Group work is one model of learning that encourages students to collaborate with their peers in the learning process. Generally, such this learning model is papplied by teachers to cultivate critical thinking skills, problem solving and also to foster mutual respect among students. A number of studies have also proved that teamwork benefits to build students' positive attitude, in which students involved in group collaboration become more critical and readily received feedback from others in a better way.
As students work with their groups, they get a greater chance to improve their skills maximally and sustainably, especially communicative skills. On the other hand, group work that is not done correctly also has a negative effect on student learning, for example when the trust between one student and another student is not awakened. Cases such as these can lead students who are difficult to accept in group trying to be alone and reluctant to engage and tend to be passive in their group.
Therefore, to achieve collaborative learning goals through group collaboration it is necessary to have a sense of belonging between each other among the members of the group. Relationships that are tied between members should be built early in the class so that each student feels comfortable with the group members.
Fun facts about our class
To eliminate the gap between group members and build communicative relationships, an activity that can encourage students to get to know each other more is necessary. One activity that can encourage students to get to know their group members is "Fun facts about our class", or it also called as a game (source)
To start this activity, the teacher divides students into several groups. Each group, ideally, consists of four students. After that, each student is asked to answer some written question on the paper given by the teacher, then the teacher asks students to add two optional questions.
| Questions | Student I | Students II | Students III | Students IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What is your full name | ||||
| What time do you go to bed? | ||||
| What time do you get up? | ||||
| Where do you live? | ||||
| How often do you exercise? | ||||
| How many hours you learn a day? | ||||
| how many people of your family? | ||||
| ................................ | ||||
| ................................ |
Created by Phu Quy, P.H (2017)
The next, the teacher asks students to answer the follow-up questions. The questions are about students’ daily activities and their characteristic. Such these questions will allow their friends to know more about his/her personality to be more bounded each other. Later, After all students answer the follow up questions the teacher records the results of students’ responds, such as who has longest sleep at night, who has largest family or or longest name in the classroom. In addition, this kind of activity can foster students interest and enthusiasm when they want to know more about their group members, and an interesting discussion will happen during this activity among students.
| Follow-up Question | Responds |
|---|---|
| Who has the longest name? | |
| Who goes bed earliest? | |
| Who gets up latest? | |
| Who lives farthest from school? | |
| We exercise the most? | |
| Who learns the most time? | |
| Who has the largest family? |
Created by Phu Quy, P.H (2017)
However, this activity aims at facilitating students giving their personal information to their group friends. By knowing each other closely, they will easily communicate to achieve the goal of learning in their group. In addition, this kind of activity can foster students interest and enthusiasm when they want to know more about their group members, and an interesting discussion will happen during this activity among students.
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