In the Classroom edited by
Secondary School Chemistry
Diana S. Mason University of North Texas Denton, TX 76203-5070
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Team Building–Problem Solving
Martin Bartholow Shawnee Mission North High School, Shawnee Mission, KS 66202; *
[email protected] Cooperative groups and laboratory activities that increase student performance have been described in this Journal (1) and elsewhere (2). However, Johnson (3) and Nurrenbern (4) have stipulated that cooperative groups do not spontaneously form and steps must be undertaken to shift a student’s paradigm from individualism to cooperation. High schools present unique problems in forming successful groups. Unlike college and university students, high school students have a wider range of motivations for enrolling in courses and may not be encouraged outside of school to succeed academically. Therefore, high school teachers are continually looking for new ways to introduce and develop study and science skills. Tim Erickson in Get It Together (5) presents about 150 math problems on clue-cards to encourage cooperative learning. Following his lead, I have developed six sets of cards that can be copied onto cardstock and cut apart to present chemistry and logic problems to high school students. Dividing the problems into steps and giving part of the problems to different students encourages strong students to share their thoughts and learning skills with weaker students, and lets all students contribute to the team and experience the strength of team learning. These cards are presented as a tool to increase cooperative learning and help students break the mold of competition for points and viewing each person’s role as a duplication of another’s effort. Some problems are presented to lab groups at the start of the school year to encourage cohesiveness, and others are designed to fit in a particular topic augmenting teaching. Very little specific instruction is given to the whole class, except for the need of only one report per group, but I constantly walk around the room and listen in on conversations, making a minimum of comments. Laboratory groups are stressed extensively, with the groups working on lab assignments, worksheets, and exchange of ideas during class. These cards are presented as one of many tools to encourage cooperative learning. The effectiveness of the cards has not been formally evaluated, in part because they are only one component of an overall reliance on cooperative learning at the high school level. Each easily shuffled card presents a part of the problem and the students have to assemble the parts of the puzzle. Most problems have six cards, but multiple parts of a problem can be placed on any one card. As a result, each member in a four-member laboratory group can be dealt a part of the puzzle, and the remaining cards left in the center of the group for further examination. Other ways of distributing the cards can be suggested to the groups, but as group interaction improves during the school year, each group develops its own
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Erica K. Jacobsen University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI 53706
personality and strategies. The instructor’s personal instructional style will determine whether detailed organizational instructions are given to the groups, or whether the groups are first allowed to seek their own organization before suggestions are volunteered. During the span of a few days the author has seen up to 30 different ways of organizing groups, and the only restraints put on members are (i) that each person should participate and (ii) the groups cannot ask someone outside the group what to do. In addition to gaining skills in looking for critical information, each member is encouraged to look for ways to contribute to the group and depend on other team members. In our class, an envelope with the cards is distributed to the team. The team is given 10 minutes to work out the problem, write a brief description of the solution, and turn in the assignment. The time limit can be varied from problem to problem, but a short time helps students focus on the problem and may encourage groups to self-police team members who do not seem to participate. The six problems presented in the Supplementary MaterialW are suggestive of the problems that can be created, and instructors can modify the reagents and quantity of the chemical to present more practice. Any process, such as graphing and stoichiometry that can be broken down into a series of four to ten steps, can be used as a source of new problems. At the beginning of the year when groups have yet to solidify, nonchemical problems are presented, but as the group’s cooperation and knowledge about chemistry develops, classical problems can be used. WSupplemental
Material
Six problems are available in this issue of JCE Online. Literature Cited 1. Domin, D. S. J. Chem Educ. 1999, 76, 109–112. Kogut, L. J. Chem. Educ. 1997, 74, 720–722. 2. Nurrenbern, S. C.; Robinson, W. R. J. Chem Educ. 1997, 74, 623–624; for a bibliography. 3. Johnson, D. W.; Johnson, R. T.; Smith, K. A. Active Learning: Cooperation in the College Classroom; Interaction Book Company: Edina, MN, 1991. 4. Experiences in Cooperative Learning; Nurrenbern, Susan C., Ed.; Institute for Chemical Education: Madison, WI, 1995. 5. Erickson, T. Get It Together, Math Problems for Groups; Equals, Lawrence Hall of Science: Berkeley, CA, 1989.
Vol. 83 No. 4 April 2006
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Journal of Chemical Education
599
