February 15, 2010, 8.30 AM

Location http://hsana.org/

Section I and section II are parallel sections, section III and section IV are parallel sections.

Session III: Student Collaboration that Works 1:00- 4:00 - Breana Dacy, the University of Texas at Austin

What do you already know?  Questionnaire for teachers to develop a baseline of what they already know about effective group work. (1:00 – 1:15)

Brainstorming Session – Positives and Negatives of students working in groups (1:10-1:30) Small group discussion and Whole group share

Your goals for this professional development (1:15-1:20)

When is group work the appropriate choice? (1:20 – 1:45)

Gradual Release of Responsibility to Students Duke and Pearson (2002) Framework for release of responsibility:

Focus Lesson – Teacher modeling thinking and procedures. Guided Instruction – Teacher facilitates students’ navigation through material with the use of prompts, cues, and questions. Collaborative Learning – Purpose is for students to consolidate their thinking and understanding.  Often used to aid students in formative assessment. Independent Tasks – Students apply information.

Group discussion – How does the students’ age and maturity affect how much time is spent in each phase of the framework?

Activity: For an upcoming unit you will be teaching, how could you apply the framework for release of responsibility? (Guided handout)

How should groups be formed? (1:45-1:55)

In groups, SHARE: What are your experiences with grouping students? What works well and what doesn’t?

How can you encourage students to work well together? (1:55 – 2:30)

Discussion Question – What sorts of management issues can division of labor create?

For groups to work there MUST be Positive Interdependence (Johnson & Johnson, 1994)

---Goals – Student goals can be made interdependent by making each person’s contribution necessary for task completion.  It can be helpful to make explicit the goal of being interdependent as well. Example: Group note-taking activity with class share component. Other examples?

---Resources – Resources may be allocated so that each student has a unique piece of information or unique tool that must be contributed in order to complete the task. Example: High school level - In order to write a biography of an influential individual, students are given packets with different resources and suggested resources with the task of studying these resources before reporting back to the group to answer guided questions. Other examples?

Question – How is this different from the students simply dividing up the task?

---Rewards – Instead of rewarding students for overall performance, consider rewarding students for how well they work as a team. Example: Let them reward each other based on contribution to the group.

---Roles – Each person’s role should be clearly assigned and each job should be necessary to completing the task.  Example: The Jigsaw Approach, Student-led reciprocal teaching

Activity: Discuss in groups two examples of each of the forms of interdependence.  How does this look different at different ages and in different subjects? (Handout)

The importance of a meaningful task. 

If the task is not challenging, and if failure is not an option, students will not learn about working cooperatively.

BREAK 2:30-2:45

How do you ensure group accountability AND individual accountability in group work? (2:45 – 3:35)

1. Design tasks that emphasize larger learning goals.  Students must tackle questions that do not have cut and dry answers, they will learn more if they have to come to an agreement.

2. Start with shorter group tasks and build up.  As you introduce (or increase) group work, gradually increase tasks in terms of time and responsibility students are given. This will help them to build their process skills gradually and minimize conflict.

3. Establish timelines.  Create timelines for group work AND individual contributions with feedback at regular intervals.

4. Students evaluate themselves and their team members.  If students know how and by whom they are held accountable, they are less likely to rely on others to “do the work for them”. Activity – For an upcoming unit, how can you incorporate these four guidelines for group and individual accountability? (Handout)

Revisiting our positives and negatives of group work – Have we found any solutions? (3:35 – 3:45)

Formative Assessment – Checking your understanding (3:45-4:00)