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Using Groups Effectively: 10 Principles » Edurati Review
“Conversation is key. Sawyer succinctly explains this principle: “Conversation leads to flow, and flow leads to creativity.” When having students work in groups, consider what will spark rich conversation. The original researcher on flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, found that rich conversation precedes and ignites flow more than any other activity.1 Tasks that require (or force) interaction lead to richer collaborative conceptualization.Set a clear but open-ended goal. Groups produce the richest ideas when they have a goal that will focus their interaction but also has fluid enough boundaries to allow for creativity. This is a challenge we often overlook. As teachers, we often have an idea of what a group’s final product should look like (or sound like, or…). If we put students into groups to produce a predetermined outcome, we prevent creative thinking from finding an entry point.Try not announcing time limits.As teachers we often use a time limit as a “motivator” that we hope will keep group work focused. In reality, this may be a major detractor from quality group work. Deadlines, according to Sawyer, tend to impede flow and produce lower quality results. Groups produce their best work in low-pressure situations. Without a need to “keep one eye on the clock,” the group’s focus can be fully given to the task.Do not appoint a group “leader.”In research studies, supervisors, or group leaders, tend to subvert flow unless they participate as an equal, listening and allowing the group’s thoughts and decisions to guide the interaction.Keep it small.Groups with the minimum number of members that are needed to accomplish a task are more efficient and effective.Consider weaving together individual and group work.For additive tasks—tasks in whicha group is expectedtoproduce a list, adding one idea to another—research suggests that better results develop when individual thinking precedes the pooling of ideas in a group setting. Researchers also suggest that alternating between individual and group work helps keep the work focused but not fixated—i.e., not limited to one aspect or detail of an idea or issue. (By the way, this weaving of individual and group interaction may be reason why technological or “electronic brainstorming” is often effective.)“Divide and conquer” ≠ collaboration.When groups assign members to specificresponsibilities for completing a task they undermine the thinking that collaboration can produce. Sawyer talks about creativity via collaboration as being “exponential,” meaning that it is constructed via conversation. One individual’s thought may inspire another group member’s insight, which in turn sparks new concepts for another. It is this emergent thinking that enables collaboration to accomplish what individual effort cannot.Think threefold.Group tasks that produce the best results often have three defining characteristics: 1) they are novel, something students have not done before, 2) they feature a visual component, something that can be represented in nonverbal forms, and 3) they are relational, meaning they require the combining of ideas or components to be accomplished.Be complementary.The best groups are composed of members who have enough familiarity with one another to be comfortable but who possess varied backgrounds and experiences. Again, because of how we typically use groups in classrooms, we tend to form groups around ability—if there is at least one “good student” in the group, we think something will get done. However, Sawyer suggests ability should be less of a consideration than diversity in experience. This can be challenging to accomplish but it’s worth considering when groupingstudents for collaborative tasks.These insights have me rethinking groups, not whether or not to use them, but when and how to use them effectively. As with every aspect of teaching, using groups effectively requires mindfulplanning and attention to more than who works with whom. As Sawyer summarizes, “Putting people into groups isn’t a magical dust that makes everyone more creative. It has to be the right kind of group, and the group has to match the task.”2ReferencesSawyer, K., Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration (New York: Basic Books, 2008), 43.Ibid., 73.ImagesFour heads are better than one.http://www.flickr.com/photos/26406919@N00/279625345.OZ_ 1318. http://www.flickr.com/photos/30864080@N00/1414782810.Post to TwitterPost to FacebookAdd to EvernoteAdd to LinkedInPost to DeliciousSend via E-mail programAdd to RedditPrint with PrintFriendlyGet Shareaholic for Internet ExplorerUL.shr-socials LI.shareaholic { BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://eduratireview.com/wp-content/plugins/sexybookmarks/spritegen_default/sprite.png)}Related posts:10 Principles for the Future of LearningPrevious Entry: Elementary Education Is “Waiting For Any Man”Next Entry: Civil Discourse: It’s Common SensePosted in Collaboration, Education, teaching, Uncategorized Tags: groups Keith SawyerYou can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 Feed. You can leave a response , or trackback from your own site. Advertisement 3 commentsAdd your comment Abner Oakes says: 01/04/2011 at 6:49 pm Very much liked the first and second qualities, Kevin, and your comment about flow – that “the best we can do as teachers is provide a classroom environment that fosters flow.” It suggests the need to let go in the classroom and allow for some chatter, noise, open-endedness, even a bit of chaos. kdwashburn says: 01/05/2011 at 2:57 am Agreed. One major idea I gained from Sawyer’s work is that we often wwwaaayyy over-structure group work in the classroom. I think there are “pressures” that contribute to this, but it’s helpful to keep these ideas in mind when designing group activities. And, I think, a teacher has to be open to/accepting of the outcome. If a prescribed result is the goal, true collaboration is probably not the most effective approach. Liz Wheeler says: 01/06/2011 at 5:16 am Kevin:I’d like to use this in an upcoming ezine we put out for The Bob Pike Group. May I have your permission? Tried tweeting you, but Twitter’s not working right now. We would give you credit and list your blog URL.Leave a ReplyClick here to cancel reply. Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website CAPTCHA Code * Previous Entry Elementary Education Is “Waiting For Any Man”Next Entry Civil Discourse: It’s Common SenseEdurati [edj-yoo-rah-tee]:A portmanteau, derived from edu(cation) and (lit)erati, ‘Edurati’ refers to the new wave of educators, thinkers, entrepreneurs, and activists driving catalytic innovation in public education.The Edurati Review is a collaborative blog providing diverse commentary, independent analyses of public education policy issues, and innovative pedagogical concepts. We encourage your thoughts and comments to keep the coversation moving forward. 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Get your kids work OUT of the bottom of their BACKPACKS! 
