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A state Teacher of the Year shares her techniques for increasing the number of students who talk and share their ideas in class.

While it is possible to learn by listening, I've found that oral participation leads to greater gains in student literacy and engagement. English language learners in particular benefit from ample talk time, but they are not the only ones.

Yet I've also found that without careful planning, a few students do most of the talking while the majority of the class remains silent. My students all have ideas, but only some of them share those ideas on a regular basis. Adding wait time after I ask a question helps more students get into the conversation, but still the more confident students are more likely to raise their hands.

Because of this, I pay close attention to who is participating in my high school English classroom and to the structures I'm using to promote participation. I mix and match from the following strategies depending on the students in the room and my goals for the lesson.

9 Ways to Encourage More Students to Talk

1. Who talks first? When students turn and talk, I decide who talks first. The person on the right? The person whose birthday is coming soonest? The person with the longest hair? Without this direction, some students dominate partner talk time.

2. Write, pair, share: Many of us use the think, pair, share model, but substituting writing for silent thinking can improve both the quality of the conversation and the number of students who contribute. As students write, I walk around, reading over their shoulders and writing things like, "That's good. Say that!" on the papers of quieter or less confident students. I can also see which and how many students are stuck, so I know if I need to add more scaffolding.

3. Pairs and squares: I assign students a partner (pair) to work with for three weeks, as well as a square (two pairs combined). I promote camaraderie in pairs and squares by having students learn each other's names (with spelling and pronunciation), gender pronouns, and something people can't tell by looking at them. They also make up a handshake they use each day to greet each other.

They talk in their pairs from bell to bell between direct instruction about the topics of the day. Currently, my sophomores are engaging in a nonfiction unit on happiness, so today we discussed the correlation between money and happiness, and students worked in their pairs to annotate an article, but when we analyzed some rather complex graphs and charts, they moved into their squares so they could have more brain power.

After three weeks, each student thanks their partner for something they did for them and shares what they think was the pair's best moment together. By the end of the year, every student has worked with every other classmate-either in pairs or squares-which promotes a strong classroom community and helps students feel more comfortable participating.

4. Nonverbal agreement or disagreement: I have my students use the American Sign Language signs for "yes" and "no" in whole class discussion to show their agreement or disagreement with the speaker. This keeps students engaged, gives the speaker immediate feedback on their ideas, and gives all students a nonverbal voice.

5. Metacognitive goal-setting: Every few weeks, I have students reflect on their participation habits and set goals for a particular discussion. Students get an index card at the beginning of class and write a quantitative and a qualitative goal for their participation for the day. As they set their quantitative goals, I encourage them to think of "stepping up and stepping back"-what would be a healthy number of times for them to speak that day? Should they talk more frequently, or refrain from talking in order to make space for others to talk?

For their qualitative goal, they consider whether they need to ask more questions and whether they should do things like build on others' ideas or use text to support their points.

Throughout class, students take notes on their own contributions to the discussion, write down what they said (and didn't say), and tally the overall number of times they talked. They end class by reflecting on their participation. Did they meet their goals? Why or why not? Can they set some new goals for themselves? This card is their exit ticket for the day.

6. Talking piece: For some small group discussions, we use a ball as a talking piece that students pass around-only the person holding the ball can speak. Every student gets the ball once before anyone gets it a second time. This is particularly effective when discussing very emotionally charged topics, like issues of race or gender, when we want to be certain that everyone has the opportunity to share their experiences.

7. Musical give one, get one: When I want students to hear a lot of ideas, I have them write down their thoughts and then stand up, walk around to as many people as they can, and write down one idea of each person they talk to. I usually do this to music-students need to get to as many people as they can before the song ends.

8. Musical shares: This is similar to the last idea but is better for sharing longer, more in-depth answers. I put on a song, and students walk or dance around the room. When the music stops, they talk to the person closest to them about their ideas. I use a timer to ensure equity of sharing here-each person speaks for one minute.

9. Keeping track: I keep a blank grade book roster on a clipboard, and while students are working in pairs, I put a tally mark next to each student's name every time I hear them speak during class. I'm sure I don't catch everything, but the act of keeping track forces me to notice the participation patterns in the room and to seek out those who have learned to fly under the radar.

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9 Strategies for Getting More Students to Talk

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A state Teacher of the Year shares her techniques for increasing the number of students who talk and share their ideas in class. While it is possible to learn by listening, I've found that oral participation leads to greater gains in student literacy and engagement.

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In my class, I ask open-ended questions-sometimes I even call on students who don't have their hand raised-and I put students in groups and pairs to encourage participation. But sometimes my students still struggle. One student in particular, Anise, never participated or raised her hand in class, and I was quick to slot her as a student who just wanted to make it to June. But one day, halfway through the school year, Anise came to see me during her lunch break. When no one else was around, she seemed much more curious about the subject matter. She asked questions, she listened to my answers, and we had a thorough conversation related to the class curriculum. Who was this girl?

The next class, I tried to spark the same curiosity from Anise but I received a mumbled, monosyllabic response. I sought out Anise's mom for more insight, and she said her daughter had always been quiet in class. That's when I had a light-bulb moment. If Anise "had always been that way," she likely felt like her insights weren't important enough to share with the class. I needed to fix that, but I knew it wouldn't happen immediately. I designed a four-step process to get me to the result I wanted and Anise needed.
Further reading: Mindfulness Activities to Reduce Stress
1. Find Out Why Students Don't Participate

When I asked my students what kept them from participating, I got the usual responses: I don't know the answer; I hate being wrong; Someone else knows a better answer; I wasn't prepared. Noticing that these reasons centered around the concept of failing, I led a discussion about why it's acceptable to not be perfect. I shared the story of Ragish and the school egg drop contest. On the day of the event, in front of the entire school, Ragish's egg cracked wide open when he dropped it. Instead of moving on to the next student, the teacher judging the contest suggested that Ragish do some reading and try again the next day, which he did-and then the next day and the next after that. Finally, his project ended up among the top five champions. He eventually took that lesson in bouncing back from failure to MIT and then to Khan Academy, where he now works.

2. Show Students Their Fears Are Unfounded

Once I knew that the fear of failure was keeping my students from participating, I began demonstrating subtle failures in class. I gave the wrong fact, acknowledged my "mistake," modeled how to resolve the situation, and moved on. This removed the fear associated with being wrong and gave my students permission to make mistakes. I transformed my classroom into a safe space for trying, failing, and trying again. I could almost see students' relief as they realized that if their teacher made mistakes, they could too.

3. Create an Atmosphere That Encourages Participation

I knew I needed to reset students' expectations for in-class discussions, and they had to stop limiting themselves by thinking the only way to participate was knowing the right answer. As a class, we reviewed our policy for maintaining a safe, collaborative space and came up with the following rules:

Be respectful.

Speak loud enough so everyone can hear.

Listen to classmates.

Don't interrupt who is speaking.

Build on your classmate's comments with your comments.

Use participation to not only answer questions but to seek help or ask for clarification.

To further encourage participation, I challenged my students to choose one of the rules they've struggled with and focus on it over the next few days. When my class had these rules and techniques at the top of mind, conversations became more respectful, supportive, and in-depth, and my students were more comfortable participating.

4. Give Students Another Outlet

In the past, when my class hasn't responded well to the above tips, I turn to using a less direct way for them to participate. I have my students log in to Twitter (using either their own account or a class account), and use a unique hashtag to participate in the conversation. This can be done via class computers or tablets, and allows students to ask questions and comment without feeling like their interrupting, or front and center of, the class. If your students are too young for Twitter, you can set up a shared Google Doc and apply the same process. If you don't have technology that's easily accessible to your classroom, allow your students to submit anonymous questions on paper. As you answer the questions and discuss, build the confidence of your class by assuring them that their questions are valid and great conversation starters. This will help to reinforce the mentality that "there's no such thing as a stupid question" and your class will be more likely to ask questions and discuss out loud in the future.
Further reading: How to Regain Classroom Control
After several months of following these steps, our class discussions became less about how many students raised their hands and more about a shared learning experience. I had succeeded in my goal to encourage participation, but I had also grown as a teacher. I learned a lesson I should already have known: don't expect something from students that they don't know how to give. If you want your students to participate, you have to show them how.

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How to Encourage Participation in Your Classroom

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In my class, I ask open-ended questions-sometimes I even call on students who don't have their hand raised-and I put students in groups and pairs to encourage participation. But sometimes my students still struggle. One student in particular, Anise, never participated or raised her hand in class, and I was quick to slot her as a student who just wanted to make it to June.

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When student engagement is going downhill, we often find ourselves reaching for the prop box.

We pull out random videos, time-sucking resources, overly complex activities... anything to get and keep attention. But even these can't compete with our students' pen tricks, doodling, and discussions of what happened at recess. And there's a simple reason why:

Our students aren't engaged by things. They're engaged by us. That's why the best (and easiest) ways to increase student engagement come from you.

We compiled 20 essential strategies that generate lasting engagement, without the flashy props and hours of post-school prep.

Let the countdown begin!

20. Connect learning to the real world

We've all heard it before: "When am I ever going to use this?" Answer this question and you'll engage students with content that they know is relevant to life beyond school. Use anecdotes, case studies, and real-life examples from outside the classroom to root your teaching in "the real world".

19. Engage with your students' interests

Find out what already engages your students and build it into the learning process.

Using mathematics as an example, you could have students chart their performance in a video game over the week. You might even get your budding social media influencers to calculate a projected number of Instagram followers.

Learning what excites your students does more than just engage them. You'll build strong relationships and rapport, too.

18. Fill "dead time"

"Dead time" is any point in a lesson where students are left without something to do. You might be handing out a worksheet, getting a presentation set up, or waiting interminably for a YouTube video to load. These are brief windows that leave just enough time for students to tune out, after which time it can be very difficult to get them back.

Fill these blank spaces with low-order activities to hold students' attention. These should be quick, easy, and require minimal follow-up. For example:

Think Pair Share: students reflect on something, discuss with a partner, and then share with the rest of the class once everyone is ready

Quickwrite: write down three questions or points that have been raised by the lesson so far

What I know already: if you're just about to dive into new content, ask students to identify three things they already know about the subject and jot them down as bullet points.

17. Use group work and collaboration

Collaborating with small groups gives students a welcome break from solo bookwork. They'll benefit from each other's perspectives and the ability to express their ideas.

Use your judgment and knowledge of who works well together when organizing group work. Engineering the groups might avoid troublesome partnerships, while allowing students to work with friends might generate the buzz you need for more productive activity.

16. Encourage students to present and share work regularly

Giving students a regular opportunity to share their thoughts and demonstrate learning in front of their peers drives engagement in two ways:

it makes students accountable

it lets them hear from someone other than their teacher.

If your students quiver in fear at the thought of speaking in front of the class, combine presentations with group work. A few ideas:

Have students present in groups after a group task.

Let students share each other's work within smaller groups before asking them to choose one piece to share with the rest of the class.

Let students read or present their work while sitting down. It avoids the pressure of having to "stand and deliver".

Ask for one contribution from each group after discussion, with each group nominating a "spokesperson".

Above all else, make presenting and sharing a regular part of class activity. Your class will become an equitable and engaging space that echoes with the voice of every student, not just your own!

15. Give your students a say

If you don't know how to engage your students, let them tell you! Give your students a say in classroom activity by:

providing a choice of different activities (e.g. group work or solo)

seeking student input for assessment design (e.g. students can choose a final product, provided it meets the criteria)

periodic check-ins to monitor the pace of delivery (e.g. "do we need to go over this a bit more slowly or are we feeling pretty confident?").

Giving students a choice also fosters their sense of ownership over their learning. They'll move from passive consumers to active learners with a stake in classroom activity.

14. Use mixed media

Present learning content in a variety of mediums, including video, audio, and digital resources. Using such tech-rich resources is engaging for two reasons. It's a welcome change from the stacks of paper our students are usually saddled with, and it establishes a direct and relevant connection with the digital world they inhabit.

13. Get your students moving

If your students struggle to sit still for an entire lesson, get them moving. All that pent-up energy can be channelled into a learning activity that puts them on their feet. Try the following.

Have students come to the front and brainstorm together on the whiteboard.

Have students rotate through different stations around the room over the course of an activity.

Have students split into groups or arrange themselves in different areas of the room.

Take a stand: have students move to a particular area of the room to indicate their thoughts on an issue (e.g. "everyone who thinks x, move to the right side of the room; if you think y, stand on the left").

Movement works equally well to engage sluggish or weary students. A quick bit of physical activity will leave them more alert for the next phase of learning.

12. Read the room

If you're steadily losing students to doodling, off-topic chatter, and the pervasive "need to tear and ball up little pieces of paper", it's time to shake things up.

Cut the activity short if it's dragging, clarify instructions if there's confusion, or switch to a more student-centered activity for greater engagement.

Remember: it's impossible to have every student engaged 100% of the time. The next best thing we can do is to notice disengagement and respond to it quickly.

11. Scaffold tasks with checkpoints

If you dump all your instructions on students at the start of a lesson before turning them loose with an activity, confusion and disengagement will likely follow.

That's why it's important to scaffold larger tasks by breaking them into achievable steps. Each of these can be separated by brief "checkpoints" of instruction reorienting students and reminding them of what needs to be done next. They also serve as a periodic call to attention when students are liable to go off track.

10. Focus on discovery and inquiry

Sometimes the best thing you can do for engagement is to get out of your students' way.

Let them discover learning for themselves without being spoon-fed. They'll exercise critical and creative thinking, and pursue the lines of inquiry that interest them.

This doesn't mean you should retreat behind the teacher's desk. Observe your students, listen to them, and talk to them about what they're thinking. Be their guide as opposed to their instructor.

9. Ask good questions

Ask good questions of your students and you'll drive rich, engaging discussions that are open to everyone.

Good questions should be:

open-ended: to avoid "yes/no" answers

equitable: open to answers of varying depth and complexity

legitimate: asked because you want to hear students' thoughts and opinions, not because you're fishing for a correct answer.

When students answer a question, engage with their response. Even if it's incorrect or misinformed, recognize their effort and use it to refine the question further (e.g. "you're on the right track, but could we also think about...").

8. Allow for think time

It's gratifying to see hands shoot up as soon as you ask a question, but letting your students think it over has two benefits. It leads to more considered responses that drive engaging discussions, and it also makes the conversation accessible to those who don't have an instant answer.

After you ask a question, insist on a twenty-second pause and give students an opportunity to extend their standard responses further. For example, you might ask "See if you can explain how you came to your answer, too". You'll receive better answers and start to notice some new hands going up.

7. Shake things up

Predictability is safe, but it can get boring. Mix up your staple teaching strategies with new and novel activities from time to time. Talk to other teachers for ideas. In addition to engagement, you'll also be giving your students an example of what it means to take a risk and try something new.

Experimenting with some new parts of the teacher toolkit also makes it easier to differentiate your instruction. A new activity or delivery method might be the trick to engaging that student who has been a tough nut to crack all year.

6. Give brain breaks

Periodically give students a breather with brain breaks. These are short activities that allow students to stretch their legs before returning to work feeling focused. You can find a list of 20 brain breaks at Mind Bloom.

Meritopia in Mathletics is gamified learning at its best and keeps students engaged! When students earn enough points in Mathletics, they get the perfect brain break in Meritopia by discovering new lands and unlocking characters.

5. Be personable

Relationships and rapport are pillars of lasting engagement, and you can't have either without being personable. This means getting to know your students and letting them get to know you.

While enthusiasm for the learning content might ebb and flow, your smile, laughter, and conversation will engage students every time they walk through your classroom door.

4. Encourage friendly competition

Use in-class games, quizzes, or gamified learning programs to engage students with friendly competition. For example, Live Mathletics (a feature in Mathletics) allows students to test their mathematical skills by competing in 60-second quizzes against peers in their class or around the globe in real time.

"Friendly" is the keyword here. Make sure competitive activities are low stakes and put the emphasis on learning instead of winning.

3. Start lessons with introductory hooks

Engage students from the outset of your lesson with an introductory hook. This could be anything that piques interest, establishes relevance, or inspires curiosity in the subject of the lesson, for example:

a personal anecdote connected to the subject

a brain teaser or challenge question

a historical example

a multimedia source.

Keep your hooks short and segue them directly into an overview of the learning goal. It's an effective opening that engages while setting students up for the main instructional component.

2. Laugh together

Weaving humour throughout your lesson lightens the mood and makes for a more fun experience. Laugh with your students, and don't be afraid to let them laugh at you from time to time!

1. Gamify learning

Games are the most powerful source of engagement for students outside of class, and they're equally effective at driving engagement in learning. Transform activities into games by including levels of difficulty, rewards, and competitive elements. You can read more about gamifying learning here.

You don't have to invest hours in creating rules and drawing up game boards, either. Gamified learning programs can do the work for you. The learning programs in the 3P suite, for example, provide a host of student-friendly games for mathematics, literacy, and science. All you have to do is select the appropriate curriculum and grant your students access.

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20 Student Engagement Strategies for a Captivating Classroom

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Here's our list of the best student engagement strategies to help you create an engaging classroom and better connect with students.

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What is Collaborative Learning?

After reading this guide, you will better understand collaborative learning.

You will get actionable tips on how to improve and implement collaborative learning within your organisation.

Discover:

The definition of collaborative learning
Collaborative learning is the educational approach of using groups to enhance learning through working together. Groups of two or more learners work together to solve problems, complete tasks, or learn new concepts. This approach actively engages learners to process and synthesize information and concepts, rather than using rote memorization of facts and figures.
Learners work with each other on projects, where they must collaborate as a group to understand the concepts being presented to them.

Through defending their positions, reframing ideas, listening to other viewpoints and articulating their points, learners will gain a more complete understanding as a group than they could as individuals.

Collaborative vs. cooperative learning: What is the difference?

There is some confusion about what the difference is between these two types of learning.

In fact, cooperative learning is a type of collaborative learning, which is why at first glance, the two might seem similar.

The difference between cooperative learning and collaborative learning is that, in cooperative learning, participants are responsible for a specific section of their own learning and success, and also that of the group as a whole.

They must use their knowledge and resources to make sure that all team members understand the concepts that they are learning.

The roles and structure of cooperative learning are predefined, and are often likened to the cast and crew of a theatre production: the success of the show depends on all of the interconnected roles supporting each other, but there is a director overseeing the project closely.

To think about collaborative learning in terms of roles within an organisation, in software development, a group of junior developers has a task to learn a new framework, then develop part of a program while using it. Each developer has their own part of the code to develop, but their work will only be successful if everybody learns and performs their part properly. Even though each person has a separate role in the work, the entire group has a stake in the success of others.

In collaborative learning, individual participants must also take responsibility for their team learning and succeeding, but their roles, resources, and organisation is left up to them. There is no director to administer the rules of engagement, so the group itself must self-direct.

The benefits of collaborative learning

Why use collaborative learning? Because every organisation can benefit from having an energized and informed workforce.

There are many benefits of collaborative learning, both for the organisation as a whole and the learners as individuals.

The organisational benefits of collaborative learning

1. Develops self-management and leadership skills

When individuals are tasked with working together to achieve a common goal, they are being given the opportunity to develop high-level skills.

While having to organize, assign, and teach, they are learning how to manage both themselves and others while leading in a productive fashion.

2. Increases employee skills and knowledge

When employees participate in collaborative learning, they are developing a wide range of skills and knowledge.

Not only will they strengthen their existing skills by having to teach others, they in turn will learn new skills from other employees.

This reduces the need for formal training while encouraging employees to continually upskill in known concepts and engage with new concepts.

3. Improves relationships across teams and departments

When individuals have limited contact across teams, it is difficult to foster connections and teamwork.

Collaborative learning across teams forces individuals to develop new connections and find ways to work together.

This can be especially beneficial for organisations that depend on remote workers, as fostering strong connections among distant workers can be difficult.

4. Improves knowledge acquisition and retention

Studies have shown that utilizing collaborative learning may lead to increased involvement and better retention of knowledge.

The process of collaborative learning allows participants to achieve higher levels of thought and the information is retained much longer than when learned in a non-collaborative setting.

5. Improves employee retention and promotes workplace engagement

Employees that are given the opportunity to learn new skills tend to be more satisfied in their work, and are less likely to seek out other opportunities.

Satisfied employees are more productive and will engage in their work, leading to increased efficiency and output.

The individual benefits of collaborative learning

1. Turns learning into a truly active process

The learner must organize their thoughts, present a cohesive argument to demonstrate their point, defend that point to their peers, and convince others that their argument is correct.

This active engagement means that the individual learns, and retains, more knowledge.

2. Promotes learning from others viewpoints

Learners benefit from hearing diverse viewpoints.

Studies show that when a person is exposed to diverse viewpoints, especially from people with varied backgrounds, they learn more.

3. Teaches how to think critically and quickly

The learner must quickly synthesize responses and, if they find that their argument is lacking, adjust their ideas on the fly.

Individuals learn how to think critically and quickly, while intaking new information and adjusting their own viewpoint as new ideas are introduced.

4. Promotes listening to criticism and advice

The learner will also listen to others talking through their ideas, offering their thoughts for or against their peers' arguments.

This dynamic approach means that learners gain a more full understanding of the topic, as they have to consider it from all angles.

5. Develops public speaking and active listening skills

Individuals learn to speak well in front of an audience of their peers, to listen actively, to challenge ideas and build a framework of ideas in conjunction with others.

This increased social ease will help individuals both socially and at work.

6. Improves cooperation

When given a specific goal, learners are more likely to engage in thoughtful discussion with each other, improving both their understanding of the subject and their esteem for each other.

Examples of collaborative learning activities

There are many ways to foster collaborative learning within an organisation:

1. Evaluating training systems

Within teams or departments, pair newer employees with more senior ones.

Have them work together to evaluate the training systems currently in place, assess flaws in the system, and develop recommendations on how to effectively update the training to better serve the organisation and its employees.

2. Solving problems across teams

Bring together various teams and present them with a problem to solve.

This might be how to develop a new feature for a product, what changes should be actioned on an existing software, or instituting a new training program.

Outline what results you would like to see in broad terms, then let the teams work.

At the end, the teams will present what they have developed, justify their choices, and outline their plans to accomplish the task.

3. Developing new products

When it comes to developing new products, collaborative learning can be a massive asset.

Teams can work together to identify relevant niches, brainstorm solutions, and create product concepts.

After presenting their products, a question and answer session can help develop the idea further, as they defend their ideas, respond to criticism, and sharpen their pitch.

4. Explaining concepts to other departments

Have departmental teams create a presentation that teaches their work to the other departments.

They should present the work that they do, the problems that they solve, and present some ongoing concepts that they are working on.

Other departments will participate in a question and answer session, giving the benefit of their experience to help solve ongoing issues while also learning more about how the organisation works as a whole.

5. Build a collaborative learning community

A collaborative learning community is an environment that fosters working together to solve problems, prioritizes open communication and gives individuals many opportunities to both learn from and teach others.

An organisation that chooses to provide these opportunities on a regular basis will create a collaborative learning community, in which individuals will actively participate in collaborative learning.

Good examples of collaborative learning activities will have clear instructions, a set goal, mid-sized groups of three to five individuals and flexible rules, so that groups can experiment within themselves and work with open communication.

Collaborative learning theories

While there are some differences between collaborative learning theories, as a whole, collaborative learning is underpinned by the concept that learning is a naturally social act, and that learning occurs through talking, attempting to solve problems, and seeking to understand the world.

To begin, we will look at the first theories of collaborative learning, which were concerned with how children learn. Later theories took into account how adults continue to cognitively develop throughout their lives.

Vygotsky's theory of social development

Lev Vygotsky's social learning theory puts an emphasis on the importance of social interaction for the development of learning and cognition.
He believed that community was an important factor in the process of creating meaning and knowledge.
Vygotsky's theory approaches learning from a sociocultural viewpoint, arguing that individual development does not happen without being informed by social and cultural contexts.

He proposed that speech plays a major role in the development of thought, with conversations with more knowledgeable people driving forward understanding and cognition.

An important aspect of Vygotsky's social learning theory is the Zone of Proximal Development.

This is the idea that, if you visualise what a person can and cannot do as zones, between those zones is a third zone, known as the zone of proximal development. This is what a person is able to learn, but needs guidance to be able to do so.

It is in this zone that new skills, in the process of development, are found. When a person has access to other people who will teach them, they will learn the skills found in their zone of proximal development.

Vygotsky also developed the concept of the More Knowledgeable Other ( MKO).

More Knowledgeable Other is a person who already has the knowledge or experience that the learner is seeking. It could be a parent, teacher or older adult, but could just as easily be a peer.

It is through interactions with this person that a learner can see desired behaviours modeled or receive important information.

Vygotsky termed this as collaborative dialogue, as the learner seeks knowledge, internalises the information provided by the More Knowledgeable Other, then uses that information to guide their own actions.

More Knowledgeable Others allow the learner to operate within the Zone of Proximal Development.

Piaget's theory of cognitive development

Jean Piaget set out to understand how infants and children develop their understanding of their world, and how they become able to use reason and thought to develop hypotheses.
His theory states that, as children grow, they construct an understanding of the world around them, experience discrepancies between their understanding and their experiences, then correct those discrepancies through reorganizing their mental processes.
Piaget developed the concept of ' schemas,' which he defined as units of knowledge, the basic building blocks that allow humans to organize knowledge and understand complex concepts.

He defined a schema as "a cohesive, repeatable action sequence possessing component actions that are tightly interconnected and governed by a core meaning."

He believed that there are some innate schemas, such as the sucking response of newborn infants, and others that are acquired through experience.

For Piaget, the cognitive development of a person was directly connected to the number and depth of their schemata.

As children develop, they use their schemata to process the world around them using assimilation and accommodation. In assimilation, a child uses an existing schema to handle a new object, situation or interaction. Accommodation is when a child finds that their existing schema does not work for the new object, and so the schema is changed.

Piaget believed that this is driven by a need for equilibrium, which in turn drives development. Equilibrium is the state in which a child's existing schemata can handle most new information in the assimilation process. When that doesn't happen, disequilibrium will commence and the child will be uncomfortable. The child will respond to that by seeking to adjust, through the process of accommodation, and will master new knowledge through that process.

To Piaget, the processes of assimilation and accommodation require an active learner, as the child must seek to discover the problem-solving skills they need. In this process, the child must interact with physical and social environments to learn.

Piaget's four-stage cognitive development process

Piaget also presented a four-stage cognitive development process, which he believed must happen before learning could commence.
1. Sensorimotor
From birth to two years, is the stage where a child learns to form mental representations.

This is when a child will develop object permanence.
2. Preoperational
From two to seven years, is the development of symbolic thinking.
3. The concrete operational stage
From seven to eleven years, is the beginning of using logic to work things out in their head, rather than needing to learn concepts physically.
4. The formal operational stage
It begins at age eleven, it's a stage when full logical cognition is possible, including working out complex hypotheses.

Piaget versus Vygotsky: What is the difference?

While both Piaget and Vygotsky agreed that cognitive development comes in stages and has roots in both nature and nurture, they differed on some key points.

1. Piaget believed that a child drives their own cognitive development, as children have an innate tendency to adapt to new experiences, whereas Vygotsky believed that social interaction is what drives the cognitive development of children.

2. Piaget thought that children learn best when allowed to use self-discovery and active learning, and Vygotsky thought that instruction and guidance were key to a child's learning.

3. Vygotsky also posited that different cultures and periods of time have an impact on cognitive development, while Piaget thought that it was the same universally.

4. Piaget also thought that, while the stages of development are more or less set, children will only proceed to learning when they are ready, and Vygotsky believed that development could be accelerated by using the zone of proximal development and more knowledgeable others.

An essential difference is that Piaget thought that the result of cognitive development was language, Vygotsky thought that language was the key to cognitive development.

There is evidence that a child being exposed to guided learning within Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development shows greater understanding than a child learning alone within Piaget's discovery learning framework, according to a study conducted in 1990 by Freund.

Kegan's Cognitive Developmental Theory

The developmental theories discussed above center around cognitive development in children. It was previously thought that cognitive development ended around 25, but there are some who believe that it is a lifelong process.

Robert Kegan posited that it is possible for people to continually develop the systems they use to create meaning by transforming the way that they interact with the world.

He developed five stages that put an emphasis on transitioning from a subject (I am) to object (I have) framework.

According to Kagan, the subject framework does not allow self-reflection, as it is too closely held for objectivity to happen. It can include beliefs, behaviours and assumptions about the world.

The object framework allows a person to detach from the concept, reflect upon it, and consider it objectively. This exercise of transitioning framework, according to Kegan, drives cognitive development.

Simply put, Kagan theorised that becoming an adult means transitioning to higher stages of development.

This means developing an independent sense of self, and gaining the traits associated with wisdom and social maturity.

An adult with a high stage of development is in control of their behavior, is self-aware, and is able to more effectively manage their relationships and the social factors affecting them.

Kegan's five stages are:
1. Impulsive mind
This stage is early childhood, where impulses drive action.
2. Imperial mind
Subject: Is needs, interests, wants
Object: Has impulses, perceptions

This is the adolescent stage, although some adults remain here.

Relationships are transactional, and self-interest is the driving force behind all behaviour.

Actions are driven by outside consequences, rather than internal belief systems.
3. Socialised mind
Subject: Is mutuality, interpersonal relationships
Object: Has needs, interests, wants

This is the stage where most people are, according to Kegan.

This stage is dominated by external sources, such as other people, groups and the society around us as a whole, and what they think of us.

The culturally prescribed way of living is paramount to a socialised mind, regardless of personal desire.
4. Self-authoring mind
Subject: Is self-definition, personal autonomy
Object: Has mutuality, interpersonal relationships

At this stage, a person is able to self-define.

They are not swayed by the opinions of society, and will decide for themselves who they are, what they stand for, and how they should behave.
5. Self-transforming mind
Subject: Simply is
Object: Has self-definition, personal autonomy

Kegan believes that only 1% of adults reach this stage.

At stage 5, the sense of self is not static, but is instead able to constantly adjust and react as new information, interactions and experiences are processed.

Summary

In an organisation, it is ideal to give your employees the tools to transition to the upper stages.

Fostering growth within an organization has many proven benefits, including increased output, higher employee retention, and better employee satisfaction.

Transitioning to the upper stages involves curiosity, critical thinking and openness to new ideas and concepts, all of which are desirable traits to curate in a workforce.

Collaborative learning research and articles

1. Collaborative learning in the workplace: Practical issues and concerns

2. Collective Learning in the Workplace: Important Knowledge Sharing Behaviours

3. Improving Collaborative Learning and Global Project Management in Small and Medium Enterprise

4. A Change Theory: Key Concepts for Understanding the Work of Robert Kegan

5. Lev Vygotsky

6. Jean Piaget

7. Collaborative learning

8. The benefits of collaborative learning

9. Active and Collaborative Learning

10. Collaborative learning: What is it?

11. Part 1: How To Be An Adult- Kegan's Theory of Adult Development

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What Is Collaborative Learning? Theory, Examples of Activities

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Learn what collaborative learning is and what benefits it brings. Discover examples of collaborative learning activities. Cooperative vs. collaborative learning.

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Teamwork Theory

Tuckman's Stages of Group Development
Probably the most famous teamwork theory is Bruce Tuckman's "team stages model".
First developed in 1965, Tuckman's model is widely known as a basis for effective team building. Yet how many people really know how to use it? Below we explain Tuckman's model before offering some fresh insights on how to take it further.

Tuckman's model is significant because it recognizes the fact that groups do not start off fully-formed and functioning. He suggests that teams grow through clearly defined stages, from their creation as groups of individuals, to cohesive, task-focused teams.

Tuckman's Teamwork Theory

Tuckman describes working with a team of social psychologists, on behalf of the U.S. navy. The team studied small group behaviour, from several perspectives. In doing so, Tuckman reviewed 50 articles on group development and noticed that there were two features common to these small groups: the interpersonal or group structure, and the task activity. From this he identified that groups evolved into teams via four common stages.

Firstly an orientation, testing phase which often led to a period characterized by a degree of conflict. This then generally resolved itself, leading to a more socially cohesive phase. Finally, groups settled to a functional phase, during which they focused on role-relatedness. To summarize these four phases, Tuckman coined the oft-quoted terms: "forming", "storming", "norming" and "performing".

Tuckman's teamwork theory is best illustrated on a graph which shows the link between group relationships (the horizontal axis) and task focus (the vertical axis). The optimal or "performing" position is reached when relationships have developed within the group and it has started delivering with a clear focus on the task.

However, Tuckman's ideas clearly indicate that it takes time to reach the "performing" stage, and it's normal for these teams to go through ups and downs as they develop relationships. Particularly in the early period, which is perhaps why Tuckman called it the "storming" phase!

The 4 Phases of Tuckman's Teamwork Theory

Forming:

The initial stage of team development during which individuals have not yet gelled together. Everybody is busy finding their place in the team, sizing each other up, and asking themselves why they are here! Find out more in our articles: Team Building Techniques and Teamwork Tips. The first offers advice on starting a new team while the second will help you take over an existing team (perhaps a far more common situation).

Storming:

People begin to see themselves as part of a team. However at this stage they may challenge each other, and the team leader, about such things as what the team is doing, and how things should be done. As the stage title suggests, conflict and confrontation typify this stage, as differences surface. This may result in some loss of performance or focus on the task, as the diagram illustrates.

Norming:

This is the phase where team members start to come together, developing processes, establishing ground rules, clarifying who does what, and how things will be done. This phase is characterized by a growing sense of "togetherness". Find out more about both the Storming and Norming phases in our article: Team Building Concepts.

Performing:

This is the final stage where increased focus on both the task, and on team relationships, combine to provide synergy. Performance is delivered through people working effectively together. We have written two articles to further develop this stage. Team Building in the Workplace will help you build a performing team. Characteristics of Effective Teamwork will help you and your team sustain that performance.

Thinking about Tuckman's Model

The value of Tuckman's model is that it helps us understand that teams evolve. It also helps us to consider how they may encounter different problems at different stages of their development.

One limitation of the model may be that it makes team building appear too linear and sequential. Although it's a useful analytical tool, we must remember that some teams may "loop" around in their development.

For example, not all teams evolve smoothly through Tuckman's stages but may yo-yo between norming and storming until they either begin to function, or are disbanded! Regardless of limitations, all well-conceived models can be useful in helping us to understand and better manage our circumstances.

Adjourning

Tuckman's famous phases are part of a teamwork theory based on stages of team development. His theory may have gained popularity partly due to the catchy labels for each of his stages. Indeed, in 1977 Tuckman proposed an update to his model, introducing a fifth stage: adjourning. This was meant to reflect the period after a team disbands, having achieved its objectives or perhaps being broken-up for other reasons. The issues for managers here can include:

Capturing the knowledge/expertise of the team for future use or reference.

Dealing with any sense of loss amongst team members, where successful or well-established teams are being broken up.

Understanding the causes and ramifications of team dysfunction, where the team is being disbanded because it has not worked.

Beyond Tuckman's Theory

Tuckman's theory provides a useful and simple way to think about how we humans interact in team situations. Firstly by illustrating that it's normal for teams go through stages as they develop. Secondly, by highlighting the need to manage different aspects of team behaviour at each stage of that development. The beauty and usefulness of Tuckman's model is perhaps in its simplicity. Follow this for more information on this theory or click here to read Tuckman's original article.

Team development theories such, as Tuckman's group development stages, recognise that teams develop through different stages, from forming through to performing. Whilst these theories give a useful understanding of different team requirements at different times, there are a number of questions that aren't particularly well answered by the models. For example:

How should you lead at the different stages of a team's development?

How do you identify when you are progressing through a stage?

How does the team develop in the organisational setting?

How is it affected by other outside influences?

The theory of group stages alone doesn't answer these questions. To do so, and thus to build a more robust teamwork concept, ideas about team leadership and outside factors need to be introduced. We've done just this in our STAR team performance model. You can see how this model applies to group stages in: Stages of Team Development.

This is the first of ten articles in our teamwork series. But for some practical tips on using teamwork theory, look at our great-value guides (below), or at our Team Building Exercises for all team stages.

Team Building Exercises and Team Stages

Our e-guide: Team Building Exercises has been specifically designed to help you understand and use a team stages model. It contains a tool for each stage to help you build a high-performing team - as quickly as possible. The exercises in the guide are grouped according to our own team stages model. Remember, each team is unique and needs to be led through several developmental stages. These include:

If you're creating a new team or taking over an existing team

Exercise 1: Being a TEAM together
Exercise 2: True or false
Exercise 3: Who does what in a team?
Exercise 4: Getting the mix right
Exercise 5: Doing something for the first time
Exercise 6: Two years from now

If you're developing an existing team

Exercise 7: A clearer vision
Exercise 8: Mad, sad or glad
Exercise 9: Seeing the bigger picture
Exercise 10: Positive feedback
Exercise 11: Conflicting views

If you're team is already performing and achieving results

Exercise 12: Did you notice?
Exercise 13: Limiting beliefs

If you're trying to sustain good team performance

Exercise 14: Scarce resources
Exercise 15: Keeping going

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Teamwork Theory | Tuckman's Stages of Group Development - The Happy Manager

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Probably the most famous teamwork theory is Bruce Tuckman's 'team stages model'. Tuckman's model is widely used for effective team building.

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Expert Opinion

On a daily basis, people collaborate through the sharing of ideas and concepts in both formal and informal meetings. Collaborative tools-from simple brainstorming and voting to complex project management software-are frequently used to aid collaboration processes. The use of information technology (IT) to form networks has brought about a quantum leap in knowledge sharing; this has led, in turn, to practical and sophisticated global collaboration. The Human Genome Project is a classic example of "megacollaboration". The project is one of the largest collaborative scientific investigations ever to have been undertaken, enabling mankind to read the complete genetic blueprint for human beings. Computer technologies have enabled the enormous amount of data generated to be managed and disseminated among more than 100 laboratories in the United States, Canada, the European Union, and Japan, all of which participated in research for the Human Genome Project. [1]

While collaboration is required in most long-term business relationships, the extent of the collaboration can vary greatly. Successful collaboration requires the sharing and maximising of limited resources; importantly, it can also deliver savings and facilitate innovation. However, not all business relationships need to be highly collaborative, and organisational leaders should identify those business relationships that would genuinely benefit from more effective collaboration. To determine the extent of collaboration required in a particular relationship, it is useful to look at the number of the points of interdependence between the different parties. These points of interdependence are the key places in the overall business processes where the action of one partner can have a critical impact on the work of others: at these points, alignment is essential. As a rule the more points of interdependence there are in a relationship, the more collaborative that relationship needs to be. Figure 1, see top of next column, presents a collaboration versus interdependence matrix, which shows varying degrees of interdependence and collaboration within different organisations. [2]

Brainstorming and Creativity

Brainstorming is a technique, usually practiced in a group setting, which aims to rapidly generate a large number of ideas about a given problem or a topic. Brainstorming also serves to stimulate creative thinking and generate enthusiasm. In his book on brainstorming, entitled Applied Imagination, Alex Osborn provides the following four cardinal rules for brainstorming:

1. Encourage expressiveness, by allowing members to freewheel and put forward every idea that comes to mind, no matter how strange or fanciful.

2. Make no judgments, to ensure ideas are not squashed.

3. Strive for quantity and not quality, to remove all of the pressure to perform that stifles creativity.

4. Build on the ideas of others, by modifying, extending and developing these ideas, while tapping into the power of synergy. [3]

In addition, Paul Paulus, a psychology professor at the University of Texas Arlington in the United States, describes some commonly held fallacies associated with brainstorming and creative thinking:

1. Creative juices flow where there are no rules - wrong! Paulus discovered that teams with instructions and rules performed significantly better in terms of creativity than those with no rules. Teams working within a framework of rules generated more and better ideas (as judged by independent experts, blind to whose ideas they were evaluating).

2. Creativity improves by focusing on quality, not quantity - wrong! Paulus also compared groups working under one of four goals, i.e. no goal, a quality goal, a quantity goal, and a quality plus quan- tity goal. His research revealed that those working with a quantity goal outperformed all other groups. (Groups focusing solely on quality typically self- censor and, therefore, do not articulate new ideas.) In addition, high quality ideas often result from combinations of seemingly impractical ideas.

3. Creativity is enhanced in face-to-face meetings - wrong! Co-location is not actually conducive to the effectiveness of creative teams. Investigations com- paring the performance of co-located groups with groups working entirely as individuals found that, without exception, the performance of the separated individuals was superior to the performance of the co-located groups. This is one of the reasons that electronic brainstorming has become popular.

4. Being a team player enhances creativity - wrong! Research has shown that people who are "pro-self" tend to be more creative than people who are "pro-social". Therefore, managers must seek to put pro-social and communal concerns to one side during a focused brainstorming session; this will enable them to create a "pro-self" setting and thus foster increased creativity. [3]

Collaboration is often required within local government. According to Michael Williams, a city admin- istrator with the City of St. Cloud, Minnesota, when collaborating on dynamic public issues, a different skill set is needed than in a traditional management setting. For collaborative work in the public domain, Williams offers the following guidelines:

1. Have a common vision and set of goals: this enables participants to work together compatibly and, therefore, reach an agreed end point.

2. Foster trust: collaborative endeavours underpinnedby trusting relationships are more likely to succeed.

3. Provide value for everyone: successful collaborations produce results to satisfy the needs of all participants.

4. Communicate: meetings are a vital component of collaboration; therefore, they should always strive to be inclusive, and create opportunities for all participants to share their issues and ideas.

5. Conflict: healthy conflict can create a catalyst for discussion; it can also help clarify actions and spur improvements. Usually, participants in a thriving collaborative environment will experience few conflicts; however, should conflict arise, it needs to be managed with courtesy and fairness.

6. Structure and administrative support: good administrative support that fosters communication and keeps all parties informed is critical for successful collaborations.

7. Provide leadership: good leadership is required to build consensus, reduce conflict, and assist in clarifying differing expectations. [4]

Business-Orientated Electronic Challenges
In 2005, Robin Spencer became Pfizer's first full-time innovation process leader, which involved him developing and implementing scalable business processes, and managing more than 200 business-orientated electronic challenges. Spencer discovered that on-line voluntary forums exhibited significantly different characteristics to those displayed by internal business teams.

For internal business teams, shown as a collaborative group in Figure 2 (a), see previous page, there is a central peak of "typical performers" and smaller numbers of both low and high performers. For a voluntary forum, participation rates were dramatically different, with a few people contributing a lot, and a large majority contributing a little, as presented in Figure 2 (b). This pattern was observed widely, and was seen to apply whenever participation was not forced or there was no form of sustained positive feedback to encourage participation. The main factors affecting this pattern appear to be that contributors are distant (in space or influence) from the forum sponsor and that participation is voluntary. This long-tailed pattern also holds for huge public social collaboration systems such as Wikipedia, Digg and Twitter. Interestingly it is also independent of the type of motivation used (for example, cash awards versus recognition, or altruism) and project duration. A widespread familiarity with social media and easy access to Internet technology brings business leaders an additional tool; by sponsoring large electronic forums, there is a distinct possibility of achieving significant thinking applied to their business needs and opportunities.

It should be noted that participation in forums has important implications:

1. Since participation is voluntary (even when there are monetary rewards), participants require higher levels of information and feedback, which provides them with the assurance their efforts are making a difference.

2. Since most contributors work alone, all back- ground, goals and outcomes must be clearly com- municated and presented in writing.

3. Since at least half of the total value comes from a long tail of people contributing just once or twice, reward and recognition systems must support these low-frequency contributors, and not be biased against them. [5]

Yun Antorini, community strategist at the LEGO Group, and Albert Muñiz Jr., associate professor of marketing at De Paul University in Illinois, describe how the LEGO Group's introduction of a new product called "Mindstorms" unexpectedly brought the toy manufacturer a number of enthusiastic adult consumers. These adults began to create innova- tions that were of potential value to the organisation; the LEGO Group therefore sought to involve these fans in its development projects. Since then, adult fans have participated in the development of several products, and more than 20 LEGO users have been hired as LEGO designers. LEGO Cuusoo, a crowd-sourcing tool, was introduced at this stage. This enabled users to upload their designs to a webpage: other users could then vote on the designs. Models receiving 10,000 votes or more were reviewed with regard to their potential for commercialisation. If an idea was selected for commercialisation, the LEGO Group took over the development process and the innovator received one per cent of the total net sales. (See the Example Cases section of this Best Practice Report for a description of some of the projects generated using the Cuusoo platform.) In addition to connecting the firm to innovative users, the Cuusoo platform enabled LEGO to deal with specialisation issues. By putting proposed designs to a community vote, the LEGO Group maximized the likelihood that a suggested product would have broad appeal. By asking users who had voted for a given concept to also list the price they would be willing to pay, the company was also able to assess the commercial potential of ideas.[6]
Collaborative Software and Videoconferencing

Collaborative software has been designed to help teams, and other groups of people, to achieve common goals. Collaborative software enables teams to work together-both locally and at a distance-by using tools to aid communication, collaboration and problem solving. Collaborative software includes:

electronic communication tools, including e-mail, wiki, web publishing, and revision control software

electronic conferencing tools, including Internet forums, online chat, instant messaging, telephony, videoconferencing, electronic whiteboards, application sharing, and electronic meeting systems

collaborative management tools, including electronic calendars, project management systems, on-line proofing, workflow systems, knowledge management systems, enterprise book marking (tagging), extranet systems, social software systems, and on-line spreadsheets. [7]

In Government Executive journal in the United States, Elizabeth Newell Jochum writes that collaborative tools such as webcams and file-sharing software are critical components for videoconferencing. Some of the following techniques, which are provided by Web seminar consulting firm 1080 Group, can contribute to improving the effectiveness of videoconferences:

Eliminate distractions:

close open windows, remove prominent artwork, etc. from the line of the camera

avoid disruptions from ringing phones or e-mails "pinging" on speakers

poor lighting or a harsh glare will cast shadows or wash out faces

Set up your space:

so as to be positioned at a comfortable distance from the camera so that facial expressions and hand gestures do not appear exaggerated

focus on making deliberate, smooth movements and framing them on screen

ask a colleague to identify any distracting behaviours such as tapping or fidgeting

Focus on eye contact:

eye contact does not need to be constant, but it should be natural and purposeful

keep eyes within camera range

look toward the screen rather than out of a window

Incorporate tools of engagement:

plan how to display projected information

when leading an in-person meeting, ask for a show of hands or conduct a collaborative exercise, and map out on-line activities to increase productivity

share your computer desktop with the audience

conduct an on-line poll

set up group chats among participants

be aware of what participants are able to see during the conference, and make sure to only refer to those things to which they have access

prior to meetings, send instructions to ensure participants have full access, and send helpful reminders about what to do during the conference

Consider mixed audiences:

some participants may be physically present, while others may be on-line or connected by phone

carefully plan how each group will see hear and interact

speak slowly, clearly and engagingly. [8]

Group discussions can be facilitated using the following seven wide-ranging questions to help define, analyse and propose solutions for organisational problems:

1. Problem definition - why is this a problem?

2. Current state - what is happening now?

3. Goals - what are the targets?

4. Root cause analysis - let's understand what's causing the problem.

5. Proposed countermeasures - how do we resolve this problem?

6. Future state - what is the future process to stop this happening?

7. Action plan - what needs to happen to bring about the future state?

These questions may be progressively asked at different levels of the organisation, with the various insights garnered being collated to give a rich understanding of problems and their potential solutions. [9]

Changing Face of Accountancy
Technology, globalisation and demographics are reshaping the accounting profession, where services have become commoditised and, as a result, profit margins have diminished rapidly. Leon Gettler, working with Charter, the journal of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, invited key individuals to comment on the changing face of accountancy.

David Smith FCA, director of Smithink 2020 (a business coaching and advisory company), says that accounting firms of the future are going to look very different as they are revamped by technology. Smith believes cloud computing will turn public accountants into the Chief Financial Officers of small to medium-sized businesses. According to Smith, "cloud computing enables accountants to collaborate and to work with their clients in a way that they've never been able to do before." Previously accountants have not had remote client data available to them in real time. However, they now have an opportunity to act as an external CFO, and thereby help clients manage their business on a day-to-day basis.

Sean Devenish CA, a partner at Collins SBA (a wealth specialist company) says accounting firms do not have much choice. There are already bad signs in New Zealand where accounting firms' profit margins are being eroded through the use of accounting software supplied to clients. Similarly outsourcing providers are ready to enter the market directly where they can offer services at very attractive rates. Accounting firms of the future will need to work closely with clients, add value, and provide advice in ways that cannot be easily commoditised.

Rob Nixon, CEO of Nixon Advantage, revealed that partner profits at smaller accounting firms have declined by 8 per cent in 2012 as a result of clients outsourcing work to overseas providers. [10]

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Expert Opinion On a daily basis, people collaborate through the sharing of ideas and concepts in both formal and informal meetings. Collaborative tools-from simple brainstorming and voting to complex project management software-are frequently used to aid collaboration processes.

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How to be a Responsible Student in Your Classroom - Learn With Mrs.B - For Kids

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“Real World” Class Jobs: Sharing Responsibility in the Classroom (Virtual Tour)

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Active Learning Classrooms: Sharing responsibility for learning

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3 Group Work Strategies That Help Hold All Students Accountable

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From delegating roles to involving students in rubric design, here are group work strategies to help hold all students accountable.

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Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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The idea for sharing this post came from a session I recently conducted at the annual teaching conference organized by my university. A pedagogical conundrum was raised by a colleague whose enthusiasm and question stayed with me and inspired me to write this post. The question posed by this colleague is relevant to all instructors who have ever used group work to assess their students: How should one deal with the issues that arise when members of a group are not picking up their share of the responsibilities during a group work project?

The benefits of group work are well recognized (e.g., http://goo.gl/N8kqhy), as are the reasons students don't like working in groups (Taylor, 2011). We have all had groups that operated magically, when group members brought out each other's strengths and helped each member shine; but we have also had groups that failed miserably when members did not get along or did not pull equal weight in completing a group project.

Although much has been written about group work and its benefits and challenges, as well as variables, features, or components that can contribute to positive learning outcomes (Tomcho, & Foels, 2012), issues of implementation seem to pop up every time instructors get together to talk about their teaching challenges. In this post I focus on the persistent challenge of imbalance when not all group members contribute equally. What follows are a few simple ideas you might wish to consider that have worked well for me during years of trial and error in my teaching, as well as insights from my research.

1. Design a group project in which the students work in phases.

For instance, starting with a project idea, then moving to project development, followed by preliminary project outcomes - and requiring students to "check-in" at each phase before delivering the final project. Not only does this help ensure that the groups won't wait until the final deadline is upon them to work on their project, but it also enables the instructor to touch base with every group and to offer guidance, support, or mediation, if needed, during the process.

2. Develop an element of the project that allows group members to make their own choices.

In my teaching, I usually give students the freedom to choose a topic area that interests them within the scope of the course or that is the most relevant or meaningful to the team members. This decision helps create a sense of ownership and enhances the students' level of engagement, both of which are crucial for working on large group projects, and especially for those requiring students to carry out the work in phases throughout the term (see, for example, Enghag & Niedder, 2007, on the theoretical basis for student ownership of learning).

3. Within a group project, include a component requiring individual students to submit non-onerous individual work.

For example, the project could include a personal reflection piece (e.g., e.g., Huang, 2011a), in which each member individually reflects on the process and product of his or her own portion of the group work. Apart from the pedagogical benefits of learners engaging in individual reflection (Pavlovich, Collins, & Jones, 2009), this task or component will inevitably provide insights about the division-of-labor issue commonly raised by instructors and students alike. Both learners and the instructor can glean a great many insights from those individual reflection pieces, which instructors can take into account when assigning either project or final grades, depending on their individual approach to assessment. This process also enables students to gain greater understanding about what worked well and what could be improved.

One important matter to keep in mind when implementing the reflection component is the need to ensure that we, as instructors, clarify what we mean by "reflection" in order to minimize a potential mismatch between our expectations about reflective learning and our students' understanding of what it entails. What we'd like our students to do is to engage in critical reflection - that is, thinking that involves different levels of reflection, rather than simply restating or describing what they did, or what I have called "non-transformative" reflection.

The goal is to encourage students to move beyond simply recalling what they did either individually or together within the group and instead to reflect on their personal discoveries about their own learning and the process of working collaboratively (i.e., understanding, analyzing, and evaluating the process and the product of their group efforts), and, importantly, to "verbalize" what they would do differently the next time around (i.e., pointing to the future).

This component is an example of what is called "writing/speaking to learn" (Manchón, 2011). For this task, it's important that students not be required to follow any formatting or style guidelines. The reflection should be an informal piece of writing, much like a diary entry, and can be in any modality (e.g., writing, audio recording, video clip) that suits the characteristics or preferences of individual students to allow for their individual expression. For some additional simple guidelines about implementing learner reflection, refer to Huang (2011b).

4. Devote a segment (30 minutes or so) during class before all group projects begin to implement two important steps.

Step 1: Get to know each other. The first 10 minutes can be a period for all students to find and meet with the group members they have either been assigned or have self-selected. They should then spend some time exploring each other's communication styles, which may arise from personal or culture-related differences (Lewis, 2006), to help them better anticipate different communication preferences and approaches to group work. This time can be spent sharing responses to guiding questions or statements, such as "I would describe my communication style/personality as ...," "I tend/prefer to deal with conflict by ...," and "I would appreciate my team members doing/not doing ...." (Huang, 2014). Guiding questions are especially helpful for groups that are culturally and linguistically diverse.

Step 2: Establish group norms. During the next 20 minutes, encourage each group to negotiate its own group norms (derived from Step 1) and ground rules. During this time, members of each team should elucidate, negotiate, and establish roles, responsibilities, and expectations. This process makes explicit the specific contributions and ownership of responsibilities that each team member negotiates and agrees to.

Below is a sample checklist that instructors can modify and use to facilitate this process and help prepare each group project to succeed (Huang, 2014). You can revise the items to suit a project or provide the list as an example for each group to use in creating its own list. The list can also be revisited during each check-point mentioned earlier and adjustments made as needed. Upon completion of the project, instructors can request the checklist(s) to be submitted (but not graded), along with other deliverables that are due.

5. Prepare students to expect the unexpected.

Rather than directing their every concern to you, students should be encouraged to become problem solvers not only by identifying problems, but also by developing solutions and choosing and evaluating the best ones so as to balance personal learning with the group's project goals. At the same time, you'll want to create and maintain a culture of openness that lets your students know you are readily available to provide guidance when groups reach an impasse.

In any group work situation, it is always possible that compatibility issues will arise between or among team members, as well as conflicts or problems with unequal distribution of work. The pre-group-project considerations described above, however, can easily be implemented to help minimize the likelihood that conflicts will develop that could negatively affect learning and outcomes. They may also help instructors and students in dealing with the specific common challenge of students who are not pulling their own weight in group collaborations, while maximizing the benefits of a group project not only in terms of content, but more, if not most, importantly, in learning how to work with others - a valuable life lesson that's best learned through experience.

References:
Enghag, M., & Niedderer, H. (2008). Two dimensions of student ownership of learning during small-group work in physics. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 6(4), 629-653.

Huang, L.-S. (2011a). Language learners as language researchers: The acquisition of English grammar through a corpus-aided discovery learning approach mediated by intra and interpersonal dialogues. In J. Newman, S. Rice, & H. Baayen (Eds.), Corpus-based studies in language documentation, use, and learning (pp. 91-122). Amsterdam: Rodopi Press.

Huang, L.-S. (2011b, Fall). Key concepts and theories in TESL: Learner reflection. TEAL News: The Association of B.C. Teachers of English as an Additional Language, pp. 9-13.

Huang, L.-S. (2014). Lessons learned from team-facilitation in ELT: Strategies for navigating the challenges and making it work. IATEFL ES(O)L Newsletter, pp. 13-17.

Lewis, R. D. (2006). When cultures collide: Leading across cultures (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

Manchón, R. M. (Ed.). (2011). Learning-to-write and writing-to-learn in an additional language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Pavlovich, K., Collins, E., Jones, G. (2009). Developing students' skills in reflective practice: Design and assessment. Journal of Management Education, 33(1), 37-58.

Taylor, A. (2011). Top 10 reasons students dislike working in groups...and why I do it anyway. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 39(2), 219-220.

Tomcho, T. J., & Foels, R. (2012). Meta-analysis of group learning activities: Empirically based teaching recommendations. Teaching of Psychology, 39(3), 159-169.
Dr. Li-Shih Huang, Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, Department of Linguistics, Learning and Teaching Scholar-in-Residence, Learning and Teaching Centre, University of Victoria, BC, Canada.

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Students Riding on Coattails during Group Work? Five Simple Ideas to Try

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How should faculty deal with the issues that arise when some students ride on the coattails of others during a group work project?

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by Stephanie Chasteen, University of Colorado Boulder

Chapter 7: Small groups. This expert recommendation is part of a series on helping students engage productively in active learning classrooms.
Most active learning techniques involve the creation of student groups, but groups do not always work productively, and not all tasks are suited to group work. Poor group dynamics, or ill-suited tasks, can reduce student engagement in active learning. This chapter focuses on helping students engage productively in active learning classrooms through the type of tasks that are used, and support of productive group dynamics.

Click here to access the entire set of Expert Recommendations on productive student engagement. You may also download a zip file of all recommendations and activities (26 MB), a PDF of these articles, and a PDF summary of our recommended strategies.

How do group structures and tasks affect student engagement?

As you might imagine, not all "cooperative groups" actually work cooperatively. That is, students may be in a group, but not be working collaboratively towards a common goal that improves their learning. Students can come in with poor attitudes towards group work (Gillespie et al., 2006), including having a fear of loafers. Or the structure of the groups may be at fault: Often, what we think are cooperative groups are really traditional classroom groups (where some students work hard and others do not), or pseudo learning groups (where students have no interest in working together) (Moreno, 2009; Nokes-Malach, Richey and Gadgil, 2015). These types of learning groups often do not actually improve student learning when compared to traditional instruction.

Students need to have a reason to work together ( "positive interdependence"), be accountable as a team as well as individually for their learning, learn skills for working together productively, and have clear expectations for the outcome of group work (Slavin, 2010; Anderman and Dawson, 2010). Luckily, students typically find group work fun and motivating, and over time will typically have more productive learning experiences (Nguyen et al., 2017; Bacon, Stewart and Silver, 1999).

Additionally, the benefits of cooperative learning are highly dependent on the task itself (Slavin, 1995). Students are motivated by interest: if a task feels stimulating, fun, relevant, authentic and novel, this will draw students in. Students are also attracted by the value of a task: A task that is useful, important, and challenging with high benefit and few costs will engage students (Pintrich, 2003; Boekarts, 2010; Engle and Conant, 2002; Moreno, 2009). Tasks that are less motivating are ones that can be completed using superficial memorization and without setting clear goals or involving any collaboration. A task may also be overly restrictive, offering little student latitude. Design authentic, collaborative, and fun tasks with the goal of sparking pleasure, pride, and satisfaction in students. Variety in group tasks is very motivating and tends to keep students engaged (Shekhar et al., 2015). A commitment to variety also allows you to address different student interests (Boekaerts, 2010; Pintrich, 2003; Tanner, 2013), and keep student attention as the semester progresses (Ertmer, Newby and MacDougal, 1996). See Chapter 3: Motivation for more on what motivates students.

Strategies for helping students work productively in groups

Below are some general strategies for helping to support productive group work. There are many books and chapters devotes to this topic. See Further Reading for many of my preferred sources. Below are some of the most salient strategies related to student engagement.

Hold students individually accountable for group work

Students must have some accountability for their individual learning in order for groups to work effectively (Slavin, 1995).

Give groups a collaborative goal

It is also important to have the group working together to achieve a collaborative goal, and that the group's success is dependent on the individual learning of all members (Slavin, 1995).

Use productive group structures

The structure of groups is also important for success and engagement. The group size should be well suited to the task, and so that each student will be able to contribute. A group might benefit from having roles assigned to each student, especially early in the semester, to facilitate productive collaboration.

Can support greater group diversity. Reduces anxiety of non-native speakers, who are less likely to be excluded from groups.

Students, especially those with experience in groups, prefer this. Can be very motivating.

Students may not prefer this approach.

Social issues may impinge on the work (such as personal disputes, or students feeling like a "3 rd wheel" in a group of friends)

Avoid having a single minority in the group. Aim for diversity in student achievement, gender, culture and ethnicity. Can use CATME' s online team maker to form teams based on such criteria.

By test scores, random number generation, and then balance by race/gender.

By student choice (nearest neighbors, friends) or by characteristics (e.g., high school attended, mutual interests).

Help groups collaborate effectively and monitor their performance

Students are likely to need some help in working together well. Below are several strategies for helping students to start out on the right foot, and keep working together well. There are also several helpful suggestions for dealing with dysfunctional teams in Felder and Brent (2016).

Build motivating tasks

Build "motivational embellishments" into your activities, leveraging students' psychology to draw them in naturally to the task and make them want to engage due to intrinsic interest and value for the activity. Motivational embellishments include the insertion of specific challenges, material based on student interest, or giving students perceived control over the outcome of the task.

Summary and Action Items

Most active learning techniques involve the creation of student groups, but groups do not always work productively, and not all tasks are suited to group work. Poor group dynamics, or ill-suited tasks, can reduce student engagement in active learning. This chapter focuses on helping students engage productively in active learning classrooms through the type of tasks that are used, and support of productive group dynamics.

Hold students individually accountable for group work

Students must have some accountability for their individual learning in order for groups to work effectively.

Follow up group work with individual assessments of learning.

Use assessments of individual effort to adjust grades.

Give groups a collaborative goal

It is important to have the group working together to achieve a collaborative goal, and that the group's success is dependent on the individual learning of all members.

Give students goals as a group.

Use achievement rewards.

Use group exams.

Use productive group structures

The structure of groups is important for success and engagement. The group size should be well suited to the task, and so that each student will be able to contribute.

Use team-building exercises.

Coach students and model effective behavior.

Help teams develop productive goals.

Require groups to self-reflect.

Help groups collaborate effectively and monitor their performance

Students are likely to need some help in working together well.

Use team-building exercises.

Coach students and model effective behavior.

Help teams develop productive goals.

Require groups to self-reflect.

Build motivating tasks

Build "motivational embellishments" into your activities, leveraging students' psychology to draw them in naturally to the task and make them want to engage due to intrinsic interest and value for the activity. Motivational embellishments include the insertion of specific challenges, material based on student interest, or giving students perceived control over the outcome of the task.

Don't bite off more than you can chew. Vary group learning methods.

Give clear, written instruction.

Focus on authentic, real world scenarios.

Allow for fun.

Give tasks that are just above student ability.

Give students choice and autonomy.

Further reading on this topic

Reading List

1. Ames C., Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation, Journal of Educational Psychology. 84 (3), 261-271 (1991).

2. Maier, M., McGoldrick, K.M., and Simkins, S., Cooperative Learning and Disciple-Based Pedagogical Innovations: Taking Advantage of Complementarities, In Cooper, James. Ed. Small group learning in higher education: Research and practice. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press. (2011).

3. Millis, B. J., Cooperative learning in higher education: Across the disciplines, across the academy, Sterling, VA: Stylus Press. (2010).

4. Seidel, S. B., & Tanner, K. D., What if students revolt?-considering student resistance: origins, options, and opportunities for investigation, CBE-Life Sciences Education. 12(4), 586-595 (2013).

5. Slavin R. E., Co-operative learning: what makes group-work work? In The Nature of Learning: Using Research to Inspire Practice, H. Dumont, D. Istance, and F. Benavides (Eds.), Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. (2010).

6. Tanner, K. D., Structure matters: twenty-one teaching strategies to promote student engagement and cultivate classroom equity, CBE-Life Sciences Education. 12(3), 322-331 (2013).

7. Teed, R., McDaris, J., Roseth, C., Cooperative Learning, Science Education Resource Center.

8. Felder, R. and Brent, R., Teaching and Learning STEM: A Practical Guide, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA (2016).

Keywords to search in the literature
Sociocultural theory, social constructivism, positive interdependence, accountability, cooperative learning
References

1. Aggarwal P., O'Brien C.L., Social loafing on group projects: structural antecedents and effect on student satisfaction, J Market Educ. 30, 255-264 (2008).

2. Ames C., Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation, Journal of Educational Psychology. 84 (3), 261-271 (1991).

3. Anderman E. M. and Dawson H., Learning with Motivation, in Handbook of Research on Learning and Instruction, R. E. Mayer and P. A. Alexander (eds), Routledge: New York. (2010).

4. Bacon, D. R., Stewart, K. A., & Silver, W. S., Lessons from the best and worst student team experiences: How a teacher can make the difference, Journal of Management Education. 23(5), 467-488 (1999).

5. Boekaerts, M., The crucial role of motivation and emotion in classroom learning, The Nature of Learning: Using Research to Inspire Practice, Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. 91-111 (2010).

6. Engle, R.A., Conant, F.R., Guiding principles for fostering productive disciplinary engagement: Explaining an emergent argument in a community of learners classroom, Cognition and Instruction. 20(4), 399-483 (2002).

7. Felder, R. and Brent, R., Teaching and Learning STEM: A Practical Guide, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA (2016).

8. Gillespie, Rosamond and Thomas, Grouped Out? Undergraduates' default strategies for participating in multiple small groups, J. of General Education. 55(2), 81-102 (2006).

9. Moreno, R., Educational Psychology, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken NJ. (2009).

10. Newmann, F., Student engagement in academic work: Expanding the perspective on secondary school effectiveness. In J. R. Bliss & W. A. Firestone (Eds.), Rethinking effective schools: Research and practice, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 58-76 (1991).

11. Newmann, F., Wehlage, G. G., & Lamborn, S. D., The significance and sources of student engagement. In F. Newmann (Ed.), Student engagement and achievement in American secondary schools, New York: Teachers College Press. 11-39 (1992).

12. Nguyen, K., Husman, J., Borrego, M., Shekhar, P., Prince, M. Demonbrun, M., Finelli, C. J., Henserson, C., Waters, C. Students' Expectations, Types of Instruction, and Instructor Strategies Predicting Student Response to Active Learning, International Journal of Engineering Education. 33(1), 2-18 (2017).

13. Nokes-Malach, Richey and Gadgil, When is it better to learn together? Insights from research on collaborative learning, Educ. Psychol. Rev. 27, 645-656 (2015).

14. Pintrich, P. R., Schunk, D. H., Motivation in education: Theory, research, and applications (2nd ed.), Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. (2001).

15. Shekhar, P., Demonbrun, M., Borrego, M., Finelli, C., Prince, M., Henderson, C., & Waters, C., Development of an observation protocol to study undergraduate engineering student resistance to active learning, International Journal of Engineering Education. 31(2), 597-609 (2015).

16. Slavin, R. E., Cooperative learning: Theory, research, and practice (2nd ed.), Boston: Allyn and Bacon. (1995).

17. Slavin R. E., Co-operative learning: what makes group-work work? In The Nature of Learning: Using Research to Inspire Practice, H. Dumont, D. Istance, and F. Benavides (Eds.), Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. (2010).

18. Slezak S., Flipping a class: The learning by doing method, American Chemical Society 2014 Spring Conference on Computers in Chemical Education. (2014).

19. Tanner, K. D., Structure matters: twenty-one teaching strategies to promote student engagement and cultivate classroom equity, CBE-Life Sciences Education. 12(3), 322-331 (2013).

Image courtesy of PhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado Boulder

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How can I help students work well in small groups, so they are more likely to engage?

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Most active learning techniques involve the creation of student groups, but groups do not always work productively, and not all tasks are suited to group work. Poor group dynamics, or ill-suited tasks, can reduce student engagement in active learning. This seventh chapter of our student engagement series focuses on support of productive group dynamics.

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3 Ways To Ensure All Students In A Classroom Are Supported During Activities

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3 Ways To Ensure All Students In A Classroom Are Supported During Activities

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1. Use Students' Interests As Teaching Tools
Paying attention to your students' interests and then incorporating those interests into lessons and classroom activities is a great way to reach all of the students in your classroom. Students learn and perform better when they have a connection to the material. Providing students with opportunities to show what they are learning with an activity that also includes something they are passionate about is a great way to connect with all of the unique students in your classroom.

2. Meet Students Where They Are
It is important to accommodate students where they are at and help bring them up to where they need to be instead of hoping that they can use your instruction to get there on their own. Whether students are neurodiverse, have different cultural backgrounds, or have trauma that affect the way they learn, it is important to find out where those students are and what they need to thrive in the classroom.

3. Provide Check-In And Feedback Opportunities
During activities provide students with the ability to reach out for help or provide mid-activity check-ins to measure how students are doing. Based on the outreach or responses, you will have a better understanding of who needs your attention during the activity. Additionally, having end of activity wrap ups such as exit tickets is a great way for students to be able to demonstrate what they've taken away from the lesson or what they need help with moving forward, showing you a more intimate view of your students and their needs.