Fritz,
I'm not an economist, but I've also observed problems of team efficiency
and what I sometimes consider wasted time. Assuming your instructions
are clear and in not-too-difficult English and the teams can reasonably
be expected to do the exercises based on their current knowledge/skills,
I would wonder how well they had studied outside of class. In my courses
the in-class exercises usually depend on what they have learned outside
of class.
Our students often come to us with motivational issues for a variety of
reasons, little knowledge of or experience with effective study methods,
and an expectation of doing little or no work outside of class until
just before an assessment (surface learning). I have found that those
with limited knowledge take a long time to complete RATs and exercises.
I think your reference to "remedial" students may be germane here. From
my experience less well prepared students are more passive, expect to be
spoon fed information, and are less skilled and require more structure.
Ordinarily, I explain my exercises orally and give them to my students
in very carefully couched language written out on handouts they get as
individuals and/or teams, depending on the situation. This has almost
stopped questions about what they are "supposed to do." For some
exercises, to help them structure their thinking and responses so they
can be posted effectively simultaneously on the chalkboard, the
instructions are on the top of a page with a form at the bottom that
they fill in giving the line location in a text problem they've been
given and a place for their reasoning/justification for their team's
points of view. This also helps me read the team product and improve my
understanding (and sanity).
I'd be interested in hearing others' points of view on this, which I
consider an important issue.
Lion Gardiner
========================================================================
Lion F. Gardiner, Ph.D.
Department of Biological Sciences "We can't solve problems by using
134 Boyden Hall the same kind of thinking we used
Rutgers University when we created them."
Newark, New Jersey 07102-1811
(973) 353-5450 (voice), -5518 (fax) Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Department office: -5347 (voice)
[log in to unmask]
========================================================================
Fritz Laux wrote:
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>Sender: Team Learning Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
>Poster: Fritz Laux <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Students too slow in group exercises
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> charset="us-ascii"
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>
>I'm using TBL, for the first time, in an intro to macroeconomics course.
>Would be interested in hearing from any co-conspirators, who teach
>economics.
>
>
>
>All is going well except that students seem to be doing way too much foot
>dragging during the in-class exercises. I pass out or describe the exercise
>and too many of them want to "negotiate" about what exactly I want. Then
>they want clarification. Then, after warnings that they need to finish we
>have to wait because "we still need to write out our graph."
>
>
>
>We have a large number of remedial students, and that may explain some of
>this. What I'm looking for are tips on how to get more
>productivity/learning out of the team exercises. My feeling is that I'm
>doing pretty well on Larry Michaelsen's main points of designing activities
>that require specific choices, with simultaneous reporting (if I could get
>more cooperation on that).
>
>
>
>Perhaps I need a way to hold the groups more accountable for foot dragging
>and not paying attention. Perhaps by doing this incrementally, I could make
>groups feel accountable for paying attention without provoking a revolt.
>For example, (1) "Does everybody get the assignment?" (and if not, another
>group is asked to explain so that the rest of the class gets to express
>their frustration at the foot draggers), (2) "Who is not done?" (with the
>implicit question being, if all others are finished, why not you?), I could
>implement this accountability without provoking a revolt. My feeling is
>that being too strict won't work because then the offending group will
>disrupt the class discussion.
>
>
>
>Other tips? Any silver bullets?
>
>
>
>Thanks, Fritz Laux, Northeastern State University.
>
>
>------=_NextPart_000_001D_01C63889.272D19E0
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> charset="us-ascii"
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>
><p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
>style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
>font-family:Arial'>I’m using TBL, for the first time, in an intro =
>to
>macroeconomics course. Would be interested in hearing from any =
>co-conspirators,
>who teach economics.</span></font></p>
>
><p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
>style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
>font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
>
><p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
>style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
>font-family:Arial'>All is going well except that students seem to be =
>doing way
>too much foot dragging during the in-class exercises. I pass out =
>or
>describe the exercise and too many of them want to =
>“negotiate”
>about what exactly I want. Then they want clarification. =
>Then,
>after warnings that they need to finish we have to wait because =
>“we still
>need to write out our graph.” </span></font></p>
>
><p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
>style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
>font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
>
><p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
>style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
>font-family:Arial'>We have a large number of remedial students, and that =
>may explain
>some of this. What I’m looking for are tips on how to get =
>more
>productivity/learning out of the team exercises. My feeling is =
>that I’m
>doing pretty well on Larry Michaelsen’s main points of designing
>activities that require specific choices, with simultaneous reporting =
>(if I
>could get more cooperation on that). </span></font></p>
>
><p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
>style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
>font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
>
><p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
>style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
>font-family:Arial'>Perhaps I need a way to hold the groups more =
>accountable for
>foot dragging and not paying attention. Perhaps by doing this =
>incrementally,
>I could make groups feel accountable for paying attention without =
>provoking a
>revolt. For example, (1) “Does everybody get the =
>assignment?”
>(and if not, another group is asked to explain so that the rest of the =
>class
>gets to express their frustration at the foot draggers), (2) “Who =
>is not
>done?” (with the implicit question being, if all others are =
>finished, why
>not you?), I could implement this accountability without provoking a =
>revolt. My
>feeling is that being too strict won’t work because then the =
>offending
>group will disrupt the class discussion.</span></font></p>
>
><p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
>style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
>font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
>
><p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
>style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
>font-family:Arial'>Other tips? Any silver =
>bullets?</span></font></p>
>
><p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
>style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
>font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
>
><p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
>style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
>font-family:Arial'>Thanks, Fritz Laux, Northeastern =
>State University. </span></font></p>
>
></div>
>
></body>
>
></html>
>
>------=_NextPart_000_001D_01C63889.272D19E0--
>
>
--
========================================================================
Lion F. Gardiner, Ph.D.
Department of Biological Sciences "We can't solve problems by using
134 Boyden Hall the same kind of thinking we used
Rutgers University when we created them."
Newark, New Jersey 07102-1811
(973) 353-5450 (voice), -5518 (fax) Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Department office: -5347 (voice)
[log in to unmask]
========================================================================
|
