have not acquired the skills and knowledge taught in the module. This will
Every time that a group project is assigned I look everywhere in search of hardworking people, but unfortunately this is rare nowadays. I personally do not like working with a group of people, it is a waste of our time for a number of reasons. People are more dependent on one another and expect the job to be done for them without even trying. This affects the way we are now, things are not supposed to be easy and just magically be solved; it defeats the purpose of working together with each other and learning. I agree that more people can serve as a power source for more research, but it still isn’t sufficient enough for those who just act like fools and don’t get their work done; the one’s that are goofing around can distract the rest of the group members and convince them to join the dark
Assessment and/or Outcomes: • Students will be informally assessed during the group work. The teacher will circulate around the classroom to make sure those students have an understanding how the events and people in the situations develop over time. • Students will be given a formative assessment based off of their answers with the definition of terrorism handout. • Students will be given a formative assessment based off of the Group Work Rubric. Students will be graded based on how well they are able to work together to draw a conclusion from their situation(s).
Teamwork is also seen in my schooling. I’ve gone to schools that use group work as a common educational tool. For example,
Standard: California Common Core State Standard- Reading Standards for Literature 1st Grade. Key Ideas and Details. Section 3: Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details. Materials used for activity: The books, “Jobs Around Town” by The Berenstain Bears, “Helpers in my Community” by Bobbie Kalman, “A Day with Police Officers” by Jan Kottke, “A Day with Firefighters” by Jan Kottke, “The Jolly Postman” by Janet and Allan Ahlberg, “Froggy Goes to the Doctor” by Jonathan London, “Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel” by Virginia Lee Burton, “Nurse Clementine” by Simon James, “Let’s Meet a Construction Worker” by Bridget Heos, “The Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist”, “Whose Tools Are These” by Sharon Katz Cooper,
Advantages and disadvantages of working within teams or groups with reference to relevant business communications theory This essay will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of working within teams or groups with reference to relevant business communications theory. We live in an age where effective and efficient communication is critical to ensure a high performing team or group. In most organisations working within teams or groups is extremely common.
One of my classes my first at NC State demonstrated this. In COS 100 there is a semester long group project. Having partners who care about their education was a welcome change of pace from previous experience and made the experience enjoyable. I experienced a similar situation in CH 101. Additionally, COS 100 makes the case that working together and communicating is the best way to advance the sciences.
Additionally, the tasks need to be constructive and interlinked and provide a challenge to the students while also acting as a motivation factor. The adopting of effective teaching to match the personal strengths of the students ensures that a student’s learning outcome is achieved Holistic assessment should be encouraged to understand what the learner has captured on a learning
Cooperative learning model is an active process where students work in small teams/groups, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Students have opportunities to actively participate in their learning, question and challenge each other, share and discuss their ideas, and adopt their learning. Ross and Smyth (1995) describe successful cooperative learning tasks as intellectually demanding, creative, open-ended, and involve higher order thinking tasks. In this model, it is essential to create a positive climate where interpersonal skills can be promoted so that positive emotions will be fostered among learners. Cooperative learning also helps the learners to feel empowered and respected to prepare them to face real
Students worked in small groups collaborate to answer questions related to catheter insertion, extraction, and maintenance. The method that was used to evaluate the students is manually grading of the post-quiz to measure the students’ cognitive ability to retain the information. No apparatus or equipment used during the data collection. Miller and Metz (2014), investigates and compared the perception of the active learning process between students who were exposed to the active learning process in the classroom and members who relied on the lecture as their primary teaching strategy. The study concludes that 89% of students who engages in the active learning process through gaming in the classroom predicted favorable results in the students’ performances and motivated to learn the
Memo of transmittal for improvement in public education Dear David, Community Head In regard to your request on September 24, the department have evaluated the need for improvement in public education. I have enclosed the following report analyzing cost, efficiency and productivity of new educational equipment’s. Based on their findings, the department concur that a new line of computers will indeed benefit in the improvement of public education.
Use of group goals or group rewards augments the achievement outcomes of co-operative learning if and only if the group rewards are based on the individual learning of all group members (Slavin, 1995). Most often, this means that team scores are computed based on average scores on tests/quizzes which all teammates take individually, without teammates’ help. For instance, in Student Teams Achievement Divisions, or STAD (Slavin, 1994), students work in mixed-ability groups to master material initially presented by the teacher. Following this, students take individual tests/quizzes on the material and the teams may receive grades based on the degree to which team members have improved over their own past performance. For this, it is essential to ensure that all team members have learned, they explain concepts to each other, help each other practice and encourage each other to achieve.
According to Dr. Banerjee (2015) students gives more ideas about the task assigned to them in collaborative learning process. Each student has a very important role in having a collaborative work. Learning is what students “do” and not what they “get” as passive receivers. The teachers are the facilitators of the students and not the “giver” of knowledge. Through this process the students learn not by being fed the information, but rather giving their own insights on a certain topic as well as the insight of others.
It is one of the most effective forms of learning. Working in isolation is very restrictive and gives a slow progress. Critical thinking is also encouraged when learners work in groups. Through collaborative activities such as writing, debates, group projects and more they learn to work together and to respect each other contribution. The traditional relationship between student and teacher is changed with collaborative learning.