I taught Environmental Science for non-science majors one semester at
Michigan State University when the usual professor was on sabbatical. The class had about
150 students in a large lecture hall. I had been reading about the advantages of group learning, and decided to
try it, even in this large a venue. My inspiration came from Elizabeth Cohen's
book, "Designing Groupwork" and from the wisdom of Chris Christensen
of the Harvard Business School, who taught a course on leading discussions that I attended
as a graduate student.
As part of my course, I assigned students to groups that chose
an environmental issue to research. Each
group was assigned seats together in the lecture hall so they could participate in small group discussions that I had planned for the class,
and so I could more easily learn about the students.
One of my students was a gregarious young man who, in the first week of class before groups were formed, often contributed to class discussions.
He stopped me in the hall before or after class to ask questions and to
continue the discussion. He was a potential group leader, and
I designed a group around him that I hoped would
work well together. I placed them
in the back of the lecture hall, because I knew they would be lively in class
activities, and I wanted to be sure everyone, even in the back of the hall, was
actively engaged. I saved the front
seats for groups that had some quiet individuals who I wanted to keep my eye on
and to stimulate; students who might have taken seats in the back of the class if
left to their own choosing.
On the first day that the students were given assigned seats, the young
man's behavior in the back of the hall began to be disruptive.
He would yell out answers to questions without my calling on him, and
would speak at times when I hadn't asked for student input. His comments took on an edge of sarcasm.
He butted in often so that other students began to be intimidated and
wouldn't speak.
If this was your class, what would you have done?