Ruth said (in part): > The trouble with using methods like previous grades ... Certainly it is desirable to spread more capable students around, but as many pointed out, doing so is fraught with difficulties. Sometime back someone here suggested the following proxy: ask students if other students ask them for help with Excel. It isn't perfect, but students think you'll be doing Excel in the class and not screening for intellectual ability. I've used it for some semesters and my teams seem reasonably balanced and I did it in a transparent way. - Bill P.S. On learning styles, apparently there is a large literature that pretty much says that they don't exist. I rather like this video on this finding by a noted cognitive scientist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIv9rz2NTUk . -- 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