Centre for Educational Developmen ORHEP Projec 1 www.orhep.brad.ac .uk www.orhep.brad.a c.uk This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Centre for Educational Development ORHEP Project www.orhep.brad.a c.uk This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Small-Group Teaching Centre for Educational Development
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Centre for Educational DevelopmentORHEP Project
1
www.orhep.brad.ac.uk
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Centre for Educational DevelopmentORHEP Project
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Session learning outcomesBy the end of this session, you will have:• identified and discussed characteristics of small
group teaching, within your own subject • identified some common problems associated
with small-group teaching and evaluated some potential tutor interventions
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Session overview• Introduction & Context• Disciplinary Contexts• Problems in small-group teaching• Teaching through discussion• Review
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
What we are specifically not engaging with in this session…
• Issues of students working in groups together on assessed tasks, and theories of group formation, team roles etc.
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Small Group Teaching - Context• Types/’genres’ include:
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
What size of group would you consider not to be a “small” group ?
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Context – educational role• In comparison to large-group teaching,
small group teaching offers more opportunity for interaction and engagement:– tutor-student interaction– student-student interaction
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Context - educational role• Favoured for developing higher order attributes:
– Problem solving– Critical thinking– Self-Awareness– ‘Functioning’ rather than ‘Declarative’ knowledge (Biggs &
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Contextual factors• Size of group• Location, room, layout, furniture,
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Disciplinary contextsWhat is the situation at your institution with
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Disciplinary contextsIndividual questions
– What types of small-group teaching are you involved in at your institution?
– Are there typical ‘ways of practicing’? If so, what are they?
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Disciplinary contexts
– Are you aware of any examples of what you would consider to be innovative small-group teaching practice at your institution?
– What are the typical issues or challenges associated with small-group teaching in your context?
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Problems in Small-Group Teaching (Ramsden, 2003: 149)
• teacher lectures rather than conducts discussion• teacher talks too much• difficult encouraging students to talk• discussion limited to responses to tutor questions• if preparation is required, student don’t do it• one student too dominant/ too quiet• student focus is on solutions/answers more than
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Teaching & Learning Through Critical Discussion (Garrison & Archer, 2000)
• Allows students to listen, integrate new ideas, critique.
• Discussion phases:– Early – identifying issues– Middle – searching for resolution– Late – evaluating conclusions
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Critical Discussion (Garrison & Archer, 2000)
• Discussion develops higher thinking skills, in an environment where students can relate to interests and experiences - links ‘cognitive’ and ‘affective’ learning outcomes
• “A distinct shift from the excessively teacher-centred approach often associated with the lecture.”
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Establishing group rulesOne way to help make small group work a success is to establish some
ground rules at the first session.
Which of the following rules do you think is the most important:
A. Rudeness is not acceptable
B. If you can’t attend, you should let your tutor know
C. The session should begin on time
D. Everyone is responsible for making the session a success
E. Everyone is expected to prepare and to have read the required texts beforehand
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Other process techniquese.g. Race, 2007: 151-154– Rounds– Buzz groups– Syndicates– Snowballing– Pyramiding
– Fishbowls– Brainstorming– Pair Dialogues– Leave the room
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Solutions to the problems? (Ramsden, 2003: 149-151)
“At this point it is usual to provide a list of recipes designed to overcome these familiar difficulties. There are many effective techniques…But none of them will succeed for long unless you clearly understand the reasons for the problems. Just for now, forget about detailed solutions: think about what effective teaching consists of and how you would try to implement its prescriptions…”
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
ReviewBiggs and Tang (2007: 105):
“It helps to think of lectures and tutorials as situations, in which a range of teaching/learning activities can take place, rather than prescriptions for a manner of teaching.”
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Suggested readingIn preparation for the forthcoming seminar, you will find the following readings helpful:• Biggs & Tang - Chapter 8, pp. 140-143• Ramsden - Chapter 9, pp. 149-151• Race - Chapter 4• Learn Higher Group Work
www.orhep.brad.ac.ukThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
References• Biggs. J. and Tang, C (2007) Teaching for Quality
Learning at University, Third Edition, Maidenhead, Open University Press.
• Garrison, D.R. & Archer, W. (2000) A Transactional Perspective on Teaching and Learning, Oxford, Pergamon.
• Race, P. (2007) The Lecturer’s Toolkit, Third Edition, London & New York, Routledge.
• Ramsden, P. (2003) Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, Second Edition, London & New York, Routledge Falmer.