Teaching Resources
Chapter 1
Downloads
Discussion Questions
1) Why does Gastil argue that copresence is a better way to understand group boundaries than limiting the number of people in a group? Do you agree? Why or why not?
2) How does online communication influence the way people think about group membership and copresence? How do you know if you are part of a group online?
- Can you be copresent with someone in a group if they are on the other side of the world?
- What if they are not online at the same time that you are? Are they still part of your group?
Note: if classroom technology is available, instructors could show examples of online groups over the projector screen. Alternately, student volunteers could bring up some examples of groups they are part of and show them on the screen. Examples could include discussion boards, groups on social networking sites, support groups, social groups that share photos or video files, etc.
3) Group scholars argue that one important feature of groups is that members are interdependent. What does this mean? How are you interdependent with members of your family? What about members of a work group? A sports team? How can interdependence lead to problems for a group?
4) Discuss Table 1.1 (Criteria for evaluating an empirical social scientific theory). Why are each of these criteria important? What would be problematic about a theory that met all of the criteria except for validity? What about clarity or logical coherence? What about falsifiability?
Note: later in the course the students will learn more about specific theories related to group communication. It might be useful to come back to this heuristic later to help students make sense of these specific theories.
Classroom Activities
1) What makes groups successful?
Ask students to make a list of all the groups they are currently, or have recently been, part of. Encourage them to think about groups in a wide variety of contexts: family, friends, sports, clubs, community, work, social support, etc.
After writing their lists individually, students should share their list with a partner and work together to describe what they think makes groups successful (however they define success). The following questions might be useful:
- Of the groups they listed, which ones do they think were the most successful? Why?
- What kinds of experiences have they had in groups that were not good? What made them bad? Ask some of the partners to share these descriptions with the class. Instructors can compile the characteristics on the board for all students to see. Instructors should facilitate a class discussion about group characteristics and outcomes.
- How do the students’ descriptions of successful groups relate to the features of small groups (copresence, shared goal or purpose, interdependence) presented in chapter 1?
- What does it mean for a group to be “successful”? How does this change depending on the purpose of the group, the people who are in the group, and the group context?
- What can we learn from this activity that can help us work together in groups successfully in this class?
2) Research Article Analysis – homework assignment
Divide students into small groups (about 4 or 5 students). Give each group a copy of one research article that involves a study of a small group (see list of possible research articles included in instructional resources). Each group should be assigned to a different article, and the articles should include at least one case study, one field study, one laboratory experimental design, and one meta-analysis.
Groups should read and discuss their assigned article. Depending on the level of familiarity with reading original research, instructors may need to give students some advice about how to read research articles (understanding the format, how to find the research questions/hypotheses, the difference between a results and discussion section, etc.)
They should write up their answers to the following questions and be prepared to give a brief presentation to the class about their answers.
- What were the researchers trying to learn? What did the study find?
- What is the research design used in this study? Why do you think they designed the study in this way?
- What unit of analysis did they use (group or individual)?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of this study design?
- How could you apply something from this study to a different group?
Instructors can facilitate an in-class discussion about the process of reading research articles, what we can learn from different kinds of studies, how research builds a body of knowledge, and the relationship of research and practice.
3) Case Study Analysis: Theorizing Terrorist Cells
Ask students to discuss the features of the small group described in the case study.
- How does this group meet the features of a small group described in Chapter 1 (copresence, shared goal or purpose, interdependence)?
- In what ways is the Hamburg Cell similar to and different from other small groups?
- What made this group successful at completing their mission?
- Of all the things listed at the end of the case (social context, ideology and influence, decision-making, creative problem solving, leadership, group cohesiveness and commitment, etc.), what seems to you to be the most important in explaining how this group worked? Why?
- What can we learn from this case that could help us prevent or avoid future terrorist events?