Facilitating Group Meetings

Tips

• Keep groups at eight students or fewer so that everyone has a chance to speak.
• Make sure to provide questions beforehand so that students come ready to discuss.
• Encourage students to share with a partner what they are learning at work and how it connects with academics.
• After partners have shared, have them report back to the group on what they talked about.

Managing Group Dynamics

Concerns and Strategies

• Concern: One person dominates the conversation.

  Strategies:

  • Acknowledge their contributions, but ask, "What do others think?"
  • Call on other individuals to speak.
  • Use a round-robin format so that each person gets to share.
• Concern: A student remains silent.

  Strategies:

  • Ask in a non-pressuring way if they would like to share.
  • Use small-group discussions or partner sharing.
• Concern: A student keeps taking the conversation to a negative place.

  Strategies:

  • Acknowledge their frustrations and offer to follow up with them later.
  • Move on to others who are interested in sharing.