Positive interdependence in project groups and oral presentations

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• Positive interdependence in project groups and
  oral presentations
• John Morgan
• Language and Learning Centre
• University of Wales Aberystwyth

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• Weve done this before.
• Group dynamics, teamwork strategies,
  cooperative learning?
• We didnt do it quite like that!

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Appropriacy in an HE context

• This presentation looks at the development of
  team based oral presentations
• In an HE context they are dependent on the
  appropriate representation of academic ideas
  and despite lip service being paid to new formats
  and approaches to academic work, must still be
  justified in terms of individual student ability
  in relation to other academic programmes

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• Communication, planning, writing and presentation
  takes place through positive interdependence
• As such students have negotiated every step
  through the processes they work with to the final
  product of their work and the presentation
• They have also negotiated how their written and
  oral discourse will be received by their audience
  and justified choices accordingly

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• Students, often with significantly disparate
  backgrounds, develop their projects through a
  combination of teamwork strategies, cooperative
  learning principles and positive group dynamics
• They choose their own groups and negotiate their
  own topics that will represent the work to be
  presented for final assessment in the module

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• 3 years
• 6 modules
• 24 group projects from a total of 71 students
• Groups vary in size from 2 to 6 students,
  according to negotiated subject interest areas
• Mostly ERASMUS European exchange students
• 5 full time Japanese students have also been
  allowed to join the module
• A wide variety of topics have been chosen either
  in specialist or mixed-discipline groups

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• Class demographics
• Team work strategies
• Principles of cooperative learning
• Group dynamics
• Group, topic and medium nomination
• Seminars divided between input discussion and
  practice
• Specialist seminars on web design
• Group presentations individual reports

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Team working strategies

• parallel working, in which jobs are divided into
  individual tasks
• sequential working, in which jobs are passed from
  one individual to another for further refinement
• reciprocal working, in which all group members
  (or sub groups) work together on all tasks.
• (Sharples, 1999 171)

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Principles of cooperative learning

• positive interdependence
• team formation
• accountability
• social skills
• structuring (methods) and structures
  (organisation).
• (Olsen Kagan, 1992 1-30)

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Group dynamics

• Forming
• Storming
• Norming
• Performing
• (Argyle, 1969)
• Mourning
• (Added by Heron, 1989)

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Negative group dynamics

• Psychological defensiveness
• Existential anxiety
• Archaic anxiety
• Cultural oppression
• Rigid hierarchy
• Gender bias
• Intellectual alienation
• Educational alienation

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Team work in practice

• Balanced interaction with students aware of
  processes and responsibilities
• Dissipation of earlier tensions and negative
  impressions from prior learning
• High levels of motivation and achievement
• Greater awareness for compensation strategies
  when things go wrong

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In comparison to other team work modules

• Higher levels of motivation and satisfaction
  through choice
• Greater relative completion levels
• Much stronger feedback
• Continuation of module and further development of
  approach

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Conclusion

• Students work effectively, despite problems that
  all modules face
• Positive group dynamics and reflection on
  processes of team work and CL help students
  understand their ultimate goal effective
  communication
• This in turn allows students to communicate from
  their own perspectives and aims
• Strong social ties through positive process rare
  in HE modules

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References

• http//users.aber.ac.uk/jpm/el21010/el2.html
• Argyle, M. (1969). Social Interaction. London
  Methuen.
• Heron, J. (1989). The Facilitators Handbook.
  Kogan Page.
• Johnson, D.W., Maruyama, G., Johnson, R., Nelson,
  D. Skon, L. (1981). Effects of Cooperative,
  Competitive, and Individualistic Goal Structures
  on Achievement A Meta-Analysis. Psychological
  Bulletin, 89 47-62. In Kessler, C. (Ed.) (1992).
• Johnson, D.W. Johnson, R.T. (1989). Cooperation
  and Competition Theory and Research. Interaction
  Book Company Edina, MN. In Kessler, C. (Ed.)
  (1992).
• Kessler, C. (Ed.) (1992). Cooperative Language
  Learning A Teachers Resource Book. Englewood
  Cliffs, NJ Prentice Hall Regents.
• Olson, R.E.W-B, Kagan, S. (1992). About
  Cooperative Learning in Kessler, C. (Ed.)
  (1992).
• Sharples, M. (1999). How We Write Writing as
  Creative Design. London Routledge.
• Other references
• Richardson, V., Underhill, A. Bowen, T. (1991).
  Group discussion worksheets for Teacher
  Development in English Language Teaching British
  Council International Specialist Course.
  Hastings ILC/International House.