Planning for small group teaching

Tips for postgraduates on small group teaching from David Grantham (National Teaching Fellow), presented at the UKCLE event on supporting postgraduates who teach on 7 November 2003.

What is a small group?

Nomenclature varies between institutions, but small group teaching may consist of any of the following:

• tutorials
• seminars
• problem-solving classes
• presentations in groups
• workshops with small groups

What can be said with certainty is that the purpose of any of these is to get students to talk to the tutor and to each other and, usually, goes beyond mere recall of facts, concepts and principles to areas of analysis, evaluation and criticism.

Skills required

It is generally considered that the main skills required from the tutor are:

• identifying clear outcomes for the session either with or without the help of the students
• communicating these to the students
• choosing the processes of learning to be employed
• preparing any necessary materials
• engaging the students both in the process and the content
• questioning
• listening
• responding appropriately to questions
• encouraging all students to get involved
• explaining difficult points

Students also need to develop their own skills, including most of those from the list above, and effective tutors will encourage them to do this. Indeed, handing over more control to students as a course proceeds is indicative of the students taking more and more responsibility for their own. However, this will not happen automatically, and the tutor has to exercise much professional judgment in choosing the timing for the gradual relinquishing of tutor control.

Range of methods

Variety is important here. Reduce boredom by trying different approaches.

• tutorial: involves small groups where students have been working on an essay or problem
• problem-solving: in large or small groups, but focused specifically on problems
• seminar: large or small groups to discuss papers and/or other materials
• workshop: a mixture of small inputs by the tutor followed by work on tasks in small groups followed by feedback to the whole group
• crossover groups: large group is sub-divided into two or more smaller groups with transfers of some students between groups at appropriate times
• student-led group: students decide on the topic and how it will be discussed; tutor merely observes or may intervene if necessary
• buzz group or brainstorming: brief discussions or ideas gathered from students to generate ideas or topics to be followed up later
• presentations: individual students or groups of students present on a topic devised by the tutor or on a self or group generated topic
• snowballs: individuals, then pairs, then fours etc to generate wider views on a topic progressively
• mini projects: individuals or groups work on a particular small project and report to the whole group
• fishbowl: smaller group is observed by larger group, the latter summarising the discussion, or taking the reverse role, are observed by the former small group
• self-help group: run by students using the tutor as a resource
• role play: students take specific roles and argue from a particular standpoint
• Action Learning Set (ALS): tutor acts as a facilitator to the set, where, in turn, students present issues, are asked questions for clarification and the rest of the group then suggest ways forward – the presenting student selecting action points to follow up (optimum number in group is argued to be six; can be very useful in skills development)

When things go wrong

• goals unclear
• process unclear
• lack of preparation by students or tutor
• tutor turns the process into a lecture
• students do not participate
• talk dominated by one or two students
• focus is on memory recall rather than higher level cognitive skills
• tutor ignores emotions expressed by students
• discussion is too unfocused
• too many questions asked at once
• ignoring student responses
• tutor too critical of student contributions
• questions too difficult or asked too soon
• tutor asking the question and then tutor answering it
• tutor asking the question in a threatening manner

Ground rules

Any newly formed group goes through the usual processes before they can function effectively, ie forming – storming – norming – performing. Ground rules can help speed up this process so that groups can work together effectively more quickly. Examples include:

• every member of the group has a responsibility to make sure that it works
• everyone should listen carefully to what others say
• everyone has the right to speak
• no one is allowed to hog the conversation
• it’s OK to pass (an habitual ‘passer’ is very rare!)
• anyone can call for help from the others
• each member of the group will treat the others with respect

Last Modified: 4 June 2010