Jonathan Loomis

February 24, 1999
Psychology of Education

Dr. Fox

I believe that some people work better in groups due to two factors. The first is genetic. As our text has pointed out, the genetic side to psychology can not be discredited. If a person is, so to speak, born to be antisocial, it is unlikely that ji will be a great socialite. However, there is also the significant influence of experience. If a particular person has troublesome or unpleasant experiences in groups as ji grows up ji will probably not like working in groups. The reverse is true in both cases. I for example, would prefer to work alone even though I know that I often do better work when working with other people. Because I am aware of this I generally run my important ideas by other people in order to get that crucial second opinion. I can not think of any particular experience in my history which taught me to dislike group work, but I can't ever remember enjoying working in groups over three people in size and both of my parents would prefer to work alone, as is true with both of my brothers.

I think teachers can do the most help to students by giving groups clear assignments where there is little chance for wasting time bickering about the assignment. Teachers should not assign roles as this generally alienates the students from the teacher because it places them in uncomfortable positions. This may sound contrary to various principles of education (like expanding the student's world), but I still believe it to be the case.

Post-secondary group work is different from K-12 in many ways. It can be said that post secondary work is more real life centered because post-secondary students are likely to be faced with group work assignments in the workplace, but so are students who do not choose to go on after high school. I think that there is a misconception that post-secondary students need these skills more. I K-12 education group work is important because it occurs during a period in students' live when they are developing their individual personalities and group work can be a major factor in this development.