Tuesday, February 19, 2013
In-Class Projects
I was just curious if you all find the "group projects" we do in class to be helpful. I feel that sometimes they can be (like in the second class where we used her PPT slides and broke into groups). However, the most recent class group projects have really not made any sense to me. Any thoughts?
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I totally agree! I feel like we learn more and get more out of class when we are together as a group and people share their input. I feel like our class is talkative and share their opinions. I would understand being in groups if no one in our class spoke up, but that is not the case. I like when we share ideas as a whole in class :) Thanks for posting this!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you.
DeleteAnd, you know, even though I don't always agree with everyone in the class, I just enjoy hearing the feedback and sharing their perspectives. Thanks so much for commenting, Sarah!
Great feedback. I will make sure the group projects are more focused with clearly designed objectives. Often they are for the purpose to stimulate student to student communication rather than all student to teacher dialogue. Students often bring about greater discussion and idea development in small groups than can occur in a class of 55. The back channel only provides a small bit of that. 2 1/2 hours is a LONG time to conduct one large group discussion.
ReplyDeleteI will do better at creating more purposeful activities for small group work. We will continue to have it
Thanks, Cathy! I really appreciate that. This post was not to offend you in any way, I was just curious if I was missing something in the small group projects. Definitely excited for Monday night's class!
DeleteNo offense taken. Student voice is valuable. I reflect as much on class if not more than anyone. I know when the small group activities are not coming together in class as well as I had intended - it's a part of teaching AND LEARNING :-). It is my responsibility as the instructor to create meaningful activities and clearly articulate what students are to know and do as a result of participating in them.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I KNOW though is that large group discussion of 55 students is NOT productive for ALL 55 students for 2 1/2 hours and does not bring about the greatest learning opportunity for all. That's simply a fact.
I'll do my part :-) I look forward to students then doing their part to be equally as prepared to fully participate in meaningful ways to contribute. If not - we can call them out on the blog as well :-)