The Importance of the Small Group Learning Activities: the Impact of Such Groups - Literature review Example

Overview Team working has been a quite effective method of solving problems. It can be considered as the divisioning of a complex situation into smaller parts which can be addressed by a specialist. The information is communicated in the form that is quite meaningful for other specialists. The process followed are planning, monitoring as well as accessing the intermediate results. If collaborative effort is applied to any task then the productivity tends to increase (Zawojewski & Et. Al., 2003). The overall study tries to demonstrate the importance of the small group learning activities. Objective of the Study The main objective of the study has been to understand the role of the small-group learning activities. The study will be related to the United Kingdom undergraduate students in subject areas linked to health care. The study will provide certain supporting evidences in small-group learning activities for the small group to discuss and debate. A clinical based scenario will be selected upon which the overall literature review will be based. At first the literature review will try to make the reader understand as to what the term small-group learning activity denotes. It will further try to explain the clinical based evidences that can be used by the small groups of students to discuss and debate. Finally, the literature review will try to identify the impact of such small group learning activities. Literature Review Meaning and Definition of the Small-Group Learning Activity The term small-group learning is also referred to as cooperative or collaborative learning activity. It can be understood as being the method that ensures that the students engage themselves actively in the course related material and thus build their individual knowledge rather than accepting the knowledge from the instructor. Therefore, it is important to understand if the three terms that is collaborative learning, cooperative learning and small-group learning express the same meaning. Most of the practitioners consider all the three types of learning to have the same goals, that is, to change a passive classroom environment into active student-centered environment. However, it has been evident that most of the authors don’t view the three types of learning as synonymous. In this regards, it can be discussed that the two terms collaborative learning as well as cooperative learning can be distinguished from each other. However, both the terms seem to focus upon the notion that students need to engage themselves with the study material so that they can learn the information in a meaningful manner. These terms assist in creating the environment where the students engage themselves in the study material by partaking of their knowledge and ideas by means of providing the support, feedback along with encouragement and by teaching each other. It is to be pointed out that the term small-group learning is quite flexible as well as comprehensive. It further reveals that there might be circumstances when the members of the group don’t cooperate or it might even be the case when the members of the group simply collaborate. The type of task the group needs to accomplish determines the interaction among the group members in most of the cases. It can be demonstrated that the small-group learning has turned into current label that is given to the type of active-learning activity by putting the students into groups and they are asked to achieve the task (Kreke & Towns, 1998). Importance of Using the Small-Group Learning It can be revealed that the small group learning is quite important for the students. The group can function more effectively if they work in group. The task tends to get accomplished in a better manner when it is accompanied by the group. In addition to this, through the small group learning the students get to know their peers. Small-group learning assists the students to obtain various viewpoints on the same topic. The students might find it less intimidating to ask the questions to the peers more willingly than the teachers, at a situation when certainty of the answer is not comprehendible to them (Pritchard, n.d.). Collaborative and Cooperative Learning It is quite important to have an understanding of the term cooperative as well as collaborative learning. The term can be defined as the team process where the members of the group support and rely upon each other in order to achieve an agreed upon goal. None other than the class room can be the best place to develop the team-building skills (Study Guides and Strategies, 1996). Cooperative or collaborative learning is an interactive tool that assists in developing and sharing a common goal. It also contributes to the comprehension of the problem such as questions, insights as well as solutions. The learner is accountable to others while others are accountable to the learner. The team can function well when they are provided proper training. They further need to understand the methods of working in group (Study Guides and Strategies, 1996). Cooperative or collaborative learning can be understood as being a useful educational approach. The overall work needs to be planned carefully and it might demand the development of the stimulus or the resource material. It is quite important to have a facilitator in order to assist the students in their group effort. The facilitator needs to assess and evaluate the group function and learning that takes place in the educational settings (Crosby & Hesketh, n.d.). The term small group work can be explained as being one of the various educational strategies for the purpose of facilitating learning. The most significant thing to notice is that the small group learning may either be based upon one particular outcome or may include various outcomes (Crosby & Hesketh, n.d.). The various benefits of using the small group learning is that it permits the students to develop interpersonal, problem solving, presentation and communication skills. These kinds of skills can be defined as the generic skills which can prove to be advantageous in every step of life. It becomes quite difficult to develop the generic skills in isolation. It therefore requires feedback and interaction with other individuals. The small group learning activities permit the students to analyse the assumptions and gain a deeper understanding of the topic that has been assigned to them. Team work can be considered as the generic skill that can be developed via small group learning. It is worth keeping into consideration that the skills may be difficult to achieve other than in the team ‘small group’ setting. It becomes quite essential to work as a member of the team in case of healthcare setting (Crosby & Hesketh, n.d.). The role of the facilitator needs to be assessed. As a facilitator, a person needs to conduct two important roles. They are group maintenance and task role. The group maintenance role demands the capability to observe the phenomenon in the group for ensuring that the group functions well while working together. Conversely, the task role requires that the group completes the task that has been assigned to it (Crosby & Hesketh, n.d.). It can be described that there are three methods of small group activity learning. The choice of the method depends solely upon the learning outcome that the student expects. The three as well as the most popular methods are tutorials, role play and brainstorming. Tutorial relies on the teachers developing the question upon which the students in the group are required to work before discussing and sharing up of the findings. The case of role play is completely different where the students are required to perform in a situation either in their expected role or as the recipient of their role. Brainstorming is another type of technique of the small group activity learning that can be used for creative requirements where ideas are are generated (Crosby & Hesketh, n.d.). Issues Faced By the Staffs of Academics It has been noticed that that the staffs of the academics encounter common issues in their small group teaching environments. They divide the issues into two main categories such as the structural issues and the interpersonal issues. The general concern as identified by the academic related staffs in relation to the small group learning activities is freeloading. Freeloading represents the number of students who don’t engage themselves with the task and keep themselves unengaged and silent while others seems to be doing all the task. Distraction from the task is considered to be another concern that has been recognized as being the second and the most important issue. In this scenario the students tend to side-track the tutor by engaging themselves in a discussion that is irrelevant. Lecturer insecurity is considered to be another issue (Gunn, 2007). It can be established that the solution to the issues as identified above is to design better task. However, the other thing worth keeping into consideration is that the facilitator’s way of interacting with the students also has a greater impact (Gunn, 2007). Aspects of Small Group The small group can be broken into four aspects such as cognitive, physical, interpersonal and also experimental. The facilitator of the small group learning activity needs to introduce, define and structure the learning group. The facilitator needs to commit himself by providing all the relevant material as well as information resources to the group so that he can function more effectively and thus accomplish the task in a stipulated time period (Gunn, 2007). Effects of Learning and Teaching Methods According Forbes (2000), it is important to illustrate how the approaches and beliefs of the ‘high achieving and low achieving nursing student’ control the learning. She further determines the effect of the various teaching as well as the learning methods such as problem-based learning upon the beliefs and approaches. In order to conduct the survey the author collected data via journal analysis and interview of the undergraduate students in a unit within Bachelors of Nursing Course. The students were presented a case study that was designed to trigger self directed learning of the precise nursing skills as well as relevant theoretical concepts. In addition to this, the students had to explain the theoretical concepts and thus share their knowledge with the peers in small group discussion. In case of problem based learning the small group of learners are required to work with the case studies in certain manner so that they can resolve general problems that are practice-based. It was found that the prior belief about the nursing impacted the perception of significance of course content. However, in the absence of the clinical related experience it affected the interest and motivation. The problem based learning stimulated the understanding of the role of nurses. It was further found that the ‘high-achieving students’ with the help of the various resources were capable of interacting actively with the peers as well as the teachers to expand understanding. However, the ‘low-achieving students’ didn’t demonstrate sufficient skill and interest. They further used minimal of resources aiming only at the reproduction of the material (Forbes, 2000). Importance of Collaborative Problem Solving It can be described that the collaborative problem-solving or the small group learning activity can be considered as an important competency for the nurses as well as for all the health professionals. The authors Posey and Pintz have identified three strategies related to online-teaching that are required by the nurse educators to fabricate the critical view as well as social skills for efficient collaboration. They are case based facilitated discussion, computer aided collaborative learning and cognitive flexibility hypermedia. The strategies mentioned are quite beneficial since it provides instructional result that is required for the efficient collaboration. When the strategies are integrated with the online based courses then nurse educators can prepare their nurses to work better with others in a group so that complex problems can be solved in clinical practice as well as in health-care system (Posey & Pintz, 2006). The small group learning activity can assist the teams with the capability to manage the patients having diabetes and thus it further assists them in teaching how they can take proper care of their patients in day to day business affairs. Case Based Learning The case based learning can be defined as the collaborative group-based process. It enhances the analysis of the data as well as decision making via acquisition and application of the knowledge and skills. It is to be pointed out that the Clinical Based Learning must stimulate the reflection on personal as well as clinical experience and thus assist the students to apply learning to new situations (Warwick Medical School, 2010). As per the views of the Jacques (2003), teachers generally have wider choices available with them when they tend to work with the team. The series of the task helps in determining the learning (London Deanery, 2011). It can be demonstrated that the team may consist of eight to eleven learners that is facilitated by the teachers. In case of clinical teaching the group may be smaller than the number depicted above. It might even be a pair of the students as well as the trainees working with the health care system. The small group can also operate within a much larger setting such as workshops, conferences and lectures. The small group learning activity can provide opportunities to learn which might be quite difficult to gain in case of large group setting (London Deanery, 2011). It is worth mentioning that the collaborative learning activities can be a classroom discussion that has been interspersed with short lectures or it can be a study on the research teams lasting for a whole term or one year. The objective of collaborative learning also differs greatly (Smith & MacGregor, n.d.). It can be revealed that the collaborative learning has the British ancestry and thus is based upon the work of English teachers finding the ways to assist the students to react to the literatures by partaking actively in their own learning (Panitz, 1996). Evidence of Small Group Learning Activities It has been evident that a medical student faces great difficulties in the first two years of their medical school because of several reasons. It was in the year 2006; VCU SOM developed a student tutorial program in order to expand its academic resources for the first year as well as second year students. It was noted that via academic counselling the at-risk first year students were referred to the tutorial programmes that was based upon the performance of the course. In order to provide the tutoring the fourth year as well as the dual degree students was called in both individual sessions and small group. The payment was provided on an hourly basis. Both the tutors as well as the tutees concluded their survey by providing response based upon the pilot program. It was noted that the tutees reacted optimistically to the tutoring program. The students were taught how to organise the large amount of course material effectively by the tutors. The tutors also tried to pay individualised attention towards the tutees in a setting where the tutees felt comfortable to ask for queries. It was noted that for most of the students the additional review of the material in small group increased their self confidence (Wetzel, 2008). It was noted while evaluating the tutors that they enjoyed tutoring. Most of them were quite happy with the progress of their tutees and also felt that it was the tutees performance which reflected their teaching sessions (Wetzel, 2008). References Crosby, J. R. & Hesketh, E. A., No Date. Small Group Learning. Snippets on Small Group Learning. [Online] Available at: http://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/nes_resources/ti/SmallGroups.pdf [Accessed May 10, 2011]. Forbes, H., 2000. Beliefs and Learning Approaches of Undergraduate Nursing Students in a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Environment. Abstract. [Online] Available at: http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/nhcp/aejne/archive/vol5-2/forbeshvol5_2.html [Accessed May 11, 2011]. Gunn, V., 2007. Small Group Teaching. University of Glasgow. [Online] Available at: http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_12157_en.pdf [Accessed May 11, 2011]. Kreke, K. & Towns, M. H., 1998. “Student Perspectives of Small-Group Learning Activities”, The Chemical Educator. Vol: 3, Iss: 4. London Deanery, 2011. Small Group Activities. Clinical Supervision. [Online] Available at: http://www.faculty.londondeanery.ac.uk/e-learning/small-group-teaching/small-group-activities [Accessed May 11, 2011]. London Deanery, 2011. What is Small Group. Clinical Supervision. [Online] Available at: http://www.faculty.londondeanery.ac.uk/e-learning/small-group-teaching/what-is-a-small-group [Accessed May 11, 2011]. Posey, L. & Pintz, C., 2006. “Online Teaching Strategies To Improve Collaboration Among Nursing Students”, Nurse Education Today. Vol: 26, Iss: 8, Pp: 680-687. Pritchard, D., No Date. Practical Advice for Small Group Learning in Undergraduate Mathematics. What is Small Group Learning. [Online] Available at: http://sma.epfl.ch/~pritchar/pract-advice.pdf [Accessed May 11, 2011]. Panitz, T., 1996. A Definition of Collaborative vs. Cooperative Learning. Deliberation. [Online] Available at: http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/deliberations/collaborative-learning/panitz-paper.cfm [Accessed May 11, 2011]. Study Guides and Strategies, 1996. Cooperative and Collaborative Learning. News and Projects. [Online] Available at: http://www.studygs.net/cooplearn.htm [Accessed May 10, 2011]. Smith, B. L. & MacGregor, J. T., No Date. What is Collaborative Learning. Learning Commons. [Online] Available at: http://learningcommons.evergreen.edu/pdf/collab.pdf [Accessed May 11, 2011]. Warwick Medical School, 2010. Case Based Learning. About Us. [Online] Available at: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/med/about/cr/casetemplate/casebasedlearning/ [Accessed May 11, 2011]. Wetzel, A. P., 2008. Establishing a Student Tutoring Program. Jiamse. [Online] Available at: http://www.iamse.org/jiamse/volume18-1s/18-1s_complete.pdf [Accessed May 11, 2011]. Zawojewski, J. S. & Et. Al., 2003. A Models and Modeling Perspective on the Role of Small Group Learning Activities. Abstract. [Online] Available at: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/1658/ [Accessed May 10, 2011]. Bibliography Akcay, B., 2009. Problem Based Learning in Science Education. Abstract. [Online] Available at: http://www.tused.org/internet/tused/archive/v6/i1/text/tusedv6i1s3.pdf [Accessed May 11, 2011]. Ghosh, S. & Pandya, H. V., 2008. Implementation of Integrated Learning Program in Neurosciences during First Year of Traditional Medical Course: Perception of Students and Faculty, BMC Medical Education. Vol: 44, Iss: 8. Kruckeberg, J., 2008. CASTLE Case Study Analysis Questions. Uploaded. [Online] Available at: http://www.kirkwood.edu/pdf/uploaded/7/johanna_kruckeberg_castle_case_study.pdf [Accessed May 11, 2011]. McKimm, J. & Jollie, C., 2003. Facilitating Learning: Teaching and Learning Methods. Aims. [Online] Available at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/46327650/Facilitating-Learning-Teaching-Learning-Methods [Accessed May 11, 2011]. Pearson, P. & Et. Al., No Date. Learning Together in Practice. Literature Review. [Online] Available at: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/medev/assets/documents/commonlearningfinalreport.pdf [Accessed May 11, 2011]. The Royla Australian College of General Practitioner, No Date. Diabetes Management in General Practice A Small Group Learning Activity for Practice Teams. Case Study 3. [Online] Available at: http://www.racgp.org.au/Content/NavigationMenu/ClinicalResources/RACGPGuidelines/Diabetesmanagement/DiabetesSmallGrouplearning.pdf [Accessed May 11, 2011]. Read More