I'm all about encouraging communication in the science classroom, and student collaboration is one of my favorite strategies. Working together helps students learn to listen critically, problem-solve with others, and communicate in a respectful and productive way. All of these skills will serve students both in high school and in their career path later on.
But how do we make sure that collaborators are communicating well AND staying focused on the task at hand? Here are some tips on providing structure and helping your students get the most out of peer collaboration:
🪑Arrange your classroom to promote collaboration: for some students, there are no phrases that create more anxiety than, "Go find a partner to talk with." (I have some grown-up friends who feel the same way! 🤣) Make dialogue easy for your students by creating an environment that encourages cooperation. Push two tables together or arrange student desks in groups of four. It's so much easier to talk when everyone is facing each other!
📝 Give individual think and writing time first: there's a reason "think-pair-share" is a classic approach! It's good to give students time to compose their thoughts before they have to share them. I might ask students to give a written answer to a thought-provoking warm-up question or have them draw and write observations from a science demo. Once students have documented their own ideas, they feel more comfortable sharing with a few partners sitting nearby.
🧱 Provide structure: when you first start to include collaboration in your teaching, your students will need clear directions on what kind of discussions you want them to have. If I want students to talk about their lab results, for example, I might provide a bank of questions that they can ask each other, like, "Which results from your lab surprised you? Was your hypothesis supported? What patterns do you see in your data?" The students can elaborate from there, but providing a script will help get scientific conversations going.
🧑🏭Give students roles: Giving students specific jobs when they're collaborating in a group setting has been a winning strategy for me. I try to create roles that appeal to different strengths; students can choose to be managers, researchers, illustrators, or presentation-creators. Some teachers divide each student group into two presenters and two scouts. At the end of an experiment or discussion, the scouts rotate from table to table, interviewing and collecting information from the student presenters of other groups.
👩🏽🏫 Model productive dialogue: students might need to see what professional teamwork and discussion looks like. My favorite technique is to sit in with student groups and give suggestions for talking points or questions that the students can ask each other. I'd also recommend laying some ground rules with your classes about respectful, collaborative talk before they start their discussions. A great way to start that conversation is, "How do you give constructive feedback in an appropriate way?"
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