Groups

Okay, the Ed Psych book that I use in teaching says that groups are a wonderful thing. But I shared my PIA theory with my students in one class, and told me that they HATE group work. They had some good reasons!

1. It's frustrating to be given a grade on something when someone else in the group is a slacker and doesn't do any of the work.
2. It's frustrating to know that someone else's work is not up to par, but you have no control over that or the resulting grade.
3. You can't be honest with people--they bring something for you to look over and the expected response is, "this is great."
4. It's hard to schedule time with other people in a group.
5. It's a guarantee that at any given time, one or two members of a four member group are not going to be really into doing the work because they have something else they would rather do.
6. Groups are really hard on people who commute to campus and who have other jobs.

There are sound educational reasons for working in groups, namely, bringing in the dynamics Vygotsky describes. Also, a project done by a group is likely to be successful but a project done by individuals is likely to have some people not succeeding. Groups allow people to be part of something successful. I have had really wonderful group work done in classes I have taught--but I try to avoid giving group grades. I also now give students an opportunity to work by themselves if they like.

The main thing is, I think it is really important to find out what students think is a PIA and to find out how they think the goals can be achieved without the PIA factors.