Usefulness of Group Activities in Math
Comments(2) I think that Zwiers’ academic collaborative skills are extremely important n math because they are very similar to skills that students need to have to effectively do individual work. Working in groups where students are able to develop these types of skills will also help them develop their individual skills and make them better equipped to succeed in math class. Given the right pairings/groupings, students who are better at these skills will be able to model them for other students who need extra work.
Over the last month of so in this program, I have become a big fan of using group activities to get students to explore and discover mathematical relations on their own. The approach seems very effective to me for many reasons. First, I think it increases the likelihood that students will be able to remember the material. As a student, I always remembered the concepts that I discovered on my own more than concepts that were dictated to me in a way that made them something for me to memorize or forget. Second, I think it allows students to use and develop their academic collaboration skills. Similar to the idea of using language to authentically do and think from chapter 3, these are skills that need to be developed, honed, and used on a regular basis. In terms of these skills, I think the idea of ‘use it or lose it’ is very relevant. Lastly, I think that these types of group situations can be very helpful in exploring the relationships between different mathematical concepts and finding and understanding multiple ways of approaching the same problem. Students are able to come to a shared understanding in some situation, as Zwiers suggests, but in math they are often able to do this in a variety of ways. Working together can give students an opportunity to see different approaches to problems which can help develop their understanding and, ultimately, make them more well-rounded math students.
Some of the group/pair techniques are difficult to use effectively in a math classroom but I was drawn to the idea of using a jigsaw type of technique. Once again drawing on the idea of having students solve the same question using different methods, I think an activity where students are given the same question and then break off into groups to solve it could be very effective. Different groups could solve the question and then present their methods to the classroom. Some groups may have come up with ways of solving the problem(s) that other groups did not think of. This could be really effective as an end of the year review activity.
I completely agree with your support of group work in a math setting. I used to feel that practice problems and repetitively working with concepts was one of the stronger tools to solidify understanding. However, I now appreciate the additional learning that comes from peer work, as you have outlined, and how it can make an even greater impact.
Working in smaller groups allows students to express new or different ideas and feel as if their thoughts are being heard. There is also the absence of intimidation and pressure that can come along with larger classroom settings. A sense of security in a smaller group has students more keen on exploring different approaches and ideas. Teachers can take advantage of this behavior by having groups return as a class to share all of the new discoveries and methods found. The diversity of thinking strategies that has been created and shared may appeal to more students and ensure that a larger portion of students not only grasp, but thoroughly understand the topic. The same environment and group dynamics can effectively help with recognition and use of academic language as you’ve mentioned.
In general, group work reduces the fear and embarrassment of making mistakes or being ”wrong”. It can help to understand material in a variety of ways but also appreciate taking risks and being confident in pursuing those curiosities.
I also agree with the idea for group work for math! I’ve been mulling over some sort of group seating plan for my classroom actually.
Group discussion is very useful to allow students to engage critically in the material. The group is small enough that it would be more comfortable for a student to share his or her thoughts out loud, and other students would naturally critique and give feedback. Essentially, they would be helping to teach each other, which also helps them remember content themselves.
Due to the flexibility in finding solutions in math, group work is a great way to expose all students to different ways of mathematical thinking.