Resource 83: Collaborative Learning Technique (CoLT)  2  Buzz Groups

Useful for stimulating engagement in discussions and, and encouraging students to rehearse, express, and compare their ideas, opinions, and/or reactions with others.

Estimated Time and Effort Required for

Faculty to prepare this CoLT   LOW
Students to use this CoLT    LOW
Faculty to assess/follow up    LOW

Complexity       LOW
Risk of Failure     LOW

Duration & Location  10-20 minutes/In class or online

Group Size & Structure   Triads to Quintets Informal/Little or no pre-organizing

Description

Buzz groups give students the opportunity to exchange ideas, opinions, and information in a low stress environment.  Because buzz groups can build interest in and enthusiasm for a subject, they are useful in introducing a new topic and in assessing students’ prior knowledge or beliefs about that topic. Buzz Groups can also serve as in-class lead ins to out-of-class assignments.

Procedure

1.  The instructor prepares a list of open-ended discussion questions that will tap students’ ideas, prior knowledge, or opinions about the topic at hand. These should be questions for which there is no one correct answer.

2.  In the context of a semi-structured, time-limited conversation, small groups of students discuss their responses to the prepared questions.  It may be useful to assign roles such as time keeper, summarizer, and reporter.

Groups summarize their responses - including the range of agreement and diversity - and report them to the instructor in writing and/or, if useful, to the entire class, orally. Alternately, in a large class, the instructor can sample responses from a few groups.