10.3 Facilitating Laboratory and Small Group Work

Most laboratory work is planned for small teams of students. It is therefore important to keep in mind the management strategies that researchers on cooperative learning have found to be essential and effective in maintaining student involvement. Johnson and Johnson as discussed in Chapter 8 have identified five management practices that teachers should employ in cooperative learning experiences. These include positive interdependence, individual accountability, face-to-face communication, interpersonal skills, and processing. Briefly here is a review of these behaviors as they were presented in an earlier chapter.

Cooperative Learning/Laboratory Management Tasks

Positive interdependence. Students need to value the performance of each member of the group, as well as their own. A sense of mutual dependence is established by agreeing on a goal, dividing up the workload or materials, resources or information, differentiating roles, and providing joint rewards. Each of these creates contributes to creating an environment of positive interdependence. Specific management strategies that will help create positive interdependence during small group or laboratory activities include:

1. Establishing Common Goals

• Each group completes and turns in single product (worksheet, report, project, data sheet).

• Structuring group discussion resulting in agreement or consensus.

2. Structuring Joint Rewards

• Single group reward given to individual groups such as:

(grade, score, or tangible reward, such as a privilege, treat)

• Group gets extra reward for individual efforts of its members

(bonus points, improvement scores)

• Structuring intergroup competitions, e.g. games, tournaments.

3. Structuring the Task

• Roles for each group member

(Facilitator, materials handler, encourager, recorder/reporter)

• Turn taking as part of the activity

• Use of Experts--division of labor

(e.g.dividing content so each team member becomes an expert: igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary)

• Dividing resources or information

(limiting materials, or access to information)

Individual Accountability. There is always the fear that groupwork will result in one or two students doing all the work, while the rest get a free ride. The structure of cooperative learning is dependent also on each student's mastery of the material being learned, and responsibility for sharing in the attainment of the groups' goal. Individual testing, grading and feedback are part of the cooperative learning approach. Here are some additional management strategies that can be used to structure individual accountability into cooperative learning and laboratory activities:

1. Focusing on the Contribution of Individuals

• Using roles (chief scientist, materials handler, praiser, recorder/reporter)

• Dividing the Task (mini-topics, sub-division of text, part of assignment)

• Using Experts/Resource Individuals

• Coding Individual Contributions (markers, individual papers)

• Feedback on individual student behavior

• Group/individual reflection

2. Focusing on the Individual Outcomes of Each Individual

• Individual tests, quizzes

• Individual homework assignments

• individual reports, data, essays

• Group rewards for individual behavior (each person receives bonus points for every person who turns in homework)

Face-to-Face Communication. Students need to be put in situations where they interact with each other face-to-face. Learning in small groups is dependent on students talking with each other. Paying attention to room arrangement is crucial here. You may have to take the time to rearrange the furniture of your room so that small groups of students can sit facing each other.

Interpersonal Skills. Just as students need to learn the skills of doing science, you will discover that students, if placed in cooperative learning groups, will need to learn some communication skills. One effective strategy is to teach students the interpersonal skills that they will be using in the small group activities. A technique that is effective is the use of an interpersonal T-chart (Figure 10.5b. T-charts are created by a teacher led discussion of the interpersonal skill that will be utilized in the small group activity or laboratory activity. Students are asked to brainstorm what the skill "sounds like" by coming up with phrases they would use while working in the group to encourage "active listening" (or other identified skills, everyone contributes, questioning, staying on task). Then students are asked to brainstorm what the skill "looks like." The results are written as a large poster which is mounted in a place where all students can see it. During the cooperative activity or lab, students "practice" using the skill.

Processing. Providing time for groups to process their work is important management strategy. Too often students work together, but never have the opportunity to reflect on their work, make suggestions for improvement, or give each other feedback. The effective manager of small groups provides each team with a few minutes to process. The teacher organizes this by presenting to the groups one or more problems or questions to discuss after the activity has been completed. For example, a science teacher might give the groups any one of these questions to discuss:

1. Write positive statements about how each member contributed ideas in the

activity. Share these statements with the other group members.

2. What skills did you effectively use? Which need to be worked on?

3. What behaviors contributed to learning in your group?

4. In what ways did your group encourage contributions of all group

members?

5. How did you feel about participating in this task?

6. What did you learn from this activity?

7. How would you do this activity differently?

8. Did you participate fully in the activity

In addition to knowing these five management strategies, it is important to put them together in a smooth flowing plan or series of phases. The next section describe a series of phases that constitute a management plan for small group and laboratory activity.