You will work in teams in several ways in this class. This format will give everyone a chance to interact in ways that a large group does not. Think about how collaboration can help you, and come up with ways to help your team function smoothly. Here are some teamwork guidelines:
- When you begin, make sure you know everyone’s name, and determine roles.
- Different tasks may not require all these roles, but here are the common ones: the facilitator stimulates discussion about the question/assignment and elicits responses from everyone; the recorder keeps a record of the team’s in-class discussion; the checker/poster makes sure everyone on the team understands your team’s answers and ultimately reports the team’s findings to the class e-mail address; the encourager praises individual member’s responses; and the timekeeper/processor makes sure the team accomplishes the task in the allotted time and reminds team members to evaluate the team’s performance before class is over. We will rotate rolls for each activity.
- Everyone on the team must participate; if you talk a lot, make your contribution, but also encourage the less talkative team members to participate. If you are usually quiet, strive to join in and try not to be intimidated by those who seem more confident.
- It is okay to disagree; you don’t have to conform to a conclusion, but note your disagreements and questions and bring them back to the class.
- Be prepared to report back to the large group. We will use your report as a springboard to conversation in the larger group.
- Always process and review your team performance and include it in your posting.
Team Grades: The first few times we do teamwork, I will pay special attention to the process you follow, but generally I will grade the product your team's poster sends to the class. Each group member receives the same grade except that students who are absent earn a zero. If everyone on your team is present, the team gets five bonus points.
When I grade your team posting, I ask the following questions:
- Did the team answer the question(s) or address the prompt(s) fully?
- Is there a balance of documented evidence (#s) and explanation to support the answer(s)?
- Does the team use clear, grammatically correct sentencing?
Basic Elements of Cooperative Learning: Research has shown that optimum learning takes place if these elements are a part of teamwork:
Positive Interdependence: Understand that each of you needs the others in order to complete your team’s task successfully--your motto should be “all for one and one for all.”
Face-to-Face Interaction: Promote each other’s learning by helping, sharing, encouraging efforts to learn. You are more likely to do this if you sit face-to-face and listen carefully to each other.
Individual Accountability: Your performance will be assessed frequently. You must ultimately perform on your own even though the team will help you reach the point of individual success.
Interpersonal Skills: Your teams will function well if you have and use social skills like leadership, decision-making, trust-building, communication, and conflict-management.
Team Processing: Make time to discuss how well you are achieving your goals and maintaining working relationships. Explicitly evaluate your team’s performance after each activity.
(From Johnson, Johnson, & Smith Active Learning: Cooperation in the College Classroom, 1991)
Minutes: Each student will have at least two opportunities to compose “minutes” of class lecture and discussion for a particular class hour. Minutes must be written as a collection of full sentences in either outline or paragraph form. Secretaries should e-mail their minutes to the class list AS A SINGLE-SPACED ATTACHMENT within twenty-four hours of the class meeting on which they take minutes. They should include a header with the secretary's name, the date of the class meeting, and the topic of that day's discussion. Secretaries must distribute hard copy minutes for the previous class to all students in the class at the beginning of the next class (English Department copy card available from the secretary in the basement of Wallace Hall). Hard copy minutes will be marked by the instructor and returned to the secretaries at the next class.
Discussion: You should expect to contribute to our discussions at least once a day and ask questions when you have them. I try to call on everyone at least twice a week. You'll get a discussion grade every four weeks based on the quality and quantity of your participation.