Running head: SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION 1

The Need for Small Group Communication Course for

Students Enrolled in Science Courses
Ryan Ouzts
San Diego Mesa College
SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION 2

Table of Contents
Abstract…..………………………………………………………………………………………..3
Background………………………………………………………………………………………..4
Thesis…………………………………………………………………………………………...…6
Plan………………………………………………………………………………………………..7
Results……………………………………………………………………………………………..9
Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………10
Recommendations………………………………………………………………………..………11
References………………………………………………………………………………………..12
Running head: SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION 3

Abstract
The students that participated in this survey are students currently enrolled in Chemistry
100L classes and that have not taken a small group communication course. Of the data from
those surveyed, it shows that there is about a 37% need for students that are enrolled in science
lab courses to have already taken a small group communication course in order to successfully
and cohesively complete the course. 40% of students feel that there would be no change in their
abilities if they were to enroll in a small group communication course. Many students that
participated answered most if not all questions as “we got the job done,” because they felt it is a
part of common sense how to act cohesively and participate in a group setting. Though these
students have specifically not taken a small group communication course, at least 8% of students
have taken another communication course.
SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION 4

Background
In this study, we analyze the need for students to take Small Group Communication
courses to succeed in their Science courses. We specifically focus on Laboratory Science
courses, because this is an area in which cooperation, cohesion, and the ability to work together
are enhanced in order to conduct an experiment. In similar studies, it has been confirmed that
Small Group Learning enhances the process of learning and discovery, part of the conceptual and
factual synthesis necessary for scientific thinking. Small Group Learning is uniquely positioned
to address challenges in engaging students in order to promote meaningful learning, and teaching
science as it is practiced. The long-term benefits of Small Group Learning have important
ramifications for scientific research. Academically, the development of scientific ideas or
discoveries is relying more and more heavily on the efforts of group (Cragg, Gaudet,
Nakonechny, Ramer, Ramer 2010).
According to the National Institute of Science Education, studies also indicate that small-
group learning leads to greater self-esteem among college students. Small-group learning also
leads to more favorable attitudes toward learning the material. Procedures necessary for
cooperative learning include communicating a common goal to group members, assigning
interrelated and complementary roles and tasks to individuals within each group, holding each
individual in each group accountable for his or her learning, and discussing ways in which each
group’s work could be accomplished more effectively. Collaborative learning, another aspect of
Small Group Learning, is important to group work because each person will feel then contribute
to the group’s overall education and experience.
According to Cornell University, There are some key features to help focus on
collaborative learning that should be implemented in order to ensure success: Introduce group
work early in the semester to set clear student expectations, plan for each stage of group work,
carefully explain to students how groups will operate and how students will be graded, establish
ground rules, and establish roles within the group to enhance success. The primary aim of
collaborative learning is to help students test the quality and value of what they know by trying
to make sense of it to other people like themselves. Collaborative learning helps personalize
knowledge and learning so that students perceive “the organic relation between the mind of the
knower and the knowledge itself." Collaborative learning personalizes knowledge by socializing
it, providing students with a social context of learning from peers with whom they are engaged.
Running head: SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION 5

This study aims to analyze the need for students enrolled in Science Laboratory courses to also
enroll in Small Group Communication courses.
SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION 6

Thesis
Small-group teaching and learning has achieved an admirable position in science
education and has become more popular as a means of encouraging the students in their studies
and enhance the process of deep learning. The main characteristics of small group teaching are
active involvement of the learners in entire learning cycle and well defined task orientation with
achievable specific aims and objectives in a given time period. The essential components in the
development of an ideal small group learning sessions are preliminary considerations at
departmental and institutional level including educational strategies, group composition, physical
environment, existing resources, diagnosis of the needs, and formulation of the objectives. Small
group courses can increase student interest, teamwork ability, retention of knowledge and skills,
enhance transfer of concepts to innovative issues, and improve the self-directed learning. It
develops self-motivation, investigating the issues, allows the student to test their thinking and
higher-order activities. It also facilitates an adult style of learning and acceptance of personal
responsibility for own progress. Moreover, it enhances student-faculty and peer-peer interaction,
improves communication skills and provides opportunity to share the responsibility and clarify
the points of confusion.
Running head: SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION 7

Plan
This survey was formed to calculate the number of problems faced and overcame within
the science laboratory group setting. The data received from the 245 students surveyed conveys
the slight need for students to take a small group communication course before enrolling in a
science laboratory course. The questions that were asked were on put on a scale ranging from
very unpleasant to very pleasant, not at all to the entire time, and none to all. This survey was
specifically created for students that have not taken a small group communication course, in
order to have more reliable data for the specific reason to this survey.
Though most of the answers are reliant on the individual and their level of accountability,
it is important to understand other underlying factors to the data.
Collaborative approach to learning helps to enhance student’s intrinsic motivation,
persistence with adversity, and ability to transfer the knowledge and skills. Also, learning
through collaborative approach helps learners to improve their communication skills, problem-
solving abilities and capability to work as effective team members. As participants need to
articulate their ideas and understandings to clarify and make it explicit for working with a task
collaboratively, which often leads to conflict between peers. This conflict requires participants to
reflect, justify, modify or even abandon their understanding and positions in favor of a more
practical clarification or solution.
Group composition, which often relates to students’ characteristics, is an important factor
to the quality of learning within a group. Students’ characteristics may include their academic
competence, achievement and personality. A group may not be successful if it includes high and
low-ability students, because in this composition, high-ability students may dominate the group
discussion, while low-ability students may lack necessary skills and misinterpret the task as well.
Effective group work requires students to share ideas, take risks, differ with and listen to others,
and generate and organize points of view. These norms play roles to work effectively in a group.
It is noteworthy that just placing students in a group does not ensure a productive output; many
problems may arise when students are involved in group activities.
It also has an influence on effective group work. When students work with a problem in a
group, extensive discussion and elaborative responses are required for helping peers understand
their perspectives. Students often enjoy real life-oriented problems, which have more than one
right answer and include students’ creativity. Students often need considerable guidance in the
SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION 8

process of argumentation and offer justification for their reasoning. Students’ participation in
group work often relates to individual accountability. Individual accountability ensures that one
student does not do the group’s entire work. In order to ensure every student’s accountability,
individual performance may be counted regardless of the group performance.
Students’ participation may also refer to the nature of interaction within a group. For
example, students’ interaction within collaborative learning varies widely between groups and
between occasions for the same group. More specifically, it depends on the discourse of the
group. Equality of engagement indicates the extent to which group members participate equally
or unequally to the task, while mutuality of engagement indicates the extent to which discourse is
extensive and connected.
These are all important to understand when reading this study, as we asked questions just
on top of the surface.
Running head: SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION 9

Results
We first asked how the groups were determined: 48% said that their group was assigned
by the professor, 37% was by self-selection, and the final 15% was determined by where they
were sitting. A total of 245 students were surveyed, and were asked to focus on one specific
group task that they have experienced. 42% of the students answered with “we got the job done,”
while 12% were not very happy with their experience, but 46% did not hesitate to express their
level of pleasure in their experience. Continuing from the previous question, the effectiveness
level in their experience mostly correlated with their level of happiness; 41% also responded
with “we got the job done,” while 18% say their group did not work together effectively, and the
other 41% were lucky to have had a group that did work together effectively. When students
were asked if all group members participated effectively and if they were fully prepared to work,
7% were not at all, 24% were the entire time, and 69% were engaged and prepared.
Functioning as a group, 56% said they “got the job done” while 17% were not pleased
with how well their group functioned and 27% were pleased. 7% of those surveyed said their
group encountered over 5 problems over the course of their group work, 22% encountered at
least 3, 61% encountered less than 2, and 10% encountered no problems. Though problems are
inevitable, the students surveyed were also asked on a scale how well they and the group
members handled a problem that was faced; 12% answered not well, 10% answered that no
problems were faced, 65% answered good, and 13% answered very well. The determining
question for the entire study is based on this next question that was asked; “Do you believe that
enrolling in a small group course would strengthen your ability to cohesively participate in a
science course?” 13% answered no, it would not strengthen their ability. 31% answered maybe,
it would strengthen their ability. 40% answered that it will not change their ability at all, and
16% answered yes, it would strengthen their ability to cohesively participate in a science course.
The final question asked was related to what other communication courses the students
that were surveyed have taken: Oral Communication – 81%, Oral Interpretation – 16%, Voice
and Articulation – 27%, Advanced Public Speaking – 76%, Interpersonal Communication –
73%, Argumentation – 36%, and Intercultural Communication 82%.
SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION 10

Summary
16% of students surveyed, 40 out of 245, agree that taking a small group communication
course would enhance their abilities to work cohesively in a small group setting, or science
laboratory course. We have found in this study that every student does not have the same
approach in group learning; some of them prefer cooperative approach, while some others prefer
collaborative approach. So, when students form groups to perform a task, both teachers and
students need to be concerned about the student’s individual preference in group learning. If
student’s individual preference is counted in selecting groups, it may be rational to expect more
students’ satisfaction, and hence a better outcome from the group may possible. While in most
cases teachers and students mutually decide about the composition of group, teachers dominate
in deciding about the group task. However students stress that if teachers and students mutually
decide about the group task similarly as group composition, teachers’ experiences and students’
interests could be better integrated. We concur with their perspectives. Therefore, it is reasonable
to suggest to teachers to be more concerned in making decision about the group task. Findings of
this study also reveal that students’ nature of participation is dominated by asymmetric
interaction. These practices may not ensure everyone’s accountability to the group. It could be
concluded that to ensure individual’s accountability teachers need to be concerned whether
students can be involved in any other approach for group interaction or assess individual
performance within a group. Many of the findings of this research trigger our thinking to know
these issues from teachers’ perspectives. Further research is recommended in this respect.
Running head: SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION 11

Recommendations
It is recommended that students enroll in a small group communication course before
enrolling in a science lab course. For the students’ benefit, a small group communication course
will help students develop fundamental skills of effective collaboration within a small group. In a
small group course, students will be introduced to methods of working effectively with others,
conflict resolution, decision-making, leadership, and principles of small group interaction.
Additionally, students will be introduced to building effective group interaction skills. Small
group communication courses allow students opportunities to practice critical collaboration skills
through meaningful interactive experimental learning. Three main aspects that would be learned
are critical thinking, communication, and self-awareness and interpersonal skills.
Critical thinking is the ability to analyze problems, conceptualize theses, develop
arguments, weigh evidence, and derive conclusions. This outcome includes both inductive and
deductive logical reasoning and methodological processes. Communication, in its most defined
state, is the ability to articulate outcomes in writing and/or speaking by other modes of
communication. Self-awareness and interpersonal skills refer to the ability to analyze one’s own
actions, to see the perspective of other persons and to work effectively with the others in groups.
In my personal experience, being enrolled in the small group communication course this
semester has taught me a lot about team work and trust. Trusting your team member is a job for
everyone involved; we all depend on each other to complete a certain task in order to get to the
final result together. I usually work better alone, but I know that is not possible in life. So taking
this class has helped to me understand how to maneuver and work through problems that are
faced when it is not fully in your control.
SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION 12

References

Bruffee, K. Collaborative Learning. 1981, 7 November. National Council of Teachers of

English. http://www.jstor.org.libraryaccess.sdmesa.edu/stable/pdf/376907.pdf

Cornell University. 2017. Collaborative Learning: Group Work. Cornell University Center for
Teaching Excellence. https://www.cte.cornell.edu/teaching-ideas/engaging-
students/collaborative-learning.html#evaluate

Cragg, J., Gaudet, A., Nakonechny, J., Ramer, L., Ramer, M. 2010, 29 December. Small-Group
Learning in an Upper-Level University Biology Class Enhances Academic Performance
and Student Attitudes Toward Group Work. Public Library Of Science.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0015821

Donovan, S., Springer, L., Stanne, M. 1997, December. Effects of Small-Group Learning on
Undergraduates in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology:
A Meta-Analysis. National Institute for Science Education.
http://archive.wceruw.org/nise/Publications/Research_Monographs/SPRINGER/Springer
ALL.pdf