Get Your Students Hired
Is it better to have the group of friends sit next to each other and work in groups together or to break them up and introduce them to and work with other members of their class?
It is really on an individual basis. I watch them the first day. If I see that there may be an issue I will talk to them away from the class, usually as they are going to break so it isn't as noticible to the reat of the class. I tell them my concerns and what I expect. 90% of the time it takes careof it. If I continue to have a problem I seperate them.
I agree with this point. If you ailenate students right off the bat, the learning experience may not be productive. It's an ebb and flow during the course. An instructor needs to be able to assess a situation and make adjustments when necessary.
In my classes, I allow the students to choose their own groups because many times they have a good working relationship. I also make it clear if objectives are not met I reserve the right to re-assign groups based on my observations.
I let students intially sit where they want and work with their classmate of choosing. Then I break them into pairs, groups of 3, and groups of 5 making certain, if feasible, to have them working with someone different. The plan is to get them all acquainted and to stop idle chit-chat. Also, as the course progresses I can see the stronger ones and periodically have them work with someone weaker.
I also will take a day and move them to separate tables IF I have talkers. I can usually let them go back to their seat of choice the next day and sometimes they choose to sit somewhere else if the previous seating assignment allowed them to concentrate!!!
I have seen this work both ways. In the beginning the buddy group is a positive. It helps the students feel comfortable and they tend to be more open to interactive participation in the classroom learning process.
The danger is that they can become so involved in the dynamics of their own table that sub conversations off topic to the lecture or presentation can develope.
The challege of bringing them back into the mainstream must be handled carefully so as not to alienate the entire group.
I have been very hesitant to break up these groups in the past. Given the sharpness of hindsight in the future when the group (table) dynamics become disruptive I will re-seat some of the students the next class session. I am unsure ot the outcome but at the moment I feel I would have experienced a better classroom atmosphere if I had re-seated some students.
My fear of re-seating students in the past has been that I would be punshing attentive students by taking their seats near the front of the room. As we all know the classroom is not a static environment and "state changes," help keep us all alert.
Best of luck to us all!