Setting up a group project on my two sections of Drawing and
Painting class was more of an act of necessity than an intentional well-planned curricular choice. With a gender mixed group of sophomores
delighted to make their acquaintances in the classroom, I had to redirect their
social fixations so I could reclaim their scattered energy. I changed the Principles of Design curriculum and embarked in a three and a half week
adventure that turned out to be a successful learning experience for my classes as well
as extremely fun to watch for me.

Teamwork has been a historical pet peeve both for students and teachers alike. Just scratching the surface, teachers resent not being able
to assess properly while students want to be rewarded for their own efforts. When
trying to research ideas for classroom teamwork, most of my searches
turn up to be workshops and seminars in the workplace and not in schools. This
tells me there is a gap in education that has to be remedied later, which is
good enough reason to give it a try, another try.

I re-arranged the sitting charts so that people would be away from their peers. Then, I created groups with the intention of the development of new loyalties. I gave each group a set of tinker-toys which they used to recreate design principles.  They photographed their contraptions and as a final project,
they created a collage with their favorite composition. Since the entire project was completely experimental, I
allowed students great freedom and I spent a good chunk of time observing the
interactions. Here are some of my findings.  These are very
general patterns (I could discuss each in length) and none of them are better than others. They
represent just the way we are, human and diverse.

The extroverts

This group is extremely happy to interact with each other.
They quickly develop group pride “We are the best!!” and they help each other
well, making up for other member’s shortcomings if need be. They ask for help to
the teacher or other groups. Results are good although there is some scattered
energy.

The introverts

They tend to work from parts to a whole spending a great
deal of time developing their assigned part of the project and only interacting a minimum amount in order to put these parts together. Their work is methodical and very little energy is wasted. Only the necessary amount of input comes from
each other and hardly any from outside of their group.

The Helicopter
Child

One person takes leadership and becomes necessary for
overall progress. Group act lost and has a hard time when that student is
absent.  One person may feel stressed
from carrying too much responsibility. There are moments of reckoning that are great learning opportunities for all members.

The Borg

They work together with their heads down; they don’t talk to
folks outside of their group. To them there is no difference between “the parts and the whole” . They are in constant communication. When they are done, they put all their work together in the same
drawer instead of using individual storage. No energy is wasted; hardly any
input comes from outside of the group.

Arrested
Development

This group has issues that make it difficult for the members
to work together. They range from communication skills, different social
backgrounds, skill level, etc. The learning curve is higher. Some of the best
learning moments happen in these groups as they sort through their difficulties
together and make tough choices.

I had a total of 12 groups and the patterns of style crossed
over sometimes but these patterns were very well represented amongst the
groups.

Students were quizzed on the elements of design and overall
they were able to understand the concept much better than in previous years.
The assignment was successful and I plan to repeat it. I include candid shots of
process and some of the outcome.