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This is a good point, Heidi. I agree with you. However, could there be any other resources that could supportthis assumption?

This is a good point, Heidi. I agree with you. However, could there be any other resources that could support this assumption?

Hi Sya, That's a good question. I don' t think I have read anything that states this point straight out. However, most all of the readings that we had in this course talked about how important group projects are for teaching students to work together. This makes me think that it holds a high place in the reasons for assigning collaborative work. I guess it is my common sense that says gaining knowledge of a subject area is also very important in group projects. Thinking back to teaching spanish, while part of the reason I assigned group work was to help students communicate and work together, the main objectives of the course focused on learning Spanish. In order for me to be a good steward of the students' time in Spanish class I needed to provide activities that helped them learn Spanish! I guess that is why I think the weight of these two areas may be equal - it is very important that students learn to work together and that they learn the subject matter =)

I think it is good if instructors are not able to write instructions that are not "too clear" for students, however, the instructors need a lots of practice in doing so. It may take them a couple or more of experiences in writing and organizing collaborative activities before they can finally write instructions that are good enough.

Hi Sya, I think you are definitely right on target here. As a teacher, I usually followed the pattern of accidentally giving very vague instructions, then going overboard the next year and making too many limitations and parameters on the activity and then finally the 3rd year on an activity I would start to find a nice middle ground. I think that the methods we are learning in our programs here at FSU would help to alleviate this issue and possibly help us to get it closer to right on the first try! Following a pattern that includes some evaluation and learner analysis early on should be very helpful in this process!

I believe that this is a good way to approach students in using diagrams or mind maps. I am a visual person and totally agree that in one way or another we should incorporate the use of diagrams / mind maps in our classes. You must be a great teacher, Heidi!

Hey Sya, Thank you - that is very nice to hear =) I think it's important to incorporate multiple ways of explaining and organizing information - each person seems to have such different strengths. I appreciate the ideas and suggestions provided by our text, instructor, and other students in this class. We have gained a wealth of resources in varying activities for group projects.