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Permalink Reply by George Mayo on February 8, 2010 at 3:57pm

Hello,

I'm wondering if I could get some ideas and strategies about a problem I face sometimes when I have my students involved in a large project. It seems that I always have a few students in each class who just refuse to cooperate or work with their peers in a positive way. This can be very problematic in large projects, where students are expected to be able to work independently. I teach a middle school film class and teamwork is absolutely essential. We spend a lot of time talking about the importance of teamwork, and reflecting on how the groups are working together.

Most of the time, these students are actually interested in the work, but just unable to interact with their peers in a positive way. I usually do one of two things: 1. try to put these students into highly motivated groups where the other group members can model positive peer interaction, or 2. create a group composed exclusively of the students that have continually caused problems. I would be interested to hear how other teachers deal with this issue. THANKS!

Permalink Reply by Richard Hinkel on February 8, 2010 at 9:45pm

Perhaps try a more specific assignments with these individuals. Something that they can do semi-independently that has an impact on the group. Perhaps taking photographs of the project process or recording information essential to the project. If they are always being called on to do something pivotal maybe the group can keep them in check.

Permalink Reply by George Mayo on February 9, 2010 at 12:03pm

Hi Richard,

Thanks for the response. I had a staff development teacher in my school recommend a similar approach to this problem. With my 6 classes and 130 or so students I'm kind of reluctant to create special tasks for students that are being disruptive or difficult. However, I'm starting to think it may be worth my time.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Parisi on February 10, 2010 at 6:53pm

Hi George,
I always give students a grade based on group work. So part of their grade is based on the overall project and part is based on their individual work ethic and respect during the work. Periodically, I meet with each group to discuss how each member is doing. Keeping tabs on the groups lets them know how important respect and cooperation are. Of course, teaching concepts such as empathy and assertiveness do help, too. BTW...I can't even imagine the groups with all the uncooperative kids together. What must that have been like?

Permalink Reply by George Mayo on February 11, 2010 at 9:00am

Hi Lisa,

I like the idea of grading students on both the work and on their individual work ethic. Do you have any general forms that you use in this process that others may find helpful? If so, I'd love to see them.

As for the group composed of the uncooperative kids, it works okay. It's always a tough call figuring out how to deal with students who are continually uncooperative, especially later in the year as we start to tackle more challenging projects. I have to figure out how to keep these students involved in a meaningful way, but at the same time limit the amount of damage they can potentially cause. Despite these challenges, PBL is still a worthwhile experience, even for the most uncooperative students. The only way to get better at something is to practice. Learning to work cooperatively in a group setting is an important skill. It just takes some students longer than others to get the hang of it!

Permalink Reply by Shane Krukowski on February 11, 2010 at 10:15pm

I agree with Richard. I think teamwork without a collective understanding of process, ownership and feedback loops is almost impossible to pull off good.

A few things I've seen helpful:

- Plan an activity modeling social interactions in groups. This means articulating types of communication within a team and understanding the role of each and giving permission via a common vocabulary to deal with contentious situations. A great resource for this is Alverno College's Teaching Social Interaction at Alverno College (1994)

- Have individuals do time logs of their work. A good rule is one sentence per hour. The idea here is not that the most wins, but more the reflection and organization that comes as a result.

- Make sure 'projects' are not 'project visions'. Too often I see projects that aim for the stars, but are not operationalized into a consumable first project. A good technique to do this is start with smaller group projects that allow the group to fail together and develop the skills needed to mediate and manage.

Full disclosure with this last statement... I work with Project Foundry, but I can't help but promote Project Foundry related to this topic. Project Foundry makes managing a variety of projects and a variety of tasks and time logs much more manageable for both students and teachers.