Options for students reporting out in class

There wasn't a class period that went by without the students working together in their small groups.  Having at least a couple of options for having the students/groups report out to the class has been indispensable.  Here is a rundown of what we used for reporting out in the classroom this semester:

Whiteboards located at each pod.  

The whiteboards are extremely helpful for brainstorming, making lists, etc. that we will refer to later in the class period.  I tend to ask the groups to write on the whiteboards when our goal is to compile the most complete list possible and/or when it is helpful for us to compare and contrast what the different groups have offered - these are great excuses for the students to roam around the room too.  As the instructor, I love being able to glance around the room and have a visual confirmation that we are ready to move on.

Google Forms 

A glimpse of a group assignment in a Google Form.

Quick and easy to set up.  I ended up using Google Forms later in the semester to collect some group work assignments completed during the class period.  Most of the time, these are a few questions that build on an individual assignment; the groups answer the questions together, and then we debrief as a whole class - the debriefing session is easy to do because the groups' Google Forms submissions are collected in a spreadsheet (Google Sheets) that I can look over quickly at the teacher station. 

Padlet

A blank canvas with a lot of potential!  We used Padlet a handful of times this semester to collect responses to a variety of prompts (one such example is discussed in this post).  I love how easy it is to set up a blank wall; with the default privacy settings, I can simply provide students with the URL/link, and students can contribute by simply double-clicking on the wall to add a post.  Students love seeing the contributions from their peers popping up in real time.  Plus, it is so easy to share links, documents, embed videos, add images, etc.   

Sets include either 40 or 63 unique Plicker cards.

Plickers 

We tried this out for this first time this week, and there is something magical about Plickers.  For anyone looking for a simple, free way to collect student responses to multiple choice and true/false questions, Plickers is worth a try.  The instructor is the only one who needs a smartphone or tablet with the Plickers app, making it a nice alternative to PollEverywhere and Socrative for classrooms that don't require each student to have a mobile device.  I decided to start out simple and printed out eight Plicker cards - one for each group; I was amazed at how easily the app scanned each QR code but quickly learned that the students wanted confirmation that I wasn't taking pictures as I used my iPad to scan the Plicker cards around the room.  Next time, I will be sure to explain what is happening on the iPad (or iPhone or Android device) before I start scanning the room.  Once we cleared that hurdle, the students were really into it.  I look forward to trying this in a larger class setting.     

Good ol' fashioned paper!  

I keep a stack of sticky notes in my folder to use for quick, short responses to impromptu questions.  Even in a classroom filled with technology, sometimes a small piece of paper can be a helpful tool.  At least once a week I find myself asking the students/groups questions that I didn't anticipate in advance, so scribbling a quick response on a sticky note helps us to move the class period forward in the most helpful way.

There are definitely other tools out there!  See the recent blog post from Richard Byrne on FreeTech4Teachers.com for his use of and perspective on Google Forms, Padlet, and Plickers as well as PollEverywhere and Socrative.

A case for the group exam.

The first exam of the semester took place in early October, and as soon as the students walked in the room and sat down at the tables, I knew it had to be said.

"A quick reminder that today's exam is an individual assignment.  That is, there is no collaborating with your group members during the exam."

This announcement halted the conversations in the room, and I was met with more than a few puzzled faces as I passed out the exam.  Not overly surprising given that this focus on working individually on the exam is in direct contrast to what the students have been asked to do every other time they walked into the classroom up until that point.  Plus, the tables cannot be reconfigured in this particular room, so the students were doing their best to ignore each other at tables designed to foster collaboration.

Time to rethink the exam format.

Two weeks prior to the second exam, the students submitted their vote in response to an exit ticket question:

Yes or No: Should we approach Exam #2 as a take-home exam (individual attempt) and use class time on 11/5 to collaborate on the same questions with your group (group bonus attempt)?

The vote was a unanimous "Yes."  The definitive response from the students surprised me initially; they raised concerns and asked a number of questions prior to deciding that we should vote.  Stepping back and reflecting on the structure of our class, the decision to incorporate a collaborative attempt at the exam questions makes complete sense.  It aligns with how we approach each class meeting: give it a try on your own and then collaborate with your group to see if you, collectively, can come up with something better.

Even then, I wasn't sure anyone would actually show up to class for the group attempt!

Not only did the students show up for the group attempt, they got right to work, and the whole room was filled with conversation.  I overheard quite a few comments that fit in the categories of "Oh I didn't even think of that!" and "That is a possibility too, but now we have to figure out which one is the best approach."  I wandered around the room for a few minutes just observing before groups took me up on my role as an available resource.  It was one of the most productive class periods all semester.  Not only were students looking back at the exam they already took, they were analyzing and discussing its contents with each other!  Most students walked away with a better understanding of the answers than I could ever convey in an exam score or feedback (which, by the way, took the pressure off of me in terms of grading the individual exams as quickly as possible - added bonus!).

I use an approach that is similar to the one outlined by Maryellen Weimer in her Faculty Focus post on the benefits of group exams and quizzes; the group attempt at the exam is offered as a debriefing activity after the individual attempts are submitted.  The group attempt for our second exam was framed as a "bonus" opportunity.  For groups who collaborated successfully (scored 80% and above), the contributing members received bonus points, awarded on a sliding scale, that added to the score earned on their individual attempt.  This approach is very much in line with the items that topped the students' "wish list" for group work compiled at the beginning of the semester: class time will be allocated for group work, there will be accountability for individual preparation, and group activities will provide opportunities for group members to pool their various strengths.  All eight groups scored at least 80% on the group attempt, so everyone earned some bonus points for their efforts.

Barkley, Cross, and Major refer to this approach as "Test-Taking Teams," and their book, Collaborative Learning Techniques, offers examples from Psychology, English, Statistics, and Music Composition and Theory.  The examples illustrate that a number of variations are likely to work; shorter tests or quizzes, for example, allow for both the individual and group attempts to take place in one class period while another example highlights this activity being used with practice exams as students prepared for a comprehensive placement exam.  For those who have access to the journal New Directions for Teaching and Learning, the Winter 2004 issue contains a few articles on group exams as well, including examples from the sciences and engineering.

There is a lot to consider when it comes to group exams - the necessary planning and the pros and cons, generally speaking, are similar to any other group work situation.  If collaboration and group work are already a part of your class, then a group exam or quiz might be a reasonable addition.  When I inquired about their group exam experience, one group left me with this brief summary:

"Three brains are better than one!"

References

Achacoso, M., and Svinicki, M. (eds.). (2004, Winter). Alternative strategies for evaluating student learning [Special issue]. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 100, 1-119.

Barkley, E. F., Cross, K. P., & Major, C. H. (2005). Collaborative learning techniques: A handbook for college teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Group work advice for students

Some students may be experienced when it comes to collaborating within a group but others may be in need of some advice or guidance on what it takes to be an effective group member.  Much of the literature on implementing group work is focused on providing insights for instructors, but there are resources that are written for a student audience.  Here I hope to direct you to a few of these student-focused resources.

The Successful Strategies for Teams handbook
includes a discussion of team player styles in addition
to many other important topics for students to consider.

The first resource is a handbook, Successful Strategies for Teams, put together by Frances Kennedy and Linda Nilson at Clemson University.  The handbook, which is available online as a PDF, includes motivation for working in teams, stages of team development (forming, storming, norming, performing), skills, an overview of collaborative decision-making, and profiles of team player styles (contributor, collaborator, communicator, challenger).  A questionnaire about team player styles is also included alongside a discussion of each approach and what to do when a team is unbalanced, so to speak.  The handbook is full of information and insights; an instructor could easily select a particular topic to share with a class when group work is introduced initially and then refer students to other components gradually or when needed.

Guidelines offered by UNC at Chapel Hill

For those looking for something more compact, check out the set of guidelines offered by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Center for Faculty Excellence (see "Figure 1" at left or click here for full newsletter):

If you have a copy of McKeachie's Teaching Tips (2011) on your bookshelf, turn to the section on active learning for an even shorter list of suggestions for students.  There is a significant amount of overlap between this list and the one shown here to the left; in addition to suggestions about considering everyone's ideas and equal contributions from group members, McKeachie also recommends that the students reflect on the group's process and identifies next steps and also that the next meeting be planned before the current one concludes.

"Helpful Tips for Collaboration and Group Work," a web resource from The University of the Arts, occupies a middle ground between the extensive handbook from Clemson and the lists offered by UNC and McKeachie's Teaching Tips.  The webpage offers advice for getting started plus sections devoted to working efficiently and dealing with problems within a group; students may find a resource like this one particularly useful because they can easily access information from the different sections, which are detailed but brief, when and if they are needed.

Reference:

McKeachie, W. J., & Svinicki, M. (2011). McKeachie's teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers (13th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Clear objectives are a must for group work

Earlier this week, I stumbled across the tools and tips offered by The Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence at Penn State University while looking for insights on structuring effective group work.  At the time, I was on the hunt for info about roles for group members but took note of the other group-related advice, especially this document that addresses a series of commonly asked "How do I...?" questions.  The first question on the list is a particularly important one:

How do I decide which assignments/activities to make collaborative?

The authors point out that some assignments and activities are better suited for effective group work experiences than others.  Insights from IDEA Item #5 also reiterate this point with an argument that students will simply divide up, not discuss, the work when asked to address knowledge-type questions.  Instead, "the issue or problem should challenge the groups and demonstrate that there are no easy answers within the area of study."  Some follow up questions from The Schreyer Institute include:

What is the objective or goal of this assignment or activity? 

and...

How will that objective be furthered by asking students to work in groups? 

Perhaps the students will benefit from discussing possible ideas with one another, working together to arrive at a solution to a problem, or reflecting on information that was just presented - the exact purpose of the group approach will depend on the details of your lesson.  The reason(s) for working in a group must be clear to the students as this helps to establish a structure for positive interdependence within the group.  The purpose of the assignment or activity must be such that the team members need one another to achieve it!   The remaining follow up questions get at this important point:

Is this project complex and challenging enough that it would be impossible for an individual student to complete it alone?  

Will this project require students to synthesize their work in true collaboration, rather than just complete work separately and turn it in together at the end?

In addition to designing the assignment, activity, or project for collaboration and synthesis, this must also be clearly communicated to the students.  Nilson (2010) points out that unclear, imprecise group assignments create confusion for students about expectations and the intended purpose; as a result, this lack of clarity is a major reason that group work experiences fizzle.  Note that making an assignment longer, for example, is not necessarily a recommended way to transform it into one for a group.  Instead, working in groups is an opportunity for deeper (higher-level) thinking.  Maybe instead of recalling information, you want students to work together to apply or analyze information - a group may be better equipped than an individual to tackle a topic at this level.  If you are a fan of Bloom's Taxonomy, then you may find this wheel version with action verbs and student products helpful when designing and communicating clear assignment objectives (wheel created by Emily Hixton at Purdue University).

Reference:

Nilson, L.B. (2010). Teaching At Its Best. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

An example 'glog' & its potential for a group project

Last week I highlighted "glogs" as a web-based option for creating digital research posters, and I have put the finishing touches on an example glog to pair with this discussion of how this could be used as a group project - one that would be especially well-suited for the active learning classrooms on the UWEC campus.

Here is a link to the glog; a screen shot is shown below for those who want to take a quick glance:

What went into glog creation?
It is worth pointing out that I found myself wishing for at least a couple of collaborators while putting together the glog over the past week!  Even though working within a group presents its own challenges, I could have used a few more brains and sets of eyes for a few of the activities that went into the glog creation, including:

• Identifying an appropriate timeline (or glimpse of a timeline, really) for the event;
• Locating coordinating images and screening video clips;
• Gleaning important background information from a variety of reports, including two lengthy reports;
• Summarizing aforementioned background information into concise statements;
• Locating appropriate data to complement the words and visuals;
• Arranging and rearranging the glog components to ensure that all of the important items would fit;
• Editing the text items to highlight certain points while maintaining some sense of consistency.

I spent approximately 6-8 hours on this glog, which is more than I initially expected since the topic is one that has routinely been a focus of discussion in my intro-level economics courses over the past few years.  In other words, I have already examined at the data, read several reports, and trolled YouTube for helpful videos - I can only imagine how long it might take someone who is new to the topic!

Ideas for a coordinating class project

Here's what I had in mind when I selected the topic for this example glog: Zimbabwe's recent episode is one of a long list of hyperinflation episodes that have occurred across time and space, so one approach would be for each group to focus on a different hyperinflation episode for their glog.  A larger objective for the class would then be to identify the basic underlying pattern for each of the hyperinflation episodes.  In other words, what are the "ingredients" of hyperinflation, so to speak, and how does this information aid our understanding of why these episodes occur?   Addressing these important questions could be a part of a discussion or a reflection paper - to be completed as a group or as individuals - that follows a digital poster-sharing session in class in which students can move around the room to ask each group questions about their particular hyperinflation episode (perhaps with pairs of team members taking turns manning their own digital poster to share and answer questions).

Options for individual accountability

Collaboration does not happen automatically (see last post about collaborative learning for more on this).  There are a number of options available to increase the chances of effective collaboration with this type of project, and there should be some form of individual accountability in order to ensure that team members are working together and sharing the workload.  One possibility is to divide up the project's tasks among the members of the group (see example list above) and ask for each component to be submitted individually - ideally, at the point in the project that it is needed - as well as for it to be incorporated into the final product.  Another option would be to require each student to complete a set of tasks individually (e.g., extract three important points from a given report, locate two images that represent the event, and identify one YouTube video that would be a good source of related information) and then have the groups meet to sort through the available options, refine, and locate additional materials, if needed.  The important step here would be for each member of the group to be held accountable for his or her share of the work, which helps to minimize the possibility of freeloaders and reduce the fear that the lack of effort by one or more group members will have a negative impact on the grades of those who do their share.

Group projects do not necessarily translate into saving time

Students should be asked to collaborate with one another when collaboration is valuable.  Groups often provide opportunities for students to capitalize on strengths and specialize; however, discussion and decision making takes time.  Horton (2012) identifies allocating sufficient time for teams to work effectively as an important aspect of designing coordinating activities: "Typically team activities take three to ten times as long as an analogous solo activity" (p.498).  This serves a reminder to be thoughtful when offering opportunities for collaborative learning.

References:
Horton, W. (2012). E-learning by design (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.

Collaborative learning as a form of active learning

The active learning classrooms have reinvigorated the ongoing discussion about students working in groups.  How can/should groups be formed?  What leads to students working together effectively?  How can collaboration be encouraged?  One post alone cannot offer sufficient answers to all of these questions, so consider this the start of a longer, always-in-progress, response.

According to Weimer (2002), "...like every other instructional method, good group learning experiences do not happen automatically" (p.88).  Planning is needed.  I firmly believe that students collaborating with one another has great potential, but group members working together effectively has been a work-in-progress for me for years.  At one point, I decided to stop guessing and to start asking students, informally, what it was about group work that created barriers to effective collaboration, and most student feedback I have received thus far seems to converge on a few points:

• Meeting with group members outside of scheduled class time is often a challenge.
• Fear that lack of effort/poor quality work by one or more group members will negatively impact the grade.
• The work is sometimes - or frequently - unevenly distributed across group members.

There is no doubt that points two and three are intertwined, and the first point might sometimes play a supporting role there too. While its contents are not overly surprising, the list does offer some good news.  If students perceive these sorts of items to be barriers, then addressing one or more of these concerns may help to increase the level and/or quality of student collaboration.

Also worth pointing out is the fact that the active learning classrooms have the potential to help out here.  The students are, by default, organized into pods of up to six students in the active learning rooms, and each pod is equipped with a computer and large widescreen monitor for activities that ask the groups to refer to artifacts (e.g., documents, images, web resources) and/or produce something (e.g., problem solving steps, description, blog post, evidence that supports a claim).  Allocating class time for the group to plan, discuss, and accomplish tasks will help to eliminate or reduce the need for students to meet with group members outside of class.  The physical setup of an active learning room lends itself better to students collaborating with another vs. the layout of a traditional lecture hall or a classroom with fixed tables.

A handful of our active learning instructors teach hybrid (blended) classes with some scheduled class meetings replaced with online activities and/or content, and this presents a second option for alleviating the first concern: (1) group members are, technically speaking, available, and (2) the active learning classroom is open for students to meet in their groups during those scheduled class times that have been replaced with online material.  Groups wouldn't be required to meet in the classroom during that time, but they also wouldn't be able to say that no one could meet outside of class either.

So what can be done to address the concerns over grades and the uneven distribution of work?  Individual accountability is the suggestion from both Kagan (1995) and Weimer (2002).  Both reiterate the important fact that students' course grades are intended to reflect individual progress towards meeting the course objectives.  There are various ways to allow for individual accountability.  For one, each group member can be asked to submit individual materials that will then provide a foundation for the group's assignment - either each person submits an individual attempt of an identical task or the tasks that make up the larger group assignment are divided up across group members and each individual must submit the assigned component (in addition to the group submitting the end product).  As long as the individual's work is incorporated into the grade, then this will help to minimize the impact of any free loaders.

Even Horton (2012), in E-Learning by Design, highlights the need to fairly evaluate individuals in team learning environments: "Decide how to determine whether the team accomplished its objective and how much each member contributed" (p.499).  I have to admit that I wasn't expecting a lengthy discussion of team learning in a text focused on e-learning, but it is great when best practices translate across modes of instruction!

References:

Horton, W. (2012). E-learning by design (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.

Kagan, S. (1995). Group grades miss the mark. Cooperative Learning and College Teaching, 6(1), 6-8.

Weimer, M. (2002). Learner-centered teaching: Five key changes to practice. San Francisco, CA:      Jossey-Bass.

Is PowerPoint compatible with active learning?

In my previous post, I noted the fact that our faculty members are at different points in the transition to teaching in active learning classrooms.  A number are accustomed to utilizing PowerPoint in some shape or form during class meetings and would prefer to get some mileage out of those existing materials.  So, this begs the question... is there a place for PowerPoint in an active learning classroom?

The second week of the semester delivered an unexpected blow for one of the active learning classrooms: the teacher station was down.  Inoperable.  Five back-to-back classes were scheduled for that room on that day, and the instructors managed to turn a frustrating situation into a series of productive experiments.  For one, if the PowerPoint is not projected onto the main screens and controlled from the teacher station, then what alternatives might be available?  One option, given the setup of the rooms, is to ask the groups to pull up the file - from email, D2L, or a shared folder - on the monitor stationed at each of the pods.  Now each group, instead of the instructor, is responsible for advancing the slides.  Here are a few observations from instructors embracing this approach:

• The students are more engaged since they are responsible for moving the presentation forward.
• A quick glance around the room allows the instructor to see if a group appears to be stuck or is behind in the presentation.
• This feedback can be used to inform or re-evaluate the pace of the presentation.
• This may offer a natural break/pause for questions, clarification, or a check for comprehension.

Here is a slightly advanced twist that is simple to execute: insert a blank slide or two into the PowerPoint presentation.  When the presentation reaches the blank slide, the groups are asked to get to work on constructing what would be best to include there.  Summary?  Transition to the next topic?  Compare and contrast?  Discussion question?  So many possibilities!  And all from a blank PowerPoint slide or two - an easy modification to an existing presentation, that is for sure.  (Thank you to Louisa Rice for this example.)

A quick Google search turns up some additional ideas for utilizing PowerPoint in an active learning setting:

• Twelve strategies for active learning with PowerPoint from the University of Minnesota
• Ideas for guiding active learning with PowerPoint handouts, also from the University of Minnesota
• PowerPoint templates for Jeopardy and Twenty Questions from Oregon State University

How do you use PowerPoint for active learning?  If you have an idea or an example, we'd love to hear about it.

Use of class time in an active learning classroom

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) is facilitating a Community of Practice series for active learning instructors this semester.  The meetings provide an opportunity for the instructors to get together to discuss activity ideas, students working in groups, classroom challenges, strategies for student engagement - plus anything else that comes up.

Our series kicked off last week with a group of instructors who are currently teaching in the new Centennial Hall active learning classrooms.  To get the conversation started, I threw out the question I wanted to be sure the group had time to discuss:

Student "pods" in one of Centennial Hall's
active learning classrooms

What is happening in the active learning classroom that is different from what typically happens in a traditional classroom?

The instructors all settled on an important observation as the starting point for this discussion... the students and what they are working on in their groups (pods) is the focus.  This is certainly a change from a lecture hall where the instructor, and what is happening at the front of the classroom, is the focal point.  All agreed that this shift necessitates change in the way the class period is structured; this has been documented elsewhere by other campuses with active learning spaces (see this discussion from the U of M, for example), but a discovery of any kind always resonates a bit more when it hits closer to home.

The transition to teaching in an active learning classroom is likely to be easier for instructors who frequently ask students to work in groups compared with those who primarily focus on delivering content through lecture since the setup of the active learning rooms lends itself better to group work.  Each of the instructors present for our first meeting acknowledged the need to work with the classroom environment; trying to continue on with in-class content delivery through lecture in one of these active learning spaces is likely to be a losing battle since students' focus is not on the instructor.

This transition takes time, and each instructor is at a different point in the transition process.  One of the participating instructors, Erin Devlin, taught one day per week in an active learning classroom during the fall semester, and, as a result, she has already developed a handful of in-class activities that work well for this type of classroom environment.  For others, this is the first semester that they have had an opportunity to teach in a space that is conducive to group work (a lecture hall with stadium seating and fixed chairs presents certain hurdles for students working in groups!), so it will take time to develop ideas for utilizing the new space.  A series of ideas and examples will be shared in future posts in an effort to help with this process.