One thought on rotating teams and where they sit. I don't do that much
board work (at least for an economist), but when I talk during application
exericses and sometimes during mini-lectures, I vary where I stand, but
most often I'm right in the middle of the room. Perhaps that lessens the
impact of where teams sit?
Do others also wander around the room when talking during application
exercises and mini-lectures? This didn't dawn on me until after doing TBL
for some semesters and I don't think I've seen it mentioned here.
- Bill
Tamara said:
> Dianne-
>
> It seems like you have been given some good advice for dealing with this
> one student. I had a problem student with a strong personality like this,
> but the problem was not as much a team issue as just a mere disruption to
> the class dynamic. She was able to recruit her teammates into being
> distracted and distracting others. Her team was located in the back of
> the classroom near the door, which I felt was part of the problem. My
> solution is to rotate teams around the room throughout the semester. I
> have a smaller class (only 5 teams), so I rotate the teams every 3 weeks
> (15 week semester). My rationale that I give the students is that some
> prefer to sit in the front, while others prefer the back. Everyone gets
> an opportunity to sit everywhere. It has definitely helped with issues
> that have arisen from students sitting in the back of the classroom and
> being disruptive. No one gets to sit there long enough to get too
> comfortable.
> Tammi Bories, Ph.D.
> Western Illinois University
> Department of Kinesiology
> Brophy Hall 221X
> 1 University Circle
> Macomb, IL 61455
>
> (309) 298-1793 (o)
> (309) 298-2981 (f)
> [log in to unmask]
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> From: "Dianne York" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Saturday, October 16, 2010 3:53:47 PM
> Subject: Student is not a team player
>
> Greetings,
>
> I have a student in my introductory biology course that is quite a
> challenge for me. This is the third time I've had her my class. She failed
> the first go round, and did not work well with her team, then. More than
> halfway through that semester, she begged me to let her change teams. She
> said she could not see the board, and that she did not get along with her
> team. After a short conversation with her, I reluctantly agreed and moved
> her to the front, joining her with another team. It was immediately
> apparent that I'd moved her into a team with a friend of hers that also
> sat in the front row. They chatted their way through the rest of the
> semester.
>
> Last semester, I assigned her to a team that sits in the front of the
> class. (I use a seating chart.) Right away she approached me and begged me
> to change her team to one that is seated near the rear of the class,
> presumably to be in a team with her friend. I steadfastly refused,
> reminding her that I know she needs to be in the front of the room. She
> stormed out of the room and withdrew.
>
> This semester, I again assigned her to a team at the front. For several
> weeks, she sat with her friend on another team. She never even attempted
> to work with her team. We had several conversations after class, and she
> offered various reasons for her behavior, including she doesn't get along
> with someone on that team, the team is "too full", etc. Repeatedly, I told
> her that none of the students pick their team. I reiterated why that is
> and why she shouldn't be in the same team as her friend (who also failed
> the class previously, BTW). I reassigned her to a different team because
> she stated difficulty (a "judicial") with another student in her original
> team.
>
> I was relieved when she seemed to be working with the new team. Then, one
> of her teammates came to my office stating that the student is reportedly
> distracting the others, not contributing, and basically sabotoging their
> efforts. Their team was working fine before the problem student joined. I
> spoke with another student in that team who agreed. So, I pulled her aside
> the other day and told her that she needs to fix things quickly or she
> will be a team of one for the rest of the semester.
>
> Anyone have experience with a similar situation? Ideas? Advice?
>
> I've been using teams for about 4 years now, 200 students per semester, 50
> students per class. I've not had anywhere near this kind of resistance to
> teamwork before.
>
> Dianne York, MS, MT(ASCP)
> Lecturer, Biology
> Lincoln University, PA
> [log in to unmask]
--
Bill Goffe
Department of Economics
SUNY Oswego, 416 Mahar Hall
Oswego, NY 13126
315-312-3444(v), 315-312-5444(f)
[log in to unmask]
http://cook.rfe.org
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