Small Groups: Advantages and Challenges
Many face-to-face and online classes include small group work, whether it is by grade level, subject area, or interest area. In online courses, groups assigned by the facilitator are able to work together in their own discussion area without distracting the rest of the class with their conversations.
Working in small groups has both advantages and challenges. Some advantages include:
- Students may feel more comfortable getting to know and interacting with a few people rather than the entire class.
- Facilitators are able to use cooperative learning activities, such as expert groups, in much the same way as they would use them in a face-to-face class.
- Students analyze and synthesize material on a deeper level as they collaborate on a final product.
- Participants gain opportunities for leadership among their peers.
- Small groups can encourage acceptance of diversity and differing opinions.
- Students can practice interpersonal, organization, and conflict management skills.
- Some activities, such as role playing, are more effective in smaller groups than larger ones.
One of the biggest challenges for participants is the amount of time required to work in small groups. Sometimes it takes a few days for each group member to weigh in on a decision. When facilitating small groups, it is critical to give participants enough time to successfully complete the assigned group work.
Give clear directions for your small groups. Giving them a process to follow will also help your groups work together and provide a starting point, avoiding the uncomfortable "what do we do first?" question as they begin to work together.
One way to help your groups connect quickly is to have them initially post to their small group a tidbit of information about themselves that they haven't shared with the whole group, and also the best times they can be reached or the times they usually work in the LMS. Encourage your students to enter their small group forum or chat room and post their tidbit prior to the week beginning. This can get the conversation flowing on the topic at hand immediately as the week begins.
Troubleshooting
Most of the issues that are unique to small group work relate to participants struggling to connect with absentee group members and group members who don't pull their own weight. As a facilitator, you can help with both of these issues.
Providing advanced warning for upcoming group work is the first step. Let your participants know a week before group work begins, and remind them via announcements and messages of their responsibility to "Post early and post often" in their small group forum and/or wiki. Let them know that you will be visiting their small group forums, and make a point to pop into each one early in the process and let them know you are there with a brief comment or greeting.
When it comes to participants letting the rest of the group do the work, the forum itself and the history feature on the wiki allow you to see what types of collaboration have occurred. Self-assessments can provide another view of participation within the group.
As facilitator, you will decide whether to maintain the same small groups for the entire course or to change them for various activities. There are times when keeping the same groups for the entire length of the class is effective. Participants get to know each other well and become familiar with each others' strengths and working styles. At other times, changing groups around may be necessary.
There are times when a single participant may be more challenging to work with than others. Changing groups allows you to move that individual from group to group without it being obvious to the class. One method of grouping may be be appropriate for one activity while a different dynamic might be needed for another. On a more pragmatic level, if several class members are vacationing during the course, or certain students always post at the last minute, you may choose to group those individuals together. This grouping may help avoid some conflict regarding missing or last minute group work.