Community Inquiry Project
Emily Butler
What was the problem?
● Whenever group work was involved, students created a very negative,
unwelcoming environment
○ This behavior was normalized and a constant issue
● Examples
○ When groups were revealed, students would make elaborate, inappropriate noises and
comments
○ In groups, students refused to communicate with one another, especially those of the
opposite gender
○ The amount of work each student did was usually not fair (one student does everything,
while others play around)
Why is this important for science?
● Science requires constant collaboration among students and group work
by nature
● By improving their group work skills and creating a more positive
environment, students will have more meaningful experiences in science
Classroom Profile
● Mostly boys
○ 11 girls, 18 boys (29 total)
○ The boys tend to be more disruptive
● Impulsive
○ Many students struggle with inhibition
○ Mindfulness is infused throughout the school year, but is little to no help (seen as a joke
by students)
● Mentor Teachers
○ Don’t approve of these behaviors, but don’t address it either
● Amazing potential
○ All students are capable of improving
○ Very optimistic!! :)
Research
Edutopia: Using Collaborative Learning to Build Student Agency
● Use warm up activities to get students comfortable with working in
groups
○ Reflect with your students after these activities as well
● Talk about how people learn differently
● Use role cards
● Make sure your tasks are strong and “group worthy”
● Assess group work
○ Exit tickets
○ Check-ins
Research
University of Waterloo: Implementing Group Work in the Classroom
● Before
○ Think about physical arrangement of students
○ Talk about past experiences with group work
● During
○ Be sure students understand why they are in groups and the purpose of the task
○ Get students in groups before directions for the task
○ Set ground rules/expectations for group behaviors
● After
○ Provide closure (verbal or written)
○ Encourage accountable talk
○ Make connections to course content
○ Reflection
Research
Faculty Focus: 10 Recommendations for Improving Group Work
● Explicitly talk about the importance of teamwork and teach these skills
● Use team building exercises to build community
● Clear goals, reasonable workload
● Check in with progress throughout, not just at the end
● Peer assessment/evaluation
What I Initiated
● “Huddle Up!” meeting at the end of each day
● Warm-Up Activities
● “Let’s Talk About It” jar
● Group Agreements
● Group Work Rubrics
● Role Cards/ Group-worthy Tasks
Huddle Up!
● At the end of the day before I initiated “Huddle Up!” dismissal was a bit
chaotic
● These meetings brought closure to the end of the day
● What happened at these meetings?
○ Spotlight student work
○ Special announcements
○ Discussion/reflection of the day
■ How was I in my groups?
■ How was I as a learner?
○ “Let’s Talk About It” Jar
Warm-Up Activities
● Group work self reflection exit ticket
○ Questions include:
■ What do you need to work on the most as a group member?
■ What is the hardest part about being in a group?
● Organize Yourselves! Warm-up
○ They had to first organize themselves by height without talking.
○ Then, they could organize by their birthday, and were allowed to whisper.
○ Discussion
■ Reflected on the experience: What was easier? Why?
● Emphasis on how communication is very important, verbal and non-verbal
Warm-Up Activities
● Huddle Up! Discussion
○ How do people learn differently?
■ Linked to Number Talk
● Different students have different strategies, all are correct.
■ Why is this important to think about for group work?
Warm Up Activities
● Quick conversing
○ 4 rounds
○ Students were put in pairs
■ Once revealed, they had 30 seconds to get with their partner and sit down
○ They were given a prompt
■ Had one minute for both students to respond
○ Share out
■ Dojo randomly selected students to share what their partner said
● +2 points if they could, -2 points if they couldn’t
○ Went really well!!!
Quick Conversing In Action!
Let’s Talk About It!
● Students can drop in anything
they want to talk about
● Once a week, we pulled a few at
the Huddle Up! Meeting to
discuss
● Examples included:
○ Pizza or tacos? Why?
○ Can we make nicknames?
○ What would your survival plan be on
a stranded island?
Group Agreements
● At one of our Huddle Up! meetings, students created rules for working in
groups.
○ Students shared out, I simply typed in the Google Doc for them
● Students recited these before every activity that involved group work
Group Work Rubric
Role Cards/ Group-worthy Tasks
● Tasks that required group work were always group-worthy.
○ Examples:
■ Build a Bridge STEM Project
■ Energy Sleuths: Investigated Alternative Energy Sources
● For every group activity, roles were explicitly taught to students
○ PowerPoint to explain
○ Role Cards given
○ Sometimes students picked roles, sometimes not.
Role Cards Example
Role Cards
Still developing his group
work skills!
Results
● Noticeable difference from just observing (noticed by both my MT and
myself)
○ Less reactions when groups revealed
○ More willing to talk to each other
○ Less disruptive overall
Results
November (Thanksgiving Math Task) March (Build a Bridge STEM Project)
Results: Plickers Survey
● Told students to just answer honestly
● Questions were based on the group work agreements that they
Results: Plickers Survey
Results: Plickers Survey
Something we
are continuing to
work on!
Results: Plickers Survey
Something we
are continuing to
work on!
Final Thoughts
● Creating a positive learning environment is something I have always been
passionate about, I just didn’t know where to start
○ This project helped me find a place to start
● What I found:
○ I truly believe students have become more comfortable working with others
■ Not perfect, but better
○ The more students worked with partners, the easier it got
■ Less disruption each time
○ I think it definitely helped that students created their own group work agreements
■ Gave them ownership
Final Thoughts
● I will definitely do these activities in the future
○ I’ll start earlier in the school year, and infuse regularly
○ I will continually research more activities and ways to improve group work skills
● What I’ll do differently:
○ I planned to do more team-building activities
■ Had an entire list of fun activities students could do (i.e. The Human Knot, Hula
Hoop Untangle, etc)
■ Didn’t have the time
■ Will incorporate more of these in my classroom
Questions?
Reference List
Implementing Group Work in the Classroom (n.d.) University of Waterloo. Retrieved from
https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/alternat
ives-lecturing/group-work/implementing-group-work-classroom
Using Collaborative Learning to Build Student Agency (2016). Edutopia. Retrieved from
https://www.edutopia.org/practice/teaching-group-work-building-student-collaboration-and-
agency
Weimer, M. (2014). 10 Recommendations for Improving Group Work. Faculty Focus. Retrieved from
https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/10-recommendations-im
proving-group-work/
