Establishing and supporting student group work is particularly challenging as we strive to welcome neurodiverse learners into lab spaces. I hope neurodiverse students not only succeed, but thrive in my lab course.
Sometimes neurodiverse students are forthcoming with the teaching team and/or with group members and sometimes they are not. As instructors, we cannot assume that students with invisible disabilities will disclose even if they are invited to do so, but data suggests that up to 30% of university students are neurodiverse (Shining a light on neurodiversity in higher ed, Jill Schaefer and Autumn Sanchez). Generally, then, we should design group work assuming best practices for supporting neurodiversity. Many of these will support all learners anyway.
Ideally, students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are best supported in small groups of familiar peers (Supporting Autistic Students to Work With Their Peers , University of Leicester). Because students who enter course lab spaces are not always joining the course with established peers, it is worthwhile to strategically create the opportunity for comfortable relationships to form before groups are expected to take on higher stakes activities.
On the first day of class, I give students a one page sheet on Constructive and Destructive Group Behaviors (Brunt, 1993). Importantly, this is given before any team work has commenced because we want to start on neutral ground with no grievances to air. This sheet highlights obvious constructive behaviors like cooperating, but also includes some more thoughtful items like “Risk Taking: Is willing to risk possible personal loss or embarrassment for the group or project success“. Students work individually to choose their top 3 to 5 “must include” (or “must not include”) items for successful team work. I then bring students together to make a sheet (or use the whiteboard) to add sticky notes, each sticky note with one of their personal items. Students rearrange these into common themes before creating groups contracts. Depending on the course, I sometimes prompt these contracts with specific line items I want to see. (ie/ What is your plan when someone is sick and cannot make it for their data collection time? or If someone wants to edit your group manuscript, do they add a comment, or are they free to make changes directly to the document?) Discussing these specific things before they become a problem is important, especially for neurodiverse students who benefit from clear communication and from extra processing time (Supporting Autistic Students Undertaking Group Work, University of Leeds).
Sometimes neurodiverse students prefer to work alone and forgo groups altogether. Best practice is to encourage these students to work with 1 other student, and then 2, and then 3, adding on over time – but this is sometimes not manageable in a university lab course for obvious logistical reasons (Group Work in General Education Classroom for Students with ASD, Indiana University Bloomington). When students approach me with this request, I remind them that science is usually a team effort and I show them current journals where they can see that primary scientific literature is rarely authored solo. However, I also understand that offering students a choice empowers students to take control of their learning and that students with ASD sometimes do need autonomy (Autism Awareness Centre). I typically encourage students to participate in group work, but with the caveat that the course is designed to accommodate solo work if they choose, and I ensure them that they will be equally supported if they choose to do so. I typically have 1-2 students per term (N = 96) who chose to do projects solo. (Note: sometimes this is for other reasons such as immune compromised students who cannot be in close proximity of other students).
As I finish this post, I realize that my focus here has been on ASD. I also have students with other neurodivergence (particularly ADHD) and they generally benefit from the same clearly articulated group expectations and timelines. I have written before about wiggle friendly lecture halls, and I attempt to accommodate students with ADHD in a similar way in labs.
Keep on going, my friends! We have a lot of amazing students eager to join our labs.
Brunt (1993). Facilitation Skills for Quality Improvement. Quality Enhancement
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