Active Learning In Virtual Environment/Team Learning

Activity: #in-class/short-term, #group-work, #needs-preparation

Outline

Is a structured form of small-group learning that emphasizes student preparation out of class and application of knowledge in class. Students are organized strategically into diverse teams of 5-7 students that work together throughout the class. Before each unit or module of the course, students prepare by reading prior to class. Achieving the learning advantage requires teamwork. Team learning marks a movement from individual learning to learning across individuals and serves as the basis for moving from individual to organizational learning.

Team Learning Illustration

Activity arrangement

• Assign the students a reading that they must do before the class.
• Ask them to take a few notes from the text that they thought were important.
• In class divide the students into groups of 5-7 people.
• Provide the students with a few questions and ask them to start discussing the text further.
• Gather everybody after a while to the main session and ask what each of the groups discussed.
• Provide feedback to the groups as well as to the whole class and then end exercise.

Pointers

• Leading teams involves building shared beliefs and team-learning behaviors.
• Team-learning behaviors include three interrelated processes: coordinating, continuously improving, and adapting.
• To foster team learning, leaders must work to establish an environment that engenders appropriate levels of control and participation.
• Team-learning processes track the experiential learning cycle and include building a shared purpose, reflective integration, critical conversations, and taking action.

How to use this method in online class?

Assign a reading to the class before the next class. When the next class arrives, assign the students into groups for example 5-7 people and then provide them with few startup questions and ask them to discuss the reading given to them. Also instruct them to reflect on what they’ve read and how the reading is relevant to their class. This all can be done via Zoom.