Guidance for conducting group work

1. Group-work Procedure
For Completing
The C. A. P. E. S. B. A.

2. Why the Group Project?
According to K. A. Smith:
Student interaction/cooperation:
 significantly impacts how students learn
 boosts their confidence, self-esteem
 improves levels of engagement/feelings about the subject
 facilitates development of positive interdependence
 maximise group learning/shared understandings

3. Teacher’s Tasks
Teachers are essential in the careful design of:
 meaningful tasks that clarify S. B. A. options
 academic/social skills objectives
 group composition
 clear exposition of tasks
 guidelines for positive interdependence
 documents for monitoring the learning process
 evaluation of student learning/provision of effective
feedback

4. The Teacher’s Tasks
The teacher decides how/on...
...roles given to group members
...which skills are to be developed
...the size of the group
...to evaluate/give feedback ..
... to arrange the classroom
… which resources are required
… to assign students to groups
...the academic tasks to be set... to allocate resources

5. The Teacher’s Considerations
Well-structured
groups ensure
positive
interdependence and
promot interaction
Small groups work
best initially whilst
students develop
collaborative skills
The arrangement
should aid teacher
movement/monitoring
of interaction
A mix of academic
ability and learning
styles is the most
desirable

6. The Teacher’s Considerations
 Group Size  3-6 ideally
 larger/smaller
than this can be
a problem
 comfort level
 effective
development of
collaborative
skills
 supports the
development of
social skills
 group stability
allows bonds to
develop
 aim for a variety
of skills and
interests
 minimise any
change to group
composition
 Group
Composition

7. Suggested Roles for
Group Members
 Roles based on abilities:
 Chair-leader
 Information-seeker
 Progress-monitor
 Summariser
 Planner
 Timekeeper
 Document
publisher/designer
 Depending on group size,
dual roles might be
necessary
 Roles should encourage
interdependence
 Students will be more
aware of their importance
 Empowerment through
individual
responsibility/accountability

8. Ensuring that Group Members
Cooperate and Perform
Clarify from the start that:
 the academic task has a
shared group goal
 the success criteria is linked to
the shared goal
 individual accountability is part
of the assessment of the group
 one copy of instructions for
assignments will be given to
each group
 time limits for specific tasks
must be adhered to
 The teacher is ensuring that the task
process:
 develops responsibility for each other’s
success
 ensures understanding of the task and
goal
 prevents students from “freeloading”
 The teacher should therefore provide:
 detailed, supportive instructions
 suggestions for blog/chat/task
contributions
 clear, realistic timelines for task
completion

9. Ensuring that Group Members
Cooperate and Perform
Checks and Balances for Groups:
 students and parents must get
guidelines/procedures/timelines
 monitoring of blogging/emailing
info as part of formative
assessment
 contractual obligations to the team
 parent-teacher conferences
 It is crucial to outline the
contractual obligations of
group members as all
members are responsible
for the success of each
member’s final grades.
 Whatever is drawn up
for the students to
adhere/sign to should
include a section for
their parents/guardians.

10. Group-work Evaluation Criteria:
Online Discussions

11. Group-work Evaluation Criteria:
Blogs
 Content
 Ideas
 Comprehension
 Intellectual
engagement
 Critique
 Reflection
 Analysis
 Creativity
 Data gathering
 Design and
admin
 Organisation
 Appearance
 Use of
enhancements
(widgets, etc.)
 Management
and
administration
 Posts
 Writing quality
 Relevance of
links/embedded
media
 Post frequency
 Community
 Comments/visits

12. Ensuring that Group Members
Cooperate and Perform
 The teacher’s part in
organising roles/task
delegation prior to assigning
tasks:
 reduces the need for teacher
intervention during the task
 encourages sharing and
interaction
 makes time-limit monitoring
easier and reduces inactivity
 More than one person per
task – so peer feedback is
feasible
 Group size might be
determined by assignment
type – depending on class
size
 Avoid putting friends together
– reducing “loyalty” factor

13. The Timeline for
Task Completion – Sample
Group Member Task By Whom By When Resources
Required
Deliverables/Feed
back Time
Research
Topic/Thesis
Delise/Justin Sept 30
th
Text w Net
Articles &
Library Texts
Annotated text
pages & articles
for I/C assessment
Outline of
Assignment
Samuel/Asha Oct 24
th
Syllabus SBA
outlines
Text w reviews
Outline w The/Tsis.
and T. Stncs. for
Summ. Eval.
Textual
References/Quotes
Siobhan/Ruth Nov 18
th
Text w reviews
Discussion
notes and
articles
List of quotations
with notes on
significance/key
text elements – I/C
Page/Cover Design
&/or Concept Repr
Justin/Samuel Dec 8
th
Publications &
Drawing Apps
Cover design or
Conc Repr Rtnle
Final publication w
errors checked and
edited
Asha/Delise Jan 14
th
Laptop editing
software
Copy of S. B. A.
assignment

14. Outreach for Parental Support
It is Difficult to Recommend or Write
Testimonials for
Students Who Have
No Experience of Working on a Team.

15. Outreach for Parental Support
 Therefore, parents need to understand that
group assignments:
 develop leadership, decision-making, and conflict resolution
skills
 foster appropriate behaviour such as taking turns to speak,
active listening, and encouraging others to participate
 ensure understanding of the group task and individual roles
 assist students in making decisions about what behaviours
should continue/change
 This is how teamwork enhances effective learning in the
classroom and helps the students to understand how/why
they become contributing citizens of the future.

16. Initiating Group-work Activities:
Ice-breakers
 Name Adjective
Acronym  SWOT Analysis MC
Match
 Find Your Personality
Pattern Twin Which Book Character
Are You Personality
Profile Quiz
 Autobiography
Casting Call

17. SWOT Analysis MC Match
for Literature - Sample
 For leisure, I would
read:
 Sci-fi
 Humour/comedy
 Romance
 Horror
 Mystery
 I honestly loathe:
 Essay-writing
 Large long books
 Offering my views on
texts
 Researching topics
 Group-work
assignments
 Studying Literature helps
me:
 Appreciate social issues
 Understand other people
 Recognise what doesn’t
make sense
 Ask the right questions
 Appear wiser in
conversation
 To improve as a Lit
student, I should:
 Read a variety of texts
 Join book clubs on
syllabus texts
 Analyse more of the
You-tube content I
watch
 Scope out more classic
films on Netflix
 Make greater use of the
dictionary
 While pursuing Literature at
O’ Levels, I struggled with:
 Writing essays
 Understanding poetry
 Understanding exam
questions
 Completing the texts
 Organising study time
1st *********
2nd ^^^^^^^^
3rd “””””””””””
4th >>>>>>>
5th ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

18. Find Your Personality
Pattern Twin - Sample
Choose her hair colour
according to your
favourite type of novel:
 Sci-fi
 Romance
 Humour/Comedy
 Horror
 Mystery
Choose her t-shirt pattern
according to your reading style:
 green&orange plaid – whole
book without stopping
 purple&pink polka dots – the
ending then the beginning
 blue&grey check – get a friend to
describe it first
 yellow&red stripes – skipping
through to the juicy bits
Draw her jewellery
according to your
study style:
 Stars for solitary
study
 Coins for friendship
study
 Triangles for must
have music
 Diamonds for the
last-minute

19.  5. What was your favourite subject at school?
 English. They say I have an over-active imagination.
 Art/Music. I was always better at practical things.
 PE. I never pass up a chance to run around, tackling
people.
 Maths. It just made sense.
Which Book Character Are
You Quiz - Sample

20.  If I were to make a film of my life.....
 Rihanna would play me because she shares the
spotlight with no one
 Viola Davis would play my mom because she
is more driven than any career criminal
 Idris Elba is definitely my father
Autobiography Casting Call -
Sample

21. Name Adjective Acronym -
Sample

22. Beginning With Class Groupings
 overview of the text (drama/prose/poet)
 discussion of the components of the portfolio (their
notebook on the text)
 peer evaluation of presentations/notes compiled
 preparation of a handout for home assignment (quiz/word
search/puzzle)
 information board collaboration

23. Class Groupings: What To Avoid
Student self-selection
 can result in friendship groups which creates
distraction
 can leave a ‘remainder’ group, those who
haven’t been chosen by others

24. Disbanding groups which aren’t working well
 can leave students feeling a sense of failure
which they carry forward to their next group
 doesn’t help students to develop skills such
as conflict resolution, resilience
Class Groupings: What To Avoid

25.  The Teacher’s Role:
 Avoid verbalising instructions without noting
what should be done
 All questions should be discussed within the
group as far as possible – avoid addressing
issues with individual members
Class Groupings: What To Avoid

26. Class Groupings in Practice
 Review the options for the SBA in the syllabus
 1. Candidates’ interpretation of some aspects of a prescribed play or poem, or
an extract from prose fiction.
 OR
 2. A critical response to a review of a prescribed play or poem or prose extract.
 OR
 3. A review of a live performance or a film adaptation of a prescribed text.
 OR
 4. A review of a prescribed text.
 Watch the two film clips of The Taming of the Shrew, paying close attention to:
 1. the use of lighting, costuming and stage properties
 2. the actor’s movements and delivery of their lines
 3. the way these elements are used to highlight themes/issues
 Present your views of each one, stating which one was more effective and why