these were adult graduate students and this would allow them some flexibility with regard to logistics - when and where to get together.

Some strategies need mixed grouping, which often doesn't happen if student pick their own groups. Sometimes, the content is easier to work with when they work with friends (safety factor), so then I let them pick their own groups. In some classes, they need to be put in groups, and others have such established work groups after years of studying together that they do well on their own.

First, I organize ALL my classes-- university biology/zoology/ecology classes, mostly sophomores through seniors-- around small groups. Most of the assignments are group assignments, as are portions of the exams. Students typically work with the same group mates through out the semester. I've been doing this for ten years and have tweaked course structures until they work very well indeed.

There is some data available about self selected verses externally selected group membership-- I don't have citations in hand but I'll refer you to Michaelsen et al Team-Based Learning: A Transformative Use of Small Groups, which discusses some of that data if I recall correctly. The short version is that effective group dynamics take time to develop and often go through predictable developmental stages, but preexisting relationships among group members slows down and sometimes completely disrupts the evolution of effective group learning strategies. For example, one of the biggest problems students often have is effectively challenging one another-- established friendships tend to make it even more difficult to challenge each other in discussions, study sessions, etc. They also lay down preexisting channels of communication and social protocols that can exclude other group members. Perceived exclusion can relegate some students to social loafing from the first day of group establishment.

I usually choose groups during lab sections, since students need to work in groups during lab (all of my classes are lab classes). I've found that people who have preexisting friendships usually seek one another's company during the first class sessions, so if there are, say 25 students in a lab section, I'll form them into five groups of five members by asking them to count from one to five as we go around the room, and all the ones' form a group, all the twos, and so on. In some classes group sizes vary, but never by more than one up or one down. Since friends tend to sit together, the counting off effectively randomizes their distribution among groups

Promotes diversity and social skills in meeting new people and working with those who were strangers just a little while ago. Fresh thinking with different people.

Otherwise, they clump up into their little groups that they've been in since 7th grade, because Max will do the project and everybody else can just sign off, or the special ed kids will be shunted into their own little corner, or girls and boys will self-segregate themselves.

I'm a firm believer that socialization is at least as important as any other part of the curriculum. Me assigning groups also gives cover to those who might be a little tired of Max, but don't want to say so and rock their established group.


Here's just one example from years ago when I first began. It's a sophomore English class, and the assignment is to write and illustrate a book with a moral. I've assigned the groups, and the students are getting to know each other a bit. One group, which is made up of a prominent attorney's child, a member of the school board's student, a local TV sportswriter's kid, and a wheelchair bound, cognitively impaired kid who has just transferred from another state.

They're having trouble coming up with a moral, so the lawyer is leaning into a group next door, and they're talking about cheating. The transfer student has spent many hours in hospitals and being around doctors.

Here's the story in brief:
Don and Dave are best friends, and have been since kindergarten. Don is really smart, and Dave is lazy, so Don lets Dave cheat off him, starting with fingerpaints in kindergarten, all the way through school to high school, through college, through medical school, Don does the work, and Dave cheats. One day, Don is in a bad car wreck, and as he's being rushed into surgery, the last thing he sees is Dave's face, looking down over him, saying,"Now's my chance to make up for all your work for me, buddy! I'm going to do my best in the operating room for you!" The end.

Absolutely one of my favorites to this day. Team work is effective when it is set up correctly. Just my 2 cents.

Typically, the longer I've spent with a group and the more supportive and well-developed is the group dynamic and classroom culture, the more likely a self-assignment solution will be.

For a short-term or ad-hoc creation of groups, it's often more successful and productive to either randomly assign individuals to groups or, alternatively, strategically assign individuals to reach desired ends.

Naturally, considerations include addressing diversity (of all forms), making sure "weaker" learners are with supportive team mates, etc.

There's never a single simple answer in my experience.

Or, more accurately, it depends.

I try to balance the amount of independent and group work. Often the group work leads to something independent. I teach middle school. Developmentally, at that age interaction with peers is #1 on their priority list. To put 30+ in a small, crowded room and expect them not to interact is unrealistic, to say the least. So I give them time to interact...with content. It's also a good way, for most, to process that content anyway.

How I group them is entirely based on what we're doing, and what the point of the activity is. Sometimes I'll just have them work with the people who already sit at their table. Sometimes I'll ability group them, to allow me to provide extensions and extra help more efficiently. Sometimes I'll do my best to group them heterogeneously; in that case, the assignment is set up so that weaker students can learn from stronger, but can't depend on them to do their work or thinking for them. It's generally important that they get to hear others' thinking, and see the way others process information and go about completing a task. It adds to their experience and skill set.

Sometimes, I'll tell them how many people I want in a group, give them 20 seconds, and then step in to clean things up. I'll say something like: "You can choose your own groups today. No more than 3 people in a group. If I think you've made a wise choice, your group is good to go. If not, I'll change it, only the change will be my choice. I'll adjust the groups when the 20 seconds is up. Go." 20 seconds seems to be a good span of time so that nobody has to feel rejected if they haven't found a group; there is always going to be a group of 4 or 5 who can't bring themselves to separate, so I do it for them and even everything off. After once or twice, they get pretty good at grouping efficiently, and still feeling like they had a choice. Choice is important to them.

In addition to the reasons given above, working in groups allows me to circulate, stopping at 5-10 groups instead of 30+ individuals; by the time I get there, they've talked things out, helped each other, and are ready with what they need from me to proceed. It also gives them the opportunity to develop the skills needed to work cooperatively with others, which is a life-long skill needed to be successful in most arenas.

The structure and climate of my school lends itself to good working relationships. We're small, I have all of my students for some part of their day for a full 3 years, and they are with each other for those 3 years. We spend a lot of time building positive working relationships. While they are still middle school students, and still have the general developmental social, emotional, and intellectual issues, we have stronger community relationships than the average large, institutional middle school.

All of that said, they still have to be able to demonstrate learning independently, and they know that.

... choose their own groups.

Hopefully there are paras ( aides) in the room who can facilitate at each individual grouping.

If not, I would assign kids based on individual characteristics and functioning level.

Politicians and self-appointed experts and "reformers" understand NONE of this and continue to insist that the "correct" pedagogy is that the students choose their own groupings.

How do you say, " It DEPENDS, stupid!" in French? ( Referencing the aforementioned politicians and reformers there, BTW, not the OP... who asks a good question.)

There is no hard and fast rule. Groups are flexible for that reason.