I feel that working together to solve a problem teaches good team work and allows the instructor to see use of soft skills as they go about trying to resolve the problem.
Brandon,
Teamwork is important and a skill that some people are lacking.
Philip Campbell
I like the group setting also. The first few days of class I look to see which students take breaks together or sit in class together. Then I place them into new group settings. At first they complain but then they settle in and start to blend
As a culinary instructor I find it very difficult to teach teamwork. My students each produce his/her own dishes every day and are very 'greedy' about grabbing ingredients. (I have worked to solve this through portioning most ingredients.
In an effort to promote teamwork I have made groups for the cleaning duties and have swithched the groups around during the course. But, I admit, even though I teach that being in a professional kitchen requires teamwork, the classroom enviornment does not its development.
Laura,
Good strategy. keep finding interesting ways to promote teamwork.
Philip Campbell
At the beginning of each course, I ask students to write and share their autobiographies. Students recognize life experiences they have in common as well as identify life experiences that are different from their own. There is value in each as one objective is to celebrate similarities and differences of one another. Through out the course, we are reminded of these values.
Sometimes is really hard to integrate the student, because they create small groups in relation with their affinities.I always treat to break those groups during the practices and show the students the importance to be able to work with different kind of peoples.
I stress team work to my students every day. The first time I break them into cooking groups I pick the groups. as the class progresses I have the students pick there groups. It is quite an eye opener to the students who are picked last by there classmates and seems to motivate some of them to raise their game.
Pearlmarie,
Nice exercise. This really helps to drive home how diverse our students are, and in so many respects similar.
Philip Campbell
James,
Teamwork is what employers want. They are focusing more and more on that everyday.
Philip Campbell
I try to at least once a week have some kind of group activity. I also have 2 students work together, each day, to accomplish the sterilization in our clinic. They must work together to get it done. Once during the course of the 9 months, I put the students into groups for a group power point presentation. They moan and groan at first, but it almost always turns out to be a positive thing for them.
This is something I am constantly working on.
I create groups in all my classes for classroom activities. The groups are created by name tags I created to help me remember the students' names. The tags have pictures that divide the class into their groups. For example, on day we might be in the planets group. So all the Jupiters sit together, the Plutos, and so on. Then on the next class meeting students will be in Muppet's group. And will be with a totally different set of students. This prevents students from creating their own groups with good students on one side and poor students on the other.
For next term, for my English classes, my students will be working on their papers together. For my 102 course: they have to write a cause and effect paper. I'll put them in groups of four to five, and give them a few choices of historical events or movements that are not so well known (like: The Easter Rising; or The White Rose). Then each will be required to bring an article or book about the event to share with their group. They will discuss and come up with ideas. Finally, they will write their papers. They write as individuals. but the research is done as a group. This should help them learn to work with each other.
Those are two of mine that i'm working with: one currently, and one planned for next term.
In my classroom we do many of the labs as team projects. This allows the classroom activities to simulate a real world environment. Students have different roles within the team and are encouraged to interact.
Laura,
Keep moving forward with lab activities that simulate those real world examples.
Philip Campbell
I have actually started having students work in teams this past semester, I feel as though it gives them, the "work together as a team" vs acting as though they are the only ones in that office. Working in the medical field I try and convey to students that ultimately they should be working as a team, there is no letter "I" in the word "team"
I like to put them into groups and let them solve problems together
Using rubrics that capture communication and participation can be helpful. I also assign roles within groups to ensure that students who "observe" are given an opportunity to develop as leaders within the safe environment of the classroom. Before that can be done, however, you must first establish communication and interactions in the classroom so that everyone feels "safe" to contribute, regardless of experience or expertise.
Deborah,
Open communication is great and not so easy to establish. Keep up the good work.
Philip Campbell
Group studies and group projects are very effective because it emphasizes team work and accountability. It also allows them to bring to the group the skills that they already have but have yet to discover them such as organizational skills, leadership, and problem solving skills
I encourage my students to openly discuss their opinions, views and ideas on the current lesson topics and to openly debate with the entire class. Students do not realize how much they actually grow by listening to others and learning how to not be driven solely by emotions.
