As David W. Johnson and Roger T. Johnson, writers of Assessing Students in Groups, would agree, groups in the classroom can play a pivotal role in developing students academically and socially. I believe that groups in the classroom makes traditional learning more authentic, because in a majority of real-world jobs, people must work collaboratively together to make business run smoothly and to develop better techniques. For instance, if a company was to change a policy because one of their employees gave a great presentation on how it would increase profits, it is likely the new policy will only succeed when the other employees respect and understand it, thus all members of this group must work to together to see the full potential of the new changes.
In schools, groups can be used in a similar way. Groups can be used to brainstorm ideas, bounce ideas off of, and develop social skills. Assessment can occur in all of these processes because students must reflect their work themselves, self-assessment, and reflect on the work of others or others' ideas, peer assessment.
I believe that for groups to be successful students need to practice being a part of a collaborative group during their elementary years. The practice of assessing ones self and assessing others productively is a skill that students in elementary can practice and should practice. School and the development of knowledge should be more then what does my teacher expect of me but also what do I expect of me. I recall that most of the groups I was put into in elementary school were to simply complete a task, a task that didn't often involve thought by the students. These are the years when student should be introduced to collaborative working and open-ended projects, so that they may begin to develop a problem-solving mind set.
Groups need to be introduced early and often so that students have time to develop such skills during their primary and secondary education. Students will be better prepared for post-secondary life if these skill are mastered prior to graduation.
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