Most students are aware of proper group behavior but do not follow through in group activities. Generally the students have enjoyed the group activities, and don t want to jeopardize future group activities by giving me trouble. I listened to individual students tell me about how things were working within their group. Some students volunteered this information and others I asked. I give a set of ten rules indicating good ways to give the opinion, disagreeing with colleague's opinion, resolving problems such as dominance in the group, etc.
Discussions are central to the course and usually focus on a current article in the news.
They provide a context in which to explore questions in more depth and understand material better by explaining it to others. Even with the guidelines, students still have trouble with group work. Most of the problems are caused by all around poor social skills. That is, their problems are more global than their difficulties in working on mathematics in groups. I will look some up and share with you by pony mail.