Step 7: Using Consistent Student Teams to Encourage Risk-Taking

While frequently changing discussion partners helps students learn from diverse perspectives, keeping students with the same groups can also create an inclusive classroom by establishing brave space for ongoing discussions. Consistent teams can create their own explicit norms and implicit ways of operating, which allows them to build trust and reciprocity over time. Barbara Cockrill has found that small team collaborative learning “is almost always the top thing that a student will mention as a really important part of this type of learning.” As one student explains, “Our small group discussions are the first place that we really solidify our knowledge during these case-based collaborative learning sessions. The small group is a really safe space to just say whatever you think.”

Profiled: Barbara Cockrill, Harold Amos Academy Associate Professor of Medicine, teaches "Homeostasis I" to 40 students at Harvard Medical School.

Takeaway Tips

Though you might allow students to create their own groups, consider designing groups yourself. This way you can be strategic and arrange diverse collaborative teams so that each member brings specific strengths to the table.

Offer scaffolding to help students create norms for their collaborative teams. For example, You could offer examples of norms that teams in past years have found helpful for respectful and inclusive collaboration. 

Be prepared to support teams that might be struggling to collaborate well. Make sure that students know they can speak to you if their collaborative team does not feel respectful and inclusive.

Relevant Resources

This CRLT guide helps instructors design, support, and assess the work of classroom teams.

This additional Instructional Move focuses on using small groups to discuss a law school case.

This HGSE Team Launch tip sheet provides guidance on how to help set up student teams for success.

Reflection Questions

Which activities in your class lend themselves to frequently switching discussion partners (as we saw in the previous video)? Which activities lend themselves to consistent teams (as we saw in this video)?

How might you create more opportunities for students to learn from each other in your curriculum?

In the last two videos, we’ve seen two different ways to use small groups to create inclusive classrooms where all students feel valued and can learn with each other. Continue to the pathway conclusion for some key takeaways and resources.

Back to Step 6

Continue to Conclusion