The article by Terry Anderson, Getting the Mix Right Again, highlights how students being instructed to interact with other students can be nerve-wracking (2003). And I completely agree. I found that especially in a large school where not everyone knows each other, being asked to pair or group up can cause levels of anxiety to rise. Not only does one have to share their ideas, but they have to bring their social skills and give feedback. The result, however, tends to be a learning experience that is fulfilling and useful. When interacting with others we must test our own knowledge by recalling and voicing it, and we must think critically to respond to others. Further, our social skills are practiced.
Currently I am taking a class on how groups function and in it students have been assigned to groups of 5. Weekly, we meet to review and discuss our thoughts on the material. Hearing from other students has given me many more real-life examples of the concepts within the class, has helped me practice what we are learning (learning how groups function while being in a group), has helped me stay motivated in the class, and has increased my enjoyment in the class.
Overall, reflecting on how these high levels of interactive sessions have affected my learning in a positive way and increased my enjoyment.
The class of group functioning is, in addition, supported with student-teacher and student-content interactions. Ahead of each group discussion, we are given an agenda filled with class content, a textbook chapter to read, and have a recorded lecture (Student-teacher) to review. By having these additional interactive components where we pick up knowledge our student-student interactions become more relevant and educational. I feel this is important in consideration to how the full benefits of student-student interaction may emerge/not emerge. I have been in a class where student-student interaction is integrated and yet most memorable is the anxiety caused not what was learned. By providing a rich source of content to be discussed and ensuring it has been somewhat learned a discussion may be more easily carried out. Further, it can help to provide a group with a structure for their interaction.
In Getting the Mix Right the functions of interaction really stood out to me as very true and very positive. I hope to learn ways to decrease the levels of anxiety and simply see the ways in which interaction can provide a great learning experience.
References
Anderson, T. (2003). Getting the Mix Right Again: An updated and theoretical rationale for interaction. In irrodl. Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/149/230
jmortlock
June 6, 2021 — 10:18 pm
Good for you for being motivated and embracing group work. I agree to have other people rely on can decrease misconceptions, create accountability and increase understanding of the material. However, sometimes it can have the opposite effect where students feel like they are going to let their group members down and therefore refuse to try. As teachers, I feel like it is our job to help them overcome these feelings if they are happening and find ways to work with them to participate fully in groups.