GROUP INTEGRITY
Theoretical introduction
The level of students’ integrity, relations among students and teacher-student(s) relations are crucial in the process of learning. It is much easier to work in and with a group whose participants know each other well and all members create a friendly atmosphere. The research shows that 75% of students’ backchannel communication during classes is devoted to the topic of the class, which helps them understand a particular topic better. That is why, it is essential to spare some time and build or strengthen the relations among group members. It becomes unarguably important especially when the learning process is conducted entirely online. Online learning very often limits students’ interactions which, in this case, requires from the teacher implementing different channels; whereas the students will need motivation to try how these channels work.
One of the most crucial moments for group integrity is the beginning of the course or semester. It is the time when it is necessary to implement activities which will help students to get to know each other. For students who have already worked together, such exercises will definitely strengthen the cooperation and exchange of thoughts. It is also crucial to establish the rules of cooperation or class organization so that all group members will feel safe and comfortable.
Exercise I: LET’S GET TO KNOW ONE ANOTHER (variant 1)
Padlet
First meeting / class
Online
Synchronous
To introduce course participants, to build relations among course participants, to mark different aspects and importance of non-verbal communication.
STEP I
Each student takes a selfie of himself/herself. Through the selfie (facial expression, gestures, body movements) the student shows what he/she likes doing most.
STEP II
Selfies are put on Padlet (wall). Each selfie should be named (student’s name, possibly name + surname). All students work at the same time. The selfies are put on the wall simultaneously.
STEP III
Each student is asked to interpret his/her mate’s selfie. Students may ask their mates questions; however only yes/no questions are permitted. Finally, selfie’s owner assesses/evaluates his/her mate’s interpretation.
- Students have an opportunity to share basic information about themselves, which is important for the teachers, as it provides them with the information about group potential – an important factor for further meetings; e.g. if somebody likes drawing, he/she might be asked by the teacher to prepare a cartoon as part of a revision class.
- Students have an opportunity to talk with mates; they learn their names, which is crucial in situations when group members do not know each other.
- The exercise facilitates group-work; students learn to join forces in order to provide solutions to certain problems
- The exercise demonstrates how much information may be conveyed with the use of non-verbal forms of communication; the exercise may also encourage students to turn their cameras on.
– Not all students may feel comfortable with taking selfies, especially when they are supposed to show different facial expressions, gestures or body movements to people they do not know.
+ Students who deny taking selfies should be offered some other option (taking picture of their favourite object, taking picture with/of their favourite word etc.). There are always students willing to take selfies, so the nonverbal communication aspect will be revealed through this exercise anyway, but students who do not feel comfortable in a front of a camera should be offered a choice.
Exercise II: LET’S GET TO KNOW ONE ANOTHER (variant 2)
Padlet
After the first meeting / class
Blended
Asynchronous
To foster the relations among group members; to convey more information about students’ interests, hobbies & passions; to find out about students’ strong points
STEP I
After the first face-to-face class with a new group, the teacher asks the students to fill in the Padlet wall with the following information:
- Name (possibly name and surname)
- My superpower is…
- I’m best at…
STEP II
During the next face-to-face class, we check the effects – both teacher and students may ask questions concerning the information provided on the Padlet wall after the first class; e.g., some students might be curious about certain pieces of information.
STEP III
When organizing group or pair-work, we might follow the information provided by students on the Padlet wall. For example, we might match students upon their interests or mix them so that they will work with mates who have other interests/hobbies.
- Students have an opportunity to share the information concerning their interests, which is significant for the teachers, as it provides them with information about the groups’ potential, which, as a result, might be implemented during following meetings/classes
- Students learn more about their mates
- We build a group which works not only during classes but also after them
– Cliché answers that are not very creative and don’t give much information about the students.
+ Questions might be modified, e.g., questions, open sentences might be related to the course or a topic of a particular class. Example: during a class in the Enlightenment Literature, the following set might be used:
- For me Enlightenment…
- I would cross out the following books from the reading list….
- I best learn literature when…
Exercise III: GROUP CONTRACT
Mentimeter
First meeting / class
Online, blended, face-to-face
Synchronous
To establish the rules of cooperation which will meet the needs of all group members
STEP I
We encourage students to share their views, opinions and observations concerning their experiences with effective and successful cooperation during classes. The teacher may provide the students with some hints, e.g., online learning – turning cameras on, using “raise hand” button; face-to-face classes or blended learning: preferred forms of contact, the possibility of cooperation between classes etc. Teacher’s role is crucial in this step as students don’t necessarily possess ‘didactic’ awareness.
STEP II
To reach some conclusions, we ask each student to come up with certain rules which will enhance cooperation within the group. Students’ answers are collected with the use of Mentimeter; later they are shown to all students.
STEP III
We discuss the results with students. Later, the teacher prepares a contract which, after students’ acceptance, will be stored in a place available for all students (e.g., Files in the case of MS Teams).
- Establishing rules of common cooperation regulates the order of classes; for instance: if students are aware that participation in a discussion requires using “raise hand” button, they are not afraid that their talk will be interrupted by another student. It really enhances active participation in classes
- All group members have influence on the organization of their work; thanks to this they learn co-responsibility and the sense of agency, which is motivating.
- Rules of cooperation might be adjusted to students’ expectations (e.g.: assessments, revisions)
– Some students’ expectations might be mutually exclusive.
+ If possible, we can suggest a few parallel solutions to one issue in order to satisfy the needs of all group members (e.g.: camera might be on or off; while answering a question, students might use either a mike or a group conversation). If the pluralism is impossible, it might be necessary to negotiate the rules which will be accepted by all group members (students have a chance to express their stance, views and provide clear argumentation; the teacher, on the other hand, might explain the values and the meaning of rules, especially those which may remain unclear to some students).
Exercise IV: TOPICS OF CLASSES (variant 1)
Any communicator (Skype, Google Meet etc.)
Optionally: https://pairs.austincodingacademy.com/ (to suport dividing into pairs)
After first class / first meeting
Online, blended, face-to-face
Asynchronous
To foster the relations between class participants, to build the feeling of influence on the content of classes
Possible to implement for classes which have flexible content; best for small groups (8 students)
STEP I
The teacher prepares a list of 10 topics for the course he/she runs (e.g.: for literature classes we may choose 10 books to be read)
STEP II
The teacher divides the students into pairs. Each pair needs to talk and choose/select 7 topics they would like to cover during classes.
STEP III
Each pair contacts another pair of students (the teacher decides who communicates with whom). The four are asked to select 5 topics/books which they would like to discuss during classes.
STEP IV
During the next class, the two groups of four compare their lists and finally provide the teacher with information on 5 selected topics/books they would like to include in the syllabus.
NOTE
The exercise is optimal for a course which consists of 15 classes/meetings, which means that students can choose the topics of 5 classes. The remaining 10 classes are run according to the content which is obligatory for the course. The number of topics which students can choose depends on the regulations and course content and can be modified accordingly.
- Students learn more about their mates, their likes and preferences; they exercise cooperation and mutual problem solving
- Students have the influence on the content of classes, which raises their motivation and willingness to learn
- The teacher benefits by students’ recognition; since students’ interests differ, the bigger number of possible „elective topics”, the higher probability that students will find the topics both inspiring and important.
– The exercise might be very time-consuming; negotiating a common list of topics might take a lot of time and students’ choices might differ.
+ In this case, the teacher might ask the students to meet (all of them) again after classes and establish the final list (might be a very good additional exercise for group integrity); If only 1/3 of course topics are chosen by students, such a delay is not going to collapse the structure of the course.
Exercise V: TOPICS OF CLASSES (variant 2)
Any communicator (Skype, Google Meet etc.) + Google Drive to share texts, articles, video materials
After first class / first meeting
Online, blended, face-to-face
Asynchronous
To foster the relations between class participants, to build the feeling of influence on the content of classes; the possibility for students to build a bibliography/filmography to be integrated into the course
Possible to implement for classes which have flexible content; best for small groups (8 students)
STEP I
Students are divided into pairs. Their task is to identify additional teaching material that can be represented by any cultural product (books, articles, videos, music, reviews, comics, etc.) through a free search to be conducted on Internet search engines or on any other archives that the student usually uses.
STEP II
Each pair chooses at least 4 products to be included in the lesson
STEP III
In the discussion phase the four (two pair of students) must select the 5 products trying to enhance the media difference (e.g. it is good to choose books, videos, articles, comics, rather than just articles).
STEP IV
The group of 4 will have to produce a short POSTER in which they describe and motivate the choice of the 5 products.
- Students learn more about their mates – their likes and preferences; they exercise cooperation and mutual problem solving
- Students have the influence on the content of classes, which raises their motivation and willingness to learn
- The teacher benefits by students’ recognition; since students’ interests differ, the bigger number of possible „additional materials”, the higher probability that students will find something inspiring and important to them.
– This exercise may not be applicable for first year students who might not have experience in scientific and bibliographic research.
+ The teacher may suggest most popular and best sources of different types of materials (e.g. The Law School or Division of Humanities playlist)
Exercise VI: CHALK TALKS
Any tool offering shared files (e.g. MS Teams, Google Disc)
The first class / meeting
Online
Synchronous
To build / foster relations within the group; to build up space for free argumentation, views, stances, opinions and expectations concerning the course
The exercise might be also conducted during a face-to-face meeting. An online file might be easily replaced with a piece of paper.
STEP I
The teacher prepares a document which is divided into sections. Each section contains a question concerning one of the aspects of the course or generally learning (e.g.: What do you like about distance learning? What helps you memorize the content of the classes?)
STEP II
Students are asked to answer the questions in the sections (each student fills in each section)
STEP III
The teacher discusses the results with the students. On the basis of students’ answers and discussion, the teacher prepares a group contract which includes most effective methods of cooperation within the particular group.
- All group members have the influence on the organization of tasks and duties; group members are aware of the influence and co-responsibility for the shape of the classes – these features certainly motivate students to integrate and work together
- „Chalk talks” exercise gives an opportunity for shy people to express their expectations. Such people usually feel much better when they can express their thoughts, views and arguments in writing instead of talking.
– Students who avoid speaking in public might not contribute to the final discussion (step 3); as a result, their views might be dominated by students who are more eager to participate in discussions.
+ If the teacher observes that not many students take a point while discussing the document, he/she might ask students to clarify (in a written form) controversial issues; in the case of mutually exclusive rules, the teacher might suggest anonymous voting on each issue (Mentimeter).
If possible, it is good to suggest a few parallel solutions to the same issue – thanks to this, we might satisfy all students’ expectations (e.g.: cameras should be on/off; while answering a question, students might use either a mike or a group conversation)
Exercise VII: EXTRA CLASSES
Google Meet, MS Teams, Zoom
During the semester
Online, blended
Synchronous
To build / foster relations within the group; to build up space for free argumentation and learning more about the content of the course.
Best for small groups
STEP I
The teacher sets up an additional online appointment and suggests issues that will be discussed during the meeting. All issues are related to the course content.
STEP II
Students are asked to suggest their own list of issues they would like to explore (either the most difficult or the most interesting that the course curriculum contains).
STEP III
During the meeting students can express their opinions and ask or answer questions. The teacher moderates the discussion and plays a role of an expert.
- students and the teacher can get to know one another better
- students who tend to be introverted can listen only and, in the end, they know their classmates better
- students discover new issues; they learn new information based on a wide range of topics that they are interested in.
– Such activity is very time-consuming, as it is an extra obligation both for the teacher and the students.
+ Frequency and length of such meetings must be adjusted to the needs and possibilities of the teacher and students. It is good if extra classes are organized regularly, but rather monthly than weekly.
Extra classes can be offered during office hours.
