Facilitating In-Class Group

Work
Often, students do not have the skills or expertise needed to work
effectively in small groups (Shimazoe and Aldrich 2010). By applying
facilitation strategies such as those described below, instructors can help
students learn to work collaboratively and ensure that group work improves
learning for all.

 Establish classroom ground-rules or expectations that can promote

respectful, inclusive interactions in the classroom. These ground-
rules or expectations should be determined at the start of the semester
and guide students’ interactions in groups. Groups that develop shared
expectations on how to approach and accomplish a task tend to have
higher levels of helping behaviors (Gonzalez-Mulé et al., 2014).
 Define group member roles and rotate these frequently. Groups often
function most effectively when members have designated roles (such as
recorder, manager, or reporter) which can promote positive
interdependence among group members, as well as maintain individual
accountability. Roles are also critical in minimizing the possibility that
students will take on, or assign one to another, roles that adhere to
gender and racial stereotypes. For example, Hirshfield and Chachra
(2015) found that in first-year engineering courses, females tended to
undertake less technical roles and more communication roles than
males. By having students’ alternate through different roles, you can
help students learn the value of each role.
 Develop and communicate a set of clear instructions. Explain why
and how students are completing the activity.
o What are the content knowledge and skills that this assignment is
designed to help students learn and practice?
o Explain how to accomplish the activity in a PowerPoint slide or
handout. Set time limits, e.g., 5-7 minutes for shorter activities, or 10-
 12 minutes for longer, multi-step activities. Breaking up a complex task
into smaller pieces with timed checkpoints helps groups better
understand how to work on complex problems and make sure they are
on track to finish during the allotted time.
o Indicate group size and composition. Should students work with two or
three neighbors? These instructions help students better understand
how they will work in groups (Barkley et al. 2014).
 Provide careful discussion prompts. Ask students to answer specific
questions but also to focus on the rationale behind their answers and be
prepared to share the rationale. This prompt influences the quality of
student discussions by creating a “reasoning-centered class” where
students employ more reasoning rather than just trying to achieve the
correct answer (Knight et al. 2013).
 Maintain your role as a facilitator and be an active listener during
the activity.Move throughout the room to monitor group
conversations without interfering or participating in the groups’
conversations. Watch for uneven participation in a group. What common
mistakes are you observing in groups? Silently note these, but do not
interfere or interject. Groups need time to develop group norms (i.e., their
group work behavioral style) and allowing them to work this out is an
important learning step. Therefore, let groups negotiate their own group
dynamics.
 Be flexible. You don’t need to wait until everyone has finished the
assignment before asking groups to report out. If necessary you can ask
managers how much additional time is needed for their group. If students
are struggling with the assignment, stop and provide assistance or
direction to help them get back on track with the assignment.
 Provide closure. Bring the groups back together as a whole class to
report out and discuss the results of the activity. Use your previous
observations of groups to determine which groups you might ask to
report out. Ask a group’s spokesperson to report on one piece of
information or an idea generated during the group work.
 o Follow up by asking the spokesperson to explain their reasoning
behind the group’s response.
o Promote participation by asking other groups to respond as well. Ask
questions to help the students connect and understand the ideas
brought out during the discussion.
o Write the ideas generated by group work on the chalkboard so that all
students can learn from the contributions of each group. Doing so
underscores the importance of the knowledge generated by group
work and encourages everyone to pay attention and record this
knowledge in their notes.
o You may not have time to hear from all groups but can then call on
those groups who did not have the opportunity to report that
day during the next class period.
 Include time for reflection and feedback. Acknowledge the progress
made and good group behaviors observed. Discuss opportunities for
improving group dynamics. During the semester, occasionally ask
students to reflect on their learning experience in groups. You can use
these responses as feedback to assess and revise group work as
needed. For example, you can ask students to answer the following (Ash
and Clayton 2014):
o I learned….,
o I learned this because (what aspect of this experience helped them
learn this)
o This learning matters because (how might knowledge or skill help
them in the course or in a larger context?)….
 Issues that might arise during group work. Working in groups can be
a particularly challenging experience for students who are introverts or
dominating types (Taylor 2011). Having clear ground rules to explain the
process of group work and instructions on how to accomplish the
assignment can help alleviate angst in both groups. It can also be useful
to remind students of their roles to help ensure that all group members
are fully engaged.
 Questions to help facilitate groups:

o Does your recorder have questions from the group that you need to
address?
o Does the manager have ideas that were suggested but not yet
discussed?
o What will the spokesperson report for their group progress at this
point?
o Ask the reflector for each person’s contribution or what the consensus
is on their progress so far.

Creating successful group work activities in your class requires some

preparation, but the benefits to you and your students can be gratifying.
Check out our workshop schedule for more information on teaching with
group work.

References

Ash, S. L., & Clayton, P. H. (2004). The articulated learning: An approach to

guided reflection and assessment. Innovative Higher
Education, 29(2), 137-154.

Barkley, E. F., Cross, K. P., & Major, C. H. (2014). Collaborative learning

techniques: A handbook for college faculty. John Wiley & Sons.

Gonzalez-Mulé, E., DeGeest, D. S., McCormick, B. W., Seong, J. Y., &

Brown, K. G. (2014). Can we get some cooperation around here? The
mediating role of group norms on the relationship between team
personality and individual helping behaviors. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 99(5), 988.

Hirshfield, L., & Chachra, D. (2015, October). Task choice, group dynamics
and learning goals: Understanding student activities in teams.
In Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2015. 32614 2015.
IEEE (pp. 1-5). IEEE.
Rienties, B., Alcott, P., & Jindal-Snape, D. (2014). To Let Students Self-
Select or Not That Is the Question for Teachers of Culturally Diverse
Groups. Journal of Studies in International Education, 18(1), 64-83.

Shimazoe, J., & Aldrich, H. (2010). Group work can be gratifying:

Understanding & overcoming resistance to cooperative
learning. College Teaching, 58(2), 52-57.

Sweet, M., & Michaelsen, L. K. (2012). Team-based learning in the social

sciences and humanities. Sterling, VA: Stylus.

Taylor, A. (2011). Top 10 reasons students dislike working in small

groups… and why I do it anyway. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Education, 39(3), 219-220.