|
|
Techniques for Forming Groups
Forming groups should be intentional and based on student readiness and the purpose of the task. Use the resources on this page to decide your grouping criteria and specific techniques you want to use.
SHAPE America Appropriate Practices
- 1.7.1 Teachers develop learning experiences that help all students understand the nature and the different kinds of competition.
- 1.7.2 Students are given opportunities to choose their competitive environment. Physical educators encourage positive competitive situations through personal goal setting and/ or team play.
- 1.7.3 Students are guided to understand that some students prefer competitive situations, while others don’t; and either preference is acceptable.
- 2.2.1 Physical educators form pairs, groups and teams in ways that preserve every student’s dignity and self-respect.
Techniques for forming groups
Use the following techniques to form groups. Don't forget to establish a "Lost and Found" for students who can't find a group to speed up the grouping process and eliminate potential embarrassment. Also see Grouping Techniques via this Twitter Chat.
|
|
IMPROVING GROUP COHESION
Strategies for the Teacher
|
Strategies for the Student
|
Homogeneous Grouping versus Heterogeneous Grouping
Before deciding on your grouping strategy, you should first consider the objectives for the task. Based on the objectives you can then choose what the appropriate number of students per group should be, whether homogeneous or heterogeneous grouping is appropriate, and whether students should have input/choice on their grouping. Heterogeneous grouping includes having a diversity among students in a variety of categories, such as: prior experience with content, psychomotor ability, cognitive ability, social ability, learning style, gender, race, ethnicity, and primary language spoken.
Benefits of Homogeneous Grouping
|
Potential Issues of Homogeneous Grouping
|
Individual, Cooperative, or Competitive Goals?
All three of these goal orientations have a place in physical education. Choose the format based on your students' needs, what they are ready for, and what the objectives for the lesson/unit are. Also see these articles: On Community, Cooperation, and Competition and The Case Against Competition.
Individual |
|
Cooperative
|
|
Competitive
|
|
having Competitive and Recreational Leagues
You can increase student engagement and satisfaction by splitting the class into recreational and competitive leagues. Instead of asking the students which league they want to be in directly, have them fill out a questionnaire with guiding questions. Using their answers, you can split them up into appropriate teams so that they are playing with and against people with the same expectations. See the examples below and search online for more examples of the Sport Competition Anxiety Test.
Additional Resources
|
|
Resources Used for this Page
- Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Weinberg, R. & Gould, D. (2006).