Leveraging Group Dynamics for Effective Breakout Rooms

Group work is effective. In fact, cooperative learning has been shown to result in greater academic achievement (Brame, 2020). Stemming from Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory of development, small group work requires that each student become an expert on the subject at hand and that the instructor become a facilitator for learning rather than the sole holder and distributor of knowledge. While a little group work can go a long way, we have all been victims of group work that went awry or felt useless. There are a number of factors that can contribute to group work’s success or failure, such as the delivery of instructions, but another aspect to consider is what each student will be doing in breakout room assignments. According to research conducted by Google, effective groups are about the dynamics, and these dynamics are created by a combination of each member’s role, how the members interact, and their core values or goals (Chamorro-Premuzic & Davey, 2017). This means that as you plan lessons to include small group work in breakout rooms, it is also important to consider intentionally planning group assignments, the group members, and the roles that each member can play to ensure a more engaging experience for each student.

Similar to on-ground classes, intentional grouping can lead to powerful demonstrations of learning and creativity. I have witnessed this in my classes countless times. As you get to know your students and their personalities, you can combine this knowledge with a variety of task roles and social-emotional roles in order to not only maximize each group’s work but also provide more opportunities for the shy, quiet, and historically silenced students to actively participate. 

For your next breakout room activity that is assignment or task-based, try explicitly adding into the instructions that the group should determine roles for each group member. A few examples of useful roles could be 

• The Researcher for finding necessary references from the asynchronous material and additional resources;

• The Note Taker for tracking the group’s information in chat, on the whiteboard, or using a collaborative document, and;

• The Encourager for encouraging all group members to actively participate, share opinions and information, and make space for the otherwise silent or silenced voice. 

Adding this step into the instructions and listing the roles with their descriptions is a great way of setting expectations. Coupling this with breakout room observations and/or check-ins along the project timeline can allow for redirects and shoutouts where needed. To take this further, especially for larger projects, each student could take on a task or procedural role plus one social-emotional role. To strengthen cooperative collaboration even more, try implementing peer evaluation forms where appropriate for honest insight from the students to better inform future practice for you and for the individual student.

By strategically and intentionally leveraging roles in group dynamics and self-directed learning within andragogy, roles in breakout rooms can take cooperative learning to new levels in the digital learning environment.

Sources

Brame, C. (2020, March 26). Group work: Using cooperative learning groups effectively. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/setting-up-and-facilitating-group-work-using-cooperative-learning-groups-effectively/ 

Chamorro-Premuzic, D. & Davey, L., (2017, January 31). Great Teams Are About Personalities, Not Just Skills. https://hbr.org/2017/01/great-teams-are-about-personalities-not-just-skills 

Group Roles. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.amherst.edu/system/files/media/group-roles_0.pdf 

Group Roles: Maximizing Group Performance. (2019, March 04). https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/developing-assignments/group-work/group-roles-maximizing-group-performance 

Phil Venditti, O. (n.d.). Introduction to Communication. Retrieved October 28, 2020, from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/introductiontocommunication/chapter/groups-roles/ 

Porteus, A. (n.d.). Role People Play in Groups. Retrieved October 28, 2020, from https://web.stanford.edu/group/resed/resed/staffresources/RM/training/grouproles.html 

Saunders, E. (2020, October 13). 4 Tips for Effective Virtual Collaboration. https://hbr.org/2020/10/4-tips-for-effective-virtual-collaboration?registration=success

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.