Teachers often assign students to work in groups. Careful structuring of the lesson includes intentionality so that group work ensures rigorous and accessible learning. Group work can be energizing to all or dominated by a few. It can involve deeper thought with logical connections and reasonable conclusions or surface discussions. Successful group work involves building an environment where students are accountable to the learning community, standards of reason, and knowledge. It requires pre-planning as well as skilled interactions between students and teacher. This course will give teachers the skills to ensure group work is meaningful.
Number of Units: 3.0 graduate level extension credit(s) in semester hours
Who Should Attend: This course provides continuing education for K-12 classroom teachers who want to deepen their knowledge and understanding of how group work can provide meaningful learning. Both new and experienced teachers wanting to improve their craft will benefit from this course.
Course Materials: Text, Designing Groupwork: Strategies for the Heterogeneous Classroom, by Elizabeth Cohen and Rachel Lotan, available at Amazon.com or your local bookstore.
Technical Requirements
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Courses offer a convenient, yet rigorous style of learning that allows you to structure your education to suit your schedule while keeping you on pace toward achieving your educational goals.
Online fixed-date courses are delivered virtually but follow a predetermined schedule, requiring students to complete assignments, participate in discussions, and take assessments by specific deadlines—much like a traditional classroom. The key difference is that while traditional courses are conducted in person at set times and locations, online fixed-date courses allow students to engage remotely, offering more flexibility in where they learn while preserving structure and accountability through fixed timelines. (Note: Any scheduled Zoom sessions will be outlined on the class schedule.) These courses have fixed start and finish dates, but as an online student you will have 24/7 online access to your classroom assignments, syllabus and course resources. Instructor feedback is shared along with the graded assignments.
How is the learning structured? Each online fixed-date course is asynchronous, meaning that you can work on your assignments anytime, although you are required to complete the assignments by specific dates. The course is designed with learning modules where all of the content is grouped into weekly assignments. Each module covers one or more topics. Within each of the learning modules, you can expect the following components:
• Module introduction that outlines what you can expect to learn in the module.
• Required readings (textbook, articles, journals, etc.) and presentations (audio and/or video).
• Assignments with due dates (which may include: written assignments, journal entries, research, blogs, etc.) based on the readings and presentations.
• Discussion forum where you answer prompts from the instructor and interact with your classmates.
• Module conclusion to review the topics and what you should have learned.
Typically, there is a final project, paper, or exam due in the last module that culminates all of the topics covered in each of the learning modules. You’ll find that the design of the learning modules has a rhythm to help you manage your time in the course.
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