Teaching With Small Groups
by
Barbara Glesner Fines

Law teachers are increasingly recognizing the value of cooperative student learning in the classroom. Educational research explains why this approach to learning can be so effective.

When student-peers interact in learning, their cognitive approach differs from their learning in a teacher-centered classroom. Rather than view the relationship as one in which knowledge is given from teacher to student, the peer learners are more likely to view themselves as engaged in a cooperative process in which both participants are actively learning. Even more significantly, each peer is also teaching--teaching in a way that is cognitively different from that of a faculty member. Since the peer has only recently learned (or is currently learning) the material, the peer teacher is more likely to think through the steps of the learning process consciously than one who has greater expertise. Thus, the learning that occurs in peer groups is a cooperative, active process of constructing knowledge.

The affective dimension of the small-group process also affects student learning. Peers working in small groups are less exposed to the risk of public error and competitive pressures than when called upon individually to recite before the full class. Thus, the nature of the discussion that occurs in these small groups differs from the dialogue with the professor in the larger class. In small groups, students are more likely to explore possibilities, ask questions, take risks, and learn from their mistakes.

There are many ways to structure cooperative learning in the classroom, but the easiest may be to allow students to work in pairs or teams to discuss questions or problems posed in class. For faculty first beginning to use this technique, some basic guidelines can help avoid problems.

Plan carefully your small-group assignments

Tasks requiring mere recall of information will rarely sustain discussion and may convey an unintended message that individualized preparation of materials is unnecessary. Conversely, if you are asking for a very carefully phrased response (e.g., draft the legislation) rather than ideas, solutions, or arguments, in-class cooperative groups are less likely to work effectively. Writing is essentially an individual activity, and cooperative work with written assignments is better left to cooperative critique and editing, rather than drafting.

Cooperative learning is most effective for tasks requiring critical analysis. Questions that work very well in small-group settings include those requiring the students to generate or choose among solutions to a problem presented by the case or problems assigned for class. Some questions we ordinarily pose in Socratic dialogue make good candidates for group work. For example: "Which rule/approach is better and why?" "How might the attorneys have avoided this problem?" "How is this rule likely to affect people's actions in the future?" "What are the arguments for and against this approach?" If a problem or question would require students to absorb any significant additional facts before discussion, these problems should ordinarily be provided to students ahead of class.

Be sure students are prepared for cooperative tasks

Unless you are asking students to share personal experiences or observations, be sure that you have provided them with sufficient background to effectively address the in-class work. In-class group work can become an exercise in pooled ignorance if students have not mastered the basic materials for the class (either because the assigned materials were not sufficient or because the students have not prepared). Also students may also need some preparation for the cooperative work itself. Providing students some basic guidelines for brainstorming techniques, active listening, and allocation of responsibilities in the group can enhance the effectiveness of the group's work.

Preface group tasks with individual tasks

Unless you have asked students to prepare a problem or question ahead of time, when you pose the question for group discussion you should provide a moment to think before beginning discussion. One minute is ordinarily sufficient. It allows students who are more introverted to work within their preferred learning mode. Also, providing students a moment to gather their thoughts reinforces a more general message that glib responses are not necessarily preferable to thoughtful responses. At least occasionally, preface group work with techniques to ensure individual accountability (short quizzes, random questioning on basic materials, written assignments, etc.). Students understand well that group work presents free-rider risks and will quickly come to resent regular group work if the instructor does not design the classes to minimize this risk.

Listen and learn

As the students begin discussion, walk around the classroom and listen. Work with students who seem stuck or reluctant to engage in this type of work. For professors who feel like this technique is too much out of control ("How do I know they are learning it right?" "How can I be sure they aren't just socializing?"), walking around and listening to the discussion will demonstrate fairly quickly that this technique really is effective teaching. At a minimum, group work provides an excellent assessment device for you to discover how and what students are learning.

Diversify group tasks

You needn't have all students work on the same question. Divide the class in half; have the small groups work on generating opposing arguments or different aspects of the problem. Or divide the students into groups to come up with questions, hypotheticals, or problems, rather than arguments, answers, or solutions.

Bring them back together

When the discussion begins to wane, or the time allotted for discussion ends, the instructor has several options. You may simply want to proceed with the lesson. Students, however, need and deserve some feedback on their discussion. A brief comment on their discussions may be sufficient (e.g., "All the groups came up with some good solutions ..."). If students have been asked to record their ideas, you can collect their reports and provide written feedback. Another closure device would be to take a poll of groups ("How many groups decided this was the correct approach?"). You may also want to use the small-group discussions as the starting point for further exploration. Small groups can be asked to report back on their work. This is more effective if students are asked to engage in different tasks or the range of responses is very broad. Otherwise, to avoid repetition, you may combine group reporting with polling ("How many other groups agreed with this position?").

Read more about it

It is quite possible and effective to structure an entire class using a team-learning approach. A rich body of literature is available to those who wish to expand their use of cooperative work groups in class. The following bibliography provides some starting points:

• Neal A. Whitman, Peer Teaching: To Teach Is To Learn Twice 14 (ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 4 1988).
• John B. Mitchell, Current Theories on Expert and Novice Thinking: A Full Faculty Considers the Implications for Legal Education, 39 J. Leg. Educ. 275, 283-5 (1989).
• David Johnson and Roger Johnson, Instructional Goal Structure: Cooperative, Competitive, or Individualistic, 44 Rev. of Educ. Research 213, 228 (1974).