Exercises that incorporate Roundrobin as a learning tool
- To understand a current event, each group member reads a different article on the
event and reports to the group. This is a good research activity.
- Students read only one article, preferably a controversial one. They get to hear 4 or 5
perspectives on this article in Roundrobin discussion. This can be a paper writing
preparation exercise.
- Students discuss big topics about which consensus is rarely reached, such as abortion,
capital punishment, gun control, gay marriage, etc. in an effort to discover all the
points of view held.
- The working out of certain math problems may allow students to approach the right
answer in different ways. A Roundrobin discussion of that problem would expose the
variety of ways a right answer may be found and the particular procedures which are
not flexible, which everyone must do the same way to get the right answer.
- Exploring language. For example, work with adjectives can be shared in a
Roundrobin discussion, either where each writer is asked to describe the same thing
independently and therefore different adjectives and structures are shared or where
each writer is asked to add to a description begun by the first Roundrobin participant.
Jigsaw
This is an intense model of cooperative learning based on task specialization that creates
interdependence among students by making team members reliant upon each other for success.
Students you doubt will do their work and fulfill their responsibility to the group should not be as
signed a jigsaw exercise.
Exercises built on the jigsaw concept of cooperative learning:
- To explore what is required to apply for a job, make a jigsaw group out of the entire
class. Have one small group read about resume writing, another about using classified
ads, another about cover letters, and another about interviewing. The small
groups then report to the class on their area of specialty. In response, each student
in the class must individually complete a project using the information they received
from the small groups. In this example, students could choose classified ads for jobs
they are interested in, and then write cover letters and resumes for their chosen job
and role-play an interview for it in front of the class.
- Research projects work well using the jigsaw concept. A research project on the
Revolutionary War could have individual students researching different areas includ
ing weapons and ammunition, daily activities of soldiers, home life during those
years, the British response, opposition to, etc. The finished project could be a power
point presentation where each student is responsible for completing a particular part
of the presentation and a test, where each student must demonstrate knowledge of
each part of the researched information. The collaboration could also come in the
form of a group paper, the writing and presentation of a skit, the staging of a debate,
or an illustrated timeline.
- Math related projects done jigsaw style can include the planning of a large party
which would involve preparing a budget, converting recipes, organizing the space
used and managing the helpers; the planning and building of a garden/tool shed/
bookshelf, etc. that must fit into a certain place, be completed within a certain
timeframe and budget, and serve a certain purpose; or the organizing and collecting
of goods for a service project, which would include researching needs, figuring costs,
and planning solicitation, collection and distribution.