 Dr. Deborah Daiek works with group of faculty during seminar.
 Professor Niran Kheder moves between groups.
|
|
Incorporating Team Building and Group Work in the Classroom
March 13, 2007
“Incorporating Team Building and Group Work in the Classroom” is the type of seminar where—for me—most of the learning takes place later. Dr. Daiek and Professor Kheder quickly presented a significant amount of materials and quick exercises that demonstrated both how to incorporate group work as well as the need for such work in the classroom. They also provided a packet of information that we could investigate on our own.
Some of the highlights I jotted down during the seminar include:
- For group work, the faculty member needs to establish clear deadlines and rules. This is something with which I have difficulty. I typically like to give very general ideas and work with the team to develop a strategy.
- Optimal learning requires playfulness and joy. This, of course, does not mean that content needs to be watered down.
- To foster critical thinking, students need to work with course content.
- The best size for a group is five to six participants.
- It is critical that students identify a leader, note taker, timer, and speaker.
Dr. Daiek and Professor Kheder mentioned that one way to organize groups for a short term project would be to give out pieces from a baby puzzle. The people whose pieces go together make up the team. As they mentioned this technique, I thought it would be a great way activity to use on the first day of classes when I am trying to get students to get to know each other.
Since the seminar, I have gone through all of the materials Dr. Daiek and Professor Kheder provided to us in the packets.
Blog Entry
An incident from this seminar served as the basis for “Talking on the Phone During Class.”
|
