by Christine Ji,
Pharm.D., PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Resident, MedStar Union Memorial
Hospital
Have you ever participated in
small learning groups? Were you satisfied with how the group experience turned
out? Effective small group activities should be designed to promote positive
interactions among students where everyone feels connected, engaged, and
included. The potential advantage of small group learning is that students from
different backgrounds and experiences come together to exchange ideas and learn
from different perspectives.1 Before the 1960s, small group
learning was relatively uncommon, and the education system was largely focused on
what the individual learned through interaction with the instructor. Unfortunately,
this created competition between students and final assessments were usually
based on individual effort and accomplishment.
Things have changed and small group learning is now widely accepted.
Indeed, some teachers prefer this instructional method for students at all
levels.2
Small
group learning may increase student accountability for acquiring the content
knowledge outside of the classroom and applying it to the group discussions. Students
reported that they are able to develop their communication skills and ability
to effectively work as a team member.
These are important skills in the real world, particularly in work
environments. Students also enjoy active engagement in the classroom setting
and this can result in improved course grades.3
Despite
the benefits that small group learning can offer, not all small groups work
well and not all students have a positive experience. For teachers, it is difficult to find
practical guidance and effective methods to create and organize small groups to
maximize the chances of success. Some have described group learning as “sinking
or swimming together.”4 When
small group work really succeeds it's the result of “participants' striving for
mutual benefit so that all members of the group benefit from each other's
efforts.” 4 Therefore, planning and managing small group learning
activities is an important part of the instructional design process. Small
group learning should be reflective of positive interdependence, face-to-face
interaction, individual and group accountability, social skills development,
and group evaluation.6
When
assigned to small groups, students have two main responsibilities: learn the
assigned material and make sure that all other members of the group learn the
assigned material. Students should work together, striving for individual
accomplishments as well as team success. Students can encourage and help each
other to reach the group’s goals by exchanging needed resources, providing each
other feedback to improve performance, and challenging one another to promote a
higher quality of a task completion. Students are held responsible for their
own contribution and also for achieving group objectives. By practicing in
small groups, students are expected to be better prepared to complete similar work
in the future. Furthermore, students get to know and trust one another and need
to learn how to resolve conflict. Lastly, students learn about how well they
perform and adjust learning strategies to better achieve goals. Through group
evaluation, students should strive to maintain good working
relationships and share feedback about participation. Students should be taught
how to celebrate the success of the group and reinforce the positive
behaviors of other students.
In
terms of formulating groups, there is no “right” way of assigning students. However, when students self-select groups,
they tend to assimilate with people they already know and may exclude students
who don’t fit into any group. On the other hand, when teachers randomly assign
groups, it saves time and avoids any discrimination; but there is a risk of
imbalances that hinder the group’s performance.5 Although it is more
time consuming, selecting groups based on certain criteria such as gender, ethnicity,
linguistic ability, personality, prior achievement, levels of competency, and
work styles to promote heterogeneity may be a better alternative in terms of encouraging
positive learning interactions and individual accountability. With regard to
group size, it is important to come up with a number that is small enough to
have interactive discussions, but large enough to tolerate an occasional gap in
the attendance and allow smaller subsets (of 2 and 3 student) to engage in more
focused activities. Groups can be
rearranged at the mid-semester point to allow students to rotate and interact
with various people.2
For small groups to succeed, it is important to plan ahead. Arrange the physical environment to maximize group interaction and avoid any pitfalls such as students coming to class unprepared, being reluctant or refusing to participate, or letting one student dominate the discussion. It is important to give student adequate time ahead of class time to prepare and, if they not prepared, to ask why. Teachers should try to understand why some students are not participating. The reasons may be due to their past experiences in other classes. It can be helpful to start out with an easy, engaging question and to discuss the goals and outcomes of small group learning with the class ahead of time. During small group discussions, teachers and facilitator should invite everyone to speak and use structured discussion protocols.4
References
- Steinert Y. Student perceptions of effective small group teaching. Medical Education. 2004; 38:286-93.
- Kitchen M. Facilitating small groups: how to encourage student learning. Clin Teach. 2012; 9:3-8.
- Ferreri SP, O’Connor SK. Redesign of a large course into a small-group learning course. Am J Pharm Educ. 2013; 77: 1-9.
- Jaques D. Teaching small groups. BMJ. 2003; 326: 492-4.
- Meo SA. Basic steps in establishing effective small group teaching sessions in medical schools. Pak J Med Sci. 2013; 29: 1071-1076.
- Roger T, Johnson DW. An overview of cooperative learning. Campbell University, NC. 2013
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