umms crit teaching & leadership: small group teaching susan j. pasquale, phd assistant provost...

UMMS CRIT Teaching & Leadership: Small Group Teaching

Susan J. Pasquale, PhDAssistant Provost Johnson & Wales University

UMMS CRIT 2012 Teaching & Learning: Small Group Teaching

Advancing Geriatrics Education (AGE) A UMMS initiative funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• Describe at least 1 key element of preparation for small group

teaching

• Identify at least 2 skills the effective facilitator needs to bring to

small group teaching

Learning Objectives



Content & Process in Small Group Teaching

Content• Problem• Context• Knowledge• Skills• Attitudes

Process• Dialogue• Questioning• Collaboration• Activity• Interpersonal skills



Criteria for an effective small group

• Climate

• Cooperative vs. competitive

• Active participation

• Distribution of leadership

• Enjoyable

• Content adequately & efficiently covered

• Evaluation an integral part

• Regular attendance

• Preparation by all



What are some things a facilitator needs to do to prepare for small group teaching?

• Know audience

• Establish learning objectives

• Provide resources as needed

• Anticipate problems

• Determine group size room & other logistics

• Establish interpersonal elements– Ground rules– Role definitions & clarification of tasks

• Consider facilitation and interaction



What are skills an effective facilitator needs to bring to small group teaching?

• Stop learners at critical points and ask them to elaborate on what

they are thinking

• Probe learners’ understanding of principles and concepts

• Summarize what is known and not known about the problem/issue

at hand

• Build on comments made by learners



What are skills an effective facilitator needs to bring to small group teaching? (cont)

• Before intervening, listen as learners develop their ideas through

prolonged periods of discussion with one another

• Encourage learners to:– Listen fully to each other– Tolerate silence– Interrupt one another infrequently– Focus on areas in which they feel the greatest confusion or lack of

knowledge– Assess their learning needs



Question and Probe the Reasoning Process with Different Types of Questions

Cognitive Domain

• Exploratory: What evidence supports…?

• Challenge: How else might we account…?

• Cause-and-Effect: If X happens, then…?

• Hypothetical: What if…?

• Summary: What are one or two important insights…?



Group Techniques

• Buzz groups

• Brainstorming

• Snowball (or pyramids)

• Nominal

• Role play

• Jigsaw (or crossover)

• Fishbowl

• Plenary

• Case-based



Evaluating a Discussion

• Were a variety of perspectives explored?

• Was the discussion open-ended and did it generate new questions?

• Was the discussion appreciative of difference and open to frank

disagreements?

• Was the discussion respectful? Collaborative?

• How clearly were ideas communicated?

• How well did the discussion lead to a deeper understanding? New

knowledge?

• Are you feeling more confident about leading discussions? Why?

umms crit teaching & leadership: small group teaching susan j. pasquale, phd assistant provost...

Documents

small group teaching

umms crit teaching leadership

umms initiative

learning needs slide

group size room

reynolds foundation

reynolds foundation

interaction slide