Robbi,
This is a very good point and when the instructor is guiding the discussion, it can reduce misunderstanding and/or the possibility of one person talking over another.
Jae Gruber
Peter,
Great idea Peter. Students do sometimes enjoy a competitive environment, sometimes more so in a group setting than as individiauls.
Jae Gruber
I send my students in groups to do health inspections in other lab classes. Therefore it gives them real life examples of the topics discussed in the classroom.
Ray,
This is an excellent idea and also a reminder that some day it is THEIR class that will be inspected by another Food Safety class!
Jae Gruber
banquet service using the brigade system splitting the class in two groups to compete against the clock
Creating a menu in small groups so students can bounce ideas off each other is typically a productive group project.
LAURENT,
Students often do like to compete against each other and it helps establish a sense of urgency. Using the brigade system during a banquest service is an excellent idea!
Jae Gruber
Said,
This can indeed be a fun small group project. Do you find that students are open to the ideas of others, or that a leader emerges? How do you ensure that each student within a group is able to contribute?
Jae Gruber
One of the GenEd classes I teach is a government/politics class. The students are dying to get back into the kitchen, so we have a group project where they divide into smaller teams and actually cook one of the favorite dishes of a U.S. president! They present a recipe, short biography, and a delicious dish for the class to enjoy. It's always a hit!
When we are in the cooking labs, we ususally work in teams. After we discuss the recipes of the day, cooking methods and I do the demos, they break up into their teams and start organizing their mise en place and production scheme. Some groups work well sharing responsibilities of the same recipe and some work best if each student is responsible for one recipe. However, I change things around frequently, so they learn to work in teamsv as well as individually, and break from their comfort zone. In the classroom, I teach mostly math (Cost Control and Purcnhasing), so I always encourage open discussion and when we have exercises, I allow them to discuss with each other. In the future, I would like to have them work on a test case for a restaurant business, the only challenge os that night students do not have much free time outside classroom to work on group projects. So I need to think it through. Suggestions are appreciated.
thanks,
Alex
Trina,
What an excellent idea! I can see how the students would truly do love that project! Dual learning at its best!
Jae Gruber
If they can do research together and each have an assigned task so that they are equally responsible for their share seems to work out best.
I do the same, I find this affords them a sense of ownership that helps them stay engaged
In my communication classes we have done several group project. Just this last term we did a across culture theme informative group speech project. Where the students had to pick a cultural and cook that cultural food and gave information about that particular cultural.
I find thatit is easy to assign a group project but the results are far from adequet as most students wait until the last minute to submit thier work not understanding the group concept in this case is a preview to the world to which they are going to go into. There are very few carrers that are concieved ,completed and run by one individual
Caroline,
Indeed, when instructors assign specific tasks within the group, it can be easier than if students decide for themselves who will be responsible for each task.
Jae Gruber
Estella,
Students do need a sense of ownership in group projects. Do you grade the students as individuals within the group, or grade the project itself and each group member receives the same grade?
Jae Gruber
Steven,
You make some very good points. What can be changed to drive home the importance of how the group concept will assist them at present in their life outside of school?
Jae Gruber
Allowing student groups to develop a menu and game plan for specific cuisines i.e. Regional American offers a good group dynamic.
I like to assign group projects that require individual assessment's as well as group assessment's to have a fair evaluation.
