Group work facilitated by a group charter can create an efficient & effective learning experience

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Piagetg

the father of the cognitive psychology theory, which is the individualistic approach, theorized that learning occurs when individuals are actually doing the work themselves and creating their own understanding (Mooney, 2000).( y, )

Vygotsky

theory expounded upon Piaget’s by supporting social constructivism. V t k b li d th t i t ti ith th h d i tVygotsky believed that interaction with others had an enormous impact on cognitive development (Mooney).

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Constructivism

Within both theories, constructivism is based on providing a learning environment to assist learners as they explore content by designing experiences that encourage

assimilation and accommodation.

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Assimilation and Accommodation

Piaget defined assimilation as the process of responding to the environment with one’s cognitive structure, and accommodation as the process by which the cognitive structure is modified (as cited in Hergenhahn & Olson,1997).

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Scaffolding

Vygotsky coined the term scaffolding to express when other more competent individuals provide some form of guidance or structure that enables learners to engage in activities and perform tasks that otherwise would be out of the reach of the learner (Ormrod, 1999). S ff ldi b th ht f t di th h ldScaffolding can be thought of as one person standing on the shoulders of another person to gain a different point of view.

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Examples of Group Work:

Action Maze:

A programmed case study, where learners are given a list of detail to take them to the first decision point. As decisions are made, learners are directed further in the action maze to find out the consequences of their decisions and perhaps, what the next set of alternative actions available This activity is effective for teachingnext set of alternative actions available. This activity is effective for teaching troubleshooting (Laird, 1985).

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Case study:

Learners are presented with a description of a problematic situation and asked to identify or solve the problem.

Critical incident technique:

A group of learners is given a very brief narrative of a problem or situation to which they must respond.

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Formal debate:

Students are divided into teams to present opposing viewpoints. Some may act as respondents or judges. This can be accomplished asynchronously through discussion forums or e-mail lists.

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Group projects:

Groups work on projects, such as writing research papers and creating PowerPoint presentations to be posted to the class.

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Muddy Points:

Group members must each pose a muddy point to the group. Group members help to clarify the muddy point to each other. Group members select one muddy point to send forward to another group for help with clarifying the point.

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The “Guiding” Principle

Online education places the instructor in the role of facilitator, guiding and directing learners to resources. Instructional designers and instructors may find that utilizing a group charter helps learners effectively manage group assignments.

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What is a Group Charter?

A document prepared by and agreed to by group members that outline expectations, responsibilities, time schedules, and other matters that are necessary for the group to function as a group.

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Why a Group Charter?

Group charters allow group members to establish rules of operation at the beginning of the group’s existence.

Establishing an agreement among group members at the onset of the course may alleviate some of the frustrations that are inherent when communication among individuals working on a joint activity is inadequate.

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When to Introduce a Group Charter?

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Stages of a group’s development, g g p p

Forming

Reliance on polite, safe, patterned behavior; members looking to leader for direction; desire for acceptance; approaches to resolving conflict not developed; individual expectations not formed; group purpose and methods not formed; tasks not determined or delegated; methods and procedures not determined; rules of behavior not well developed so

members keep things simple and avoid controversy.

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Stages of a group’s developmentg g p p

Storming

Group attempts to organize for the task, and conflicts emerge; group attempts to decide who is to be responsible for what, what evaluation and reward criteria will be; power structure is not stable; some members may be silent while others may attempt to dominate; confusion; loss of interest; lack of progress; violation of code of conduct and team rules.

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Norming

A sense of belonging and group cohesion; a sense of personal

accomplishment; individual roles understood; freedom to express

opinion; trust between group members; unified mission; healthy balance ofopinion; trust between group members; unified mission; healthy balance of power; effective group process; sincere attempt to reach consensus; little or no violation of team rules; productive; attack problems, not each other, “we” overtakes “me” mentality.

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Performing

Fun and exciting; high commitment to group; feeling of high trust and friendship; involvement with group inspires members’ best performance; creative use of existing resources; highly effective orchestration of activities and abilities; humor, flexibility, versatility, smooth task and process flow within the group; pride in group accomplishments; volunteering participation; commitment to decisions; expressions of appreciation and caring.

Don’t forget “adjourning,” separation anxiety.

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Forming Stage

During the forming phase, learners want to gain trust of one another. One way of increasing trust in the group environment is for learners to agree on task assignments, communication strategies, and timelines for collaborative activities (Tu& Corry, 2002).

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Forming Stage

Gould and Padavano (2006) suggested that explaining the importance of group work along with using group charters is fundamental in improving learner satisfaction with online group work. The forming phase of group development may be the ideal time to introduce the group charter as a tool to aid learners in developing trust within the group.

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Components of group charter:

Code of conduct; Bandow, 2001; Doran, 2001; Gould & Padavano,2006; A. Morgan, 2002; Page & Donelan, 2003

Conflict resolution plan; Page & Donelan

Decision making structure; A. Morgan

Group goals; A. Morgan; Salas et al., 2005

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Components of a Group Charter

Group name; A. Morgan

Meeting times (including time zone, and length of meeting); Bandow; Doran; Gould & Padavano; A. Morgan; Page & Donelan

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Member roles and responsibilities; Bandow; Doran; Gould & Padavano; Page & Donelan; Salas et al.

Member skills or knowledge inventory; Bandow; Doran; Gould & Padavano; Page & DonelanDonelan

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Penalty for lack of member participation; A. Morgan

Preferable method of communication; Bandow; Doran; Gould & Padavano; A. Morgan; Page & Donelan

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Standard for quality of work; Bandow; Doran; Gould & Padavano; A. Morgan; Page & Donelan; Salas et al.

Time frames and deadlines; Bandow; Doran; Gould & Padavano; Page & Donelan

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Two Questions

(a) What is the experience of learners in online groups, with and without the use of group charters?

(b) What components of the group charter are most critical to the learners’ educational experience?educational experience?

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The Participants

The participants for this study were observed in an online accounting class that was divided into two sections of an online course room; each section constituted a case study or a “bounded system” (Merriam, 1998, p. 27). The group activity that was employed for this research was the muddiest point. “The muddiest point though extremely simple focuses on understanding aThe muddiest point, though extremely simple, focuses on understanding, a somewhat deeper level of learning than simple recall” (Angelo & Cross, 1993, p. 120).

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Two Groups

Charter and Non-Charter

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Charter Section Felt Prepared

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Charter Section Less Worried

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Charter Section More Efficient – The Section

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Charter Section Learners More Efficient – The Learners

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Charter Section More Effective – The Section

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Charter Section Assessment Scores Increased More

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Learners Identified Important Components

(a) determining the members’ roles and responsibilities,

(b) establishing the standard for the quality of work,

(c) agreeing on a code of conduct,

(d) establishing a conflict resolution plan,

(e) agreeing on time frames and deadlines.

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Thank you! Questions?

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Education

Group work facilitated by a group charter can create an efficient & effective learning experience