Group work and discussions

In my readings for math this week I learned about the essentials for effective group work in classrooms and those necessary for advantageous class discussions that make teaching high-level topics more manageable. First I will talk about the essentials for effective group work.

According to Rachel Lotan’s article titled Group-Worthy Tasks, there are 5 design components for creating assignments that are “group worthy” (2003). In order for an assignment to be considered “group worthy” it must have open-ended assignments containing complex problem solving, afford students outlets for multiple learning styles, tackle “disciple-based and intellectually important content”, require opportunity for individual accountability as well as “positive interdependence” and finally it must include clear expectations and evaluation of the students’ work. (Lotan p. 72). This article intrigued me because I myself have never enjoyed group projects. Often times I am the one who ends up doing al the work. Although, if more group work and projects were to be created using this criteria I can see how my learning would have benefited and I may have done less of the work on my own. On the other hand, this looks like it would be a lot of work to look at group assignments in this way. Is it realistic to think that all group assignments can be planned in this way? What about partner work that is done during class? I am not negating the usefulness of creating the group experience in the way in which Lotan explained, I am just wondering if thinking in this way would eventually become more natural or if as teachers we will most likely be limited to using this only on larger more detailed projects. As for implications for classroom practice, I think following Lotan’s design components are excellent criteria for which to form our thinking about student group assignments. Ultimately, as Lotan shares, I believe effective group work will enhance students’ critical thinking skills and can be conducive to building classroom community (Lotan p.75).

Looking at Orchestrating Discussions by Smith et al., there are 5 suggested practices for preparing and carrying out successful group discussions on a new mathematical idea that may be challenging to present. The stage is set once a teacher has tasked students to solve a given problem on their own. These practices then will aid the teacher in collecting information from students during individual work that will aid in the group discussion to follow. Basically the teacher will work to anticipate the answers students will come up with and how they will come up with them, monitoring their work and use questioning techniques to guide their thinking, choose specific students who will share their responses to the whole group and in what order and finally connect all student responses to the main mathematical idea that is being taught. I thought this was an excellent way to run a class discussion that allows the teacher a chance to see where most students are at in their thinking and allow the students to explain to each other how to solve the problem. I do not have any further questions about this method for group discussion, instead I am excited to incorporate it in my lesson planning!