Group Learning

a collection of quotes and notes from the NmInTheSouthPacific project which relate to Group Learning in the South Pacific. These were collected from the site by Shalen Gounden

Binto, CS Tutor, Site Visit to Kiribati, NmKiribati

• several students on each computer for KCC01 and KCC02
• "some like to share, if they really know who is sitting next to them" but siting next to a stranger is difficult for them, and they would be better off alone

Mark Dennis, Phone Interview, NmSolomons

• quite often double or triple up when working on a group project
• only 15 tables in library, so if they do have discussion groups they are probably somewhere else
• big lecture theatre: 60 people
• 3 classrooms: 25 students each
• "quite hard to say if they have discussion groups or not"
• alot of students work on their own
• men and women separate
• we have to encourage working together
  • LABS: usually two per group, but it depends on number of equipment’s "if groups get bigger people tend to speculate"
• some like to set up small groups
• "some like to do things on their own, some like to do it in groups" accounting, economics, because more practical
  • If more than 1 person, only 1 will dominate, and the teacher must step in to allow (or even force) the other student to get hands-on practice

Prem Sinha, Labasa Centre, NmFiji

• Students study in library
• local tutors who look after certain classes
• Provide local tutors for ?Savusavu, Taveuni
• examination centers throughout Vanua Levu and Taveuni
• study groups encouraged, time given in rooms, classroom is set aside foir this
• 60-70% student attendance at local tutorials

Fiaosi Aleamotua, Assistant USPNet Operator, NmTonga

• discussions in library
• most students do their work at home

Bisun Deo: Followup, NmHindu

Indians

• "Indians don't take things at face value" and it is OK to find this out from peers

History of Indian Challenge Songs shows that even competitive questioning is OK between peers

• "Indians are very individualistic. At home we will do things individually. Many times students study alone"
• able to adjust to group learning: "when people go harvesting sugar cane they do it in a group"

Cross-culture Frustration with Group learning

• "in group learning there can be a lot of frustration"
• picking up the slack for others
• being held back by others in the group
• feeling "used" by others who don't work as hard
• "I'd rather hand this in myself"

Authorities within Peer groups

• older students, in-service students can often intimidate other students because they are seen as being more experienced, and serve as a proxy authority figure in front of which they do not want to be shamed

Effect of living setting on group learning

• In the village, Indians are often isolated. Have no one to ask, so must ask the next morning at school.
• "Students who stay in school hostels are more likely to study in groups than students who study from home, because in the evening they must do things alone."
• Many more Fijians in school Hostels because there are fewer secondary schools in the interior, which is mostly, populated by Fijians. As Indian villages are generally closer to urban setting, they are more likely to have secondary schools, and so have less experience with group learning in a formal setting

Leala, DFL Program Assistant, NmSamoa

• • He encourages those who do not attend to speak with those who do

Student, NmSamoa

• "easy to learn from some students"
• "there are some students who get their message from other students rather than from the teacher"
• "slow learners are very shy; its easier to catch up with other students in free time"

Learning Issues, Nauru Site Visit, NmNauru

• Negatives

• "people are sort of... private" -G, 30 Sep 2003

• "you need one or two in the group to guide the others" - AK 30 Sep 2003

• common negatives to Group Learning are "we don't want be ridiculed" and "I don't want to tell her the answer, she'll copy that" but "when it works, its great" - AK 30 Sep 2003

• students "don't like to boast" (M 30 Sep 2003) so group-learning can make people even quieter

• Positives

• "you grow up working in groups" (M 30 Sep 2003) "its how you live, too" (AK 30 Sep 2003)

• "they learn better in groups, take it out of the classroom and its great, it works" -M 30 Sep 2003

Ronald Kun, Management Tutor, NmNauru

• neg. is shyness
• pos is discussion, "we get to a point where we just have discussions together" -RK 1 Oct 2003
• must have small groups for group learning to work -RK 1 Oct 2003
• "its always at the beginning I do all the talking, but by the end I just chip in time to time" -RK 1 Oct 2003

Dallas, Nauru Librarian, NmNauru

• "Some just need a quiet space, some want to be in groups." Some will leave a group; get permission to just read on their own. "I know they are supposed to be with the group, but when I ask the group they understand, he just wants to be alone" -D 1 Oct 2003

Formosa, Management Student, NmNauru

• "Groups are good because more brainstorming is done, more ideas are generated and in Math’s we jump on the problem together. Then again, some people are too shy for the groups." -F, 3 Oct 2003

Discuss aspects of Traditional Learning, NmStudents Brainstorm

• Where do you study?
• Do you prefer to study alone or in-groups?
• Did you learn alone or in-groups growing up?
• What of computers: alone or in-groups?
• Do you think of computers like books or more like movies?

Laupeti Fihaki, NmTuvalu

• computer usage is mostly solo, but during CS121 students shared: need-based
• encourage students to form peer groups, "I see certain groups working together, but I don't know if they gather anywhere else"
• "Cultural setup here in tuvalu is such that extended families live together, and as the capital is very small and urban drift is very present, so we have small houses that are very populated, similar to Samoan style houses, no partitions separating the rooms, and because of that students are unable to study in their homes, And also when they get home there a re a lot of chores to do, so most of the students come to the center to study"

Elise Huffer, NmEliseHuffer

Group dynamics are different at University than at village, so parallels isn’t necessarily that applicable

• focus on grades means that those who don't do their share of work are failing the group, whereas they might have something else to offer in a village setting
• "Prefer not to feel isolated", but dependence on others in Uni. setting can be worrying

Frances Koya, NmFrancesKoya

• "If you take away the scariness of using the computer, they would use chat boards... if they see that many people have the same question, they are more likely to ask"

Tutai Parima, NmCooks

• We’ve had problems come up, so we need help from each other, so we make plans to meet in the library, and also in the kitchen late at night, bring their own biscuits and food and work together in small groups 3-4-5 students''"

Rito Akilang, NmMarshalls

• "Sometimes they come to the Centre to do group study, but most of the tume they do the individual study"
• "I think it is cultural, it seems they have never done group discussions" -Acctg Teacher
• "Not exposed to group work. We tend to do more of that in Fiji" -P
• "group work works for me" - Acctg Teacher
• "Each one will just do their own thing when put in a group" -Masalina
• Maximizing Positives of Groupwork: Give a general topic to a group, assign sub-topics to each member, then they bring their bits together to write a group paper -Acctg
• "team-building is important for business" - Acctg

Interviews Conducted by Fili, Themes for Phone Interviews, NmThemesForInterviews

• Do students learn from each other? how?
• What methods are used in-group learning?

Landbeck and Mugler, NmLandbeck

• "Most students prefer to study alone but some occasionally get together with friends" (p. 25)
• "'I find it (studying with others) really rewarding. Somehow lecturers, they seem to teach in a code, if I might say, code of their own, using complicated terminology’s and whatever, like we walk in there, we sit in and absorb 5-60% or maybe 40, but when we discuss with out own classmates, we sort of water down whatever has been given in lectures and we understand'"(p. 25)
• "Although most students are prepared to ask staff for help. they prefer talking with their friends"(p. 25)

Filimoni Saumaki, NmFili

Do students learn from each other?

• Yes (EVERYBODY)
• Definitely AT,JP,NB,DB

How?

• By sharing knowledge and comparing answers AK,AS,NS,NC
• Well some students might be stronger in a particular aspect so other are able to learn from their examples and vice-versa AT,JP,NB,DB
• Exchange of ideas and knowledge TN.TT,TM,KB
• Group discussions and sharing of experiences UL,SA,PL

What methods are used in-group learning?

• Group discussions GS,RK,JV
• Group work/assignments and projects TN,TM,TT,KB
• Case discussions/case analysis, group presentations and group diaries to keep track of work load and allocation of marks is also useful AT,JP,NB,DB
• Active listening, brainstorming, and conflicting ideas are discussed in groups before reaching consensus AS,AK,NC,NS AA,MF,V,A