I have tried small group with jigsaw activity. It seemed to work well. I need more practice with it. The students engaged quickly and remained engaged and all participated. I randomly grouped students together. They worked well together and they taught each other as they learned. This small group approach is not adequate for all application. I will continue to use this method when possible and improve on group selection.
I am using the jigsaw method to finish teaching a unit on juvenile justice right now. It is working OK, but as you expressed, I have seen that there are some kinks that I need to work out. For one, it has taken a lot longer than expected. I only gave each group about 2 1/2 pages worth of information to teach, yet it is taking them FOREVER to get their lesson together. Then, of course, you've got those within the group that contribute more than others. I am using a peer evaluation to determine part of their final grade, yet some students are still rather unmotivated to contribute and have stated they would rather me lecture and have them take notes. This is a method I plan on using again. Overall, I have liked howit has worked. I am wondering if we have had some of the same issues with it and, if so, maybe we can put our minds together to help perfect it! Let me know what specific issues you faces when implementing this form of instruction.
ReplyDeleteThis was a trial run of the strategy and my point values were low, since this was my first time. I wasn't sure how students would respond. I wanted to be able to put a grade in the system. I had a time limit to research the information and present it to the class as a group. They responded well. I need to improve on peer evaluation and group selection.
ReplyDeleteI have also tried the jigsaw method and agreet that it works well for material related activities, but I don't think it would work well with more hands on activities. I also found that you have to time this type of activity just right. Too little time and the work is flawed and rushed and too much time allows classroom management issues to creep in. Good job and keep it up.
ReplyDeleteShellee