Building Better groups in STEM Courses

Formation of student groups that can work effectively together is challenging at best. Considerations include group size and formation (assigned or student choice) and how group members will be held accountable. Diversity, equity and inclusion is an important consideration that is just beginning to be explored in the context of group dynamics and group work. As part of our working group for the BIOME Institute 2022, we explored the current framework for group work: https://lse.ascb.org/evidence-based-teaching-guides, and identified gaps for development of additional resources related to DEI, Assessment, and Students guide. We identified published studies specific to DEI and group work and created a document and template that the community can use to explore the identified resources and continue adding new ones. In addition, we proposed a similar strategy to identify resources related to assessment of group work in particular settings. We also propose organizing this information into a guide oriented towards students rather than instructors.

学生有效协作小组的形成在最佳情况下也颇具挑战性。需考虑的因素包括小组规模与构成（指派或学生自主选择）以及如何对组员进行责任追究。多样性、公平性与包容性是至关重要的考量因素，在探讨群体动态与群体工作的大背景下，这一议题尚处于初步探索阶段。作为2022年BIOME研究所工作小组的一部分，我们审视了当前群体工作的框架：https://lse.ascb.org/evidence-based-teaching-guides，并确定了有关多样性、公平性与包容性（DEI）、评估以及学生指南等方面资源开发的空白。我们针对DEI与群体工作特定领域的已发布研究进行了识别，并编制了一份文档和模板，供社区参考以探索已识别的资源并持续添加新的内容。此外，我们还提出了一种类似策略，以识别特定环境中群体工作评估相关的资源。同时，我们提议将这些信息组织成一份面向学生而非教师的指南。