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Humor:
Mr. / Girgis
As competition for university places and jobs rises,
universities and employers are putting increased emphasis
on the importance of
creativity and collaboration. This is
why, at the British Council, we
also emphasise these skills
in our English classes.
Although we often associate creativity with people who
work in the
arts, our rapidly changing culture means all
areas of life require
creativity. Having a creative team
means that problems are solved in
unique and efficient
ways.
It is also essential to collaborate effectively. It is now normal
for
us to be able to communicate immediately with people
around the world,
and because of this we may work and
study with people with very diverse
backgrounds.
Luckily, it’s not a matter of being born with or without these
skills. It is possible to nurture and teach creativity and the
ability
to collaborate effectively, and that’s what the British
Council does.
Active learning encourages co-operative
learning. Students
who work in collaborative
groups appear more satisfied with their classes.
The teacher divides his learners into groups
according to their
interests levels, habits and
desires. Each group must consist of 3 or 7
members.
Each member has a role to do. As a result, the
group must
have a leader, a presenter, an
organizer,a dictator,a writer, an evaluator and a timer.
Collaborative Learning
When a group of two or more students work
together to complete an
activity, discuss a
question, or collaborate on a task, we call it
collaborative learning.
The intended consequence of accomplishing
tasks
together is to help students learn the
complexities of solving a problem
and promote
deeper learning through doing.
Group work not only helps students learn the
course material better;
it also provides
opportunities to develop additional skills.
While
working in groups, students need to
harness group members' strengths,
address
group learning needs, manage time, divide a
large project into
small tasks, cooperate,
negotiate, resolve conflicts, and reach
consensus. These are useful skills in
collaborative work spaces and future careers.
Collaboration: An
Essential Skill for 21st
Century Learners
While some of us may naturally be better at collaborating
than others, collaboration, as a skill, is something
that
must be learned. At Selwyn, students learn collaboration
through the
cultivation of the following skill sets.
A person who is creative tends to have more enthusiasm
and be more
energised. Increased creativity can also
lower stress and anxiety, vital
when students are going
through exams.
Working with others makes people happier, improves
their reflection
and opens their eyes to new skills. Being
an effective collaborator
means not only being able to
work with others, but also being able to
learn from,
share with, and express oneself to them.
Most importantly, an openness to collaboration and
sharing creative
ideas means that children communicate
with each other more in class.
This gives them more
opportunity to practise their English in a
communicative
way, which is how they will need to use it in the real
world.
How you put students into groups
They are put into groups through:
1-Teacher-Assigned Groups.
2-Students Choose Groups.
3--Randomized Group Work.
4-Planned grouping.
Role of Group Work
When the teacher announces that an
assignment is going to be done as
group work,
there is usually a collective groan. Group
collaboration is
frustrating, unequal, and often
lacks direction—all negatives for
achieving
students, and indifference for the others.
So, then why assign collaborative work?
Because group work has true merit:
Group work allows the members to develop
better listening and
speaking skills, in
addition to learning to be diplomatic in
conversation.
To foster creativity, encourage curiosity about new things,
especially learning about other cultures. Being exposed to
how others
view the world allows a child to make more
mental links and spark new ideas.
Positively acknowledge creative ideas that children have
developed
themselves and reward their effort when they
spend time on creative
pursuits.
To encourage collaboration, get children to help a sibling
with their
English homework or set up a study group with
students of a similar
age. Children can learn to collaborate
by negotiating with a friend
about whose turn it is to play
with a toy, or discussing household
chores to complete.
Help children to see the benefit of group diversity, by
welcoming diversity of genders, ethnicities, mother
tongues and academic
proficiency. This also develops
their empathy, which leads to more
successful
collaboration.
And finally, lead by example. The best way that parents
can support
their child’s development is by being creative
and collaborative too.
Don’t just tell them to do it, show
them! You could put aside a weekend
afternoon for an art
session with your child, or spend time working as a
family
on a project.
How group work should work:
Shared responsibility but assignments based
on abilities—While the group does share the
responsibilities of accomplishing the work,
assigning members duties based on
strengths helps the project to run
more
smoothly.
The disadvantages :
The workload is unequal, every
decision
requires more time, participation is sporadic,
creativity is
difficult, and it is easy for
members to avoid doing any of the work.
Since group work has benefits that carry over
to future careers and relationships, teachers
are wise to continue using them for the
proper
assignments. Following are specific
considerations for when to use
collaborative
work.
Students see through group work that is really
just busy work, so
communicate clearly the
academic and social objectives to be
accomplished. Make sure that they tie into
class content well.
The assignment should be challenging
enough to arouse interest among the
students.
Keep the number of students to 4-5 as that is
where the diverse
perspectives seem to work
best. Randomly assigning students to groups
keeps friend groups from working together.
Vary the composition of the groups by
sometimes using pairs, four students, etc.
Clearly state the task in detail, with no
confusion on what the final product should
look like.
Set interaction expectations for the group
members.
Be sure at the end of the collaboration to
remind them of the connection to the
coursework.
How group work goes on in class
1-Group "A" can use
the round robin in the
sense that they answer the first part of the
question in 10 seconds then they give the
flying paper to group "B" to
complete
answering the second part in 10 seconds and
so do group "C" and group "D".
2-If the exercises include 4 exercises, group
"A" can answer the first, group "B" can answer
exercise B , group "C" can answer exercise C
and group "D" can
answer exercise "D" , all at
the same limited time. The 4 answers can be
exchanged among the 4 group in order to be
evaluated by different groups by exchange.
3- Group "A" can do a
paragraph at the same
time, group "B" can do a project for the same
topic in the form of a practical drawing or a
design. Group "C" can answer a question while
group "D" can act its scene.
4-Group "A" can do a
project and its members
can be interviewed by group "B" as a kind of
learners' self evaluation. The same is for group
c and group "D".
Various names have been given to this form
of teaching, and there are
some distinctions
among these: cooperative learning,
collaborative
learning, collective learning,
learning communities, peer teaching, peer
learning, reciprocal learning, team learning,
study circles, study
groups, and work groups.
There are three general types of group work:
1-Informal learning groups,
2-Formal learning groups,
3-Study teams .
Benefits of group work
Effective
group work is carefully structured to
achieve specific learning outcomes: learning
outcomes and student expectations must be
clearly
formulated, directions must be well
written, and instructor support must
be
available throughout the task. Subsequently,
it may take more planning time to effectively
design a group work task than it does to
lecture.
In other words, it's counter-productive
to assign group work just because it’s easier
to do that than give a lecture, or because you
won't have to grade as much. Group work
shouldn't be a shortcut for instructors. Keep
in mind that the effort is worthwhile!
Collaboration
pools skills, knowledge, and creativity
increasing innovation and the success
of a project.
Collaboration always increases workplace happiness,
morale, as
well as builds community — all of which
enhances engagement and, therefore, productivity.
The 21st century workplace is a collaborative one, which
means
its workforce must have the skills to collaborate
effectively and to respond to
challenges with confidence,
creativity, and thoughtful action.
Cultivating collaborative, inclusive, and culturally
intelligent 21st-century
leaders who leverage the collective
expertise of the diverse
communities they build is
foundational to a Selwyn education, which is
why Selwyn
students learn collaboration skills throughout their
educational journey.
In-Class Group Work
Challenges Related to Group Work
Because group work requires a special set of
skills and often
requires students to negotiate
personality differences and different
work
styles, groups or individuals within the group
may challenge the
task or ask to be
reassigned.
While it’s important that the learning
goals
related to the task are achieved, it’s also
important for students
to learn to work
effectively with one another—even in instances
where
there’s a personality difference.
It may be a simple case of students not having
negotiation
skills, or not being good at
developing a plan that accurately accounts for
how much time a given task will take.
Rather than stepping in and
restructuring
groups, take a step back and assess what
particular skill
can help the group function
more effectively. Then provide the resources
students need to acquire that skill.
