Eliciting Information from Groups

Assessment for learning is simple.

It has three key pillars:

• Eliciting and Using Information
• Opening Up Success Criteria
• Giving Formative Feedback

Here, we’re going to look at the first of those and, specifically, how you can elicit information from groups.

I have ten strategies for your consideration.

All of which will help you to draw out the information you want when you’re using group work.

Information that will help you better understand where your learners are at, and which you can then use to adapt and tailor your teaching, as well as your future planning.

Strategy 1: Circulating

When we circulate through the room, we can listen in to what learners are saying, observe them at work, and read anything they’ve written.

When you circulate with eliciting and using information in mind, it primes you to see and hear information that is useful to your purpose.

Information that helps you better understand where your learners are at, what they are struggling with, and whether the level of challenge is too low, too high, or about right.

Here are a couple of points to consider when circulating during group work.

First, think carefully about which groups you want to visit and in what order.

Depending on the make-up of the groups it may be wise to focus your attention on certain ones at the expense of others.

In addition, you might feel that some groups will need more of your time if they are to provide you with the kind of information you want.

For example, this could be because they themselves do not have a good handle on the task and so will require (perhaps extensive) support in forming and articulating their ideas.

Second, consider why it is that you are circulating.

There are various reasons that might direct your movements around the classroom.

These include:

• To check that all groups understand the task.
• To find out what learners think about the task.
• To find out how groups are planning to complete the task.
• To probe for misconceptions and misunderstandings.
• To challenge groups by introducing new requirements or posing difficult questions.

If you have a clear rationale for why you are circulating, you can target your efforts appropriately and, in the process, will be more effective.

Strategy 2: Envoys

Envoys is an activity where the class is divided into groups and each group is given a set of resources or tasks related to a different aspect of the topic.

After sufficient time has passed, one member of each group is selected as an envoy.

They leave their seat and work their way around the rest of the groups in the class, teaching each one in turn about the aspect of the topic on which they have been working.

If you choose to use this activity, it offers a great opportunity to elicit information from each group.

This can be done through listening in to what the envoys are saying and how they are teaching their different aspects of the topic.

Given that each group will have worked together on their research, investigation or tasks, it is usually fair to assume that what the envoys say and how they say it is indicative of their group as a whole.

Do be careful however, as this may not be the case if some learners in the ‘home’ groups have disengaged or left others to do the work. In advance of the envoys leaving their seats, ensure that you observe whether or not all learners are involved in the task.

Strategy 3: Presentations

This is an age-old method with which most people are familiar.

Learners are split into groups and then present their work to the rest of the class.

This provides an opportunity for the teacher to see and hear what learners have done and what their thoughts are about the topic.

Serial feedback – where each group goes up and presents in turn – can be monotonous.

To avoid this you might like to have groups presenting to each other in pairs (with these then rotated to create new pairings); to select half the groups at random and ask these to present to the class; or to split the presentations over two lessons (and perhaps ask the two sets of learners to do slightly different things).

There are various methods by which you might ask learners to present their work.

These include:

• Drama productions.
• Poster presentations (where groups make a large poster about the topic and supplement this with a spoken explanation).
• Speeches.
• PowerPoint presentations.
• Mini-lessons.

Be sure to set success criteria that will draw out the kind of information you want.

Also, remember that with this method, there are two phases of information elicitation.

First, the process phase, during which learners are developing their work.

Second, the presentation phase, when learners are presenting to their peers.

Both phases give lots of opportunity to build up a clearer picture in your mind of where learners are at.

Strategy 4: Group Notes

Appoint a note-taker in each group.

Explain that their job is to take notes on everything the group discusses and does.

You should make clear that these notes will be for the benefit of the group – so that they can see where they are at and how they have arrived there – and for you – who will use the notes for your own purposes.

It is important to make clear in advance that you will look at the notes to get an idea of what the group is doing.

If this is not done, groups may feel compromised when their notes are collected in.

To allay any concerns, stress that your purpose in looking at the notes is to gain information you can use to tailor your teaching to the needs of the class.

You might like to provide note-takers with a pro-forma on which to make their notes.

This could contain general areas like:

• Key things the group thinks
• Points on which the group is in agreement
• Points on which the group disagrees

Or, it could include a series of sections closely tied to the task in hand.

For example:

• What was said in the discussion?
• How did the group decide to approach the task?
• What role does each group member have and why?

The benefit of a pro-forma is that it scaffolds the note-taking for your learners, indicating precisely what they need to capture.

In addition, you can structure the pro-forma in such a way that it gives you access to the information you most want to elicit from groups during the task.

Strategy 5: Final Products

Group work can take many forms.

Not all of these result in learners creating something tangible.

Discussion tasks, for example, develop knowledge and understanding through conversations that disappear into the ether.

If you set up an activity that does have a physical end product, you can use this to elicit information about the group’s learning.

Here is an example to illustrate:

In a geography lesson, learners are put into groups of three.

They are given a large sheet of paper and a selection of modelling materials.

The task is to create a juxtaposition of a rural and an urban environment and to label the key features of each.

The extension task is to provide a written explanation of the model.

The super-extension task is to identify similarities and differences between the two environments, to highlight these on the model and to supplement them with a written analysis that is cut out and then stuck on.

Each group will produce a model of a rural and an urban environment.

It is likely that most will also provide some written materials as a supplement.

The teacher will be able to examine the models and the writing to see how well the different groups understand the two environments.

They will be able to identify any errors or misconceptions and address these in the next lesson.

If some groups reach the super-extension task, this will help the teacher assess the extent to which these groups are working at a level beyond that of their peers.

If every group reaches and completes the super-extension, the teacher will immediately know that they can raise the level of challenge for this class next time round.

Strategy 6: Status Updates

On many social networking sites, users are encouraged to give status updates.

These are short sentences that indicate what that person is doing or thinking at the present time.

You can make use of this idea to elicit information about how the groups in your class are accessing the learning.

When learners have been put into groups, and before the task begins, announce that each group must select one person who is responsible for providing ‘status updates’ to the teacher.

Explain that these learners will be asked to come to the front every five minutes or so to give the teacher an update as to where their group is at.

You can display questions or success criteria and use these as a structuring tool for the status updates.

For example:

• Does your group know what it is doing?
• Who is doing what in the group?
• How are you dealing with the task?
• What is the next thing you are going to do as a group?
• What end product are you working towards?

The frequency with which you call for status updates will depend on the overall time given over to the task.

A balance needs to be achieved between eliciting regular information and giving groups enough time to get things done.

One of the best things about this method is that it helps you understand how each group is tackling the task, and the extent to which learners have understood what they need to do.

You can identify problems early, and intervene before too much time has passed.

Strategy 7: Whole-Class Feedback Techniques

Here are five examples of whole-class feedback techniques redesigned so they work with groups:

• Give each group a number. Pick numbers at random from a hat. The group whose number is drawn has to answer a question or provide feedback on their work so far.
• Ask each group to choose a team name. Write these on separate slides of a PowerPoint document. Play the slideshow at speed and press escape to make it stop. The group whose name is on the main slide is the group who answers or provides feedback.
• Give each group a different coloured piece of card. This need only be a small square piece and should be looked after by a responsible member of each group. Keep your own set of similarly coloured pieces of card. Put these in a bag and draw one out at random. The group who has that colour answers the question or provides feedback.
• Display a continuum on the board, running from ‘Total confidence’ to ‘Haven’t got a clue’. Give each group a mini-whiteboard. Ask them to draw the continuum and to mark where they as a group feel they are at, in terms of how confident they are with the task. Groups hold up their mini-whiteboards so you can see how everyone is feeling.
• If you have five groups, draw five empty test tubes on the board. Divide these up based on how many tasks you have given your groups to do. Label each test tube: Group One, Group Two, Group Three, Group Four, Group Five. Explain that when a group completes a task, they should come to the board and colour in a section of their test tube. This way, you can instantly see where each group is at, throughout the activity.

Strategy 8: Give Group Members Numbers

When learners are in their groups, give each group member a number.

These should be based on the number of people in each group.

If the groups are made up of three learners , number the learners: one, two and three.

If each group contains four learners, assign the numbers: one, two, three and four.

Explain that, during the task, you will call out numbers at regular intervals.

The learners to who these refer should take a moment to discuss with their group the following three questions:

• What are we doing next?
• What have we done well so far?
• What problems have we come across?

When they have agreed answers with their group, they should come to the front and share these with the teacher.

You can then act on this information, if required.

You can select the numbers for providing feedback at random. You can cycle through them in order. Or, you can choose them deliberately with the intention of hearing from specific learners in your class.

Strategy 9: Success Criteria

This method of eliciting feedback from groups is best used when you want to reflect in between lessons on where your learners are at and how they are accessing the learning.

It works as follows:

Before beginning a task, provide a set of success criteria or develop a set in conjunction with your learners.

Explain that groups should use these to help them plan and develop their work.

With around ten minutes of the lesson left, stop the class and indicate that you would like each group to produce a short written reflection detailing how close they feel they are to meeting the success criteria.

You might like to provide a pro-forma they can fill in.

A simple example would contain the following questions:

• What are the success criteria?
• To what extent have you met each one?
• What could you do to improve?

Groups hand their reflections to you on their way out of the classroom.

You can then examine these before the next lesson and use them to inform your planning.

Strategy 10: Task Checklist

Create a task checklist and designate one person in each group who is responsible for filling it in.

The checklist should contain a record of everything that each group will need to do in order to complete the task successfully.

You might also like to include extension items and indicate that groups who complete these as well as the main set of items are likely to produce higher quality work (which will therefore achieve a higher mark).

As the lesson progresses, you can walk around the room and look at different group’s checklists.

This will ensure that at any one time you are in a position to know where each and every group is at in relation to the task.

If a particular group is falling behind, you will be able to pick up on this immediately and give them the support they need.

At the end of the lesson, collect in the checklists.

Before you do, ask the learners who are responsible for them to write the names of their group members at the top of the page.

This way you will be able to reflect after the lesson on which groups have achieved what and how this might relate to their composition.