Jigsaw Teaching Method - Ed Tech Assignment

This entry is actually assigned homework for my Ed Tech class. It has to do with the Jigsaw method of teaching. It works like this. You divide your classroom into several groups (3-5) with about 3-5 students per group. Each group is to report on a certain subject. A leader is assigned to each group and each person in that group takes a specific section of that subject to research on. They do their research either from books or on computers. Then they get together with members from other groups who have been assigned the same section to research on. They collaborate and trade information with each other. Then they go back to their original Jigsaw group and each of them makes a report to the group.

My assignment is to think of how I would use this method in my classroom with only 5 computers to use and to discuss advantages and disadvantages of this method. My focus is to teach the students word processing skills as well as teach them about art.

Since my specialty as a teacher is art, I would probably teach something like art history or drawing and painting. For now, let's assume it is a high school class. One of my favorite periods of art history is the Impressionistic period from 1880's through early 1900's. Let's say I have 3 or 4 groups of 3-4 students each. The main topic--The Impressionistic Period (1880's - early 1990's) would be divided into the following sections: 1) Beginning of Impressionistic period & how is began, Edward Manet, Paul Cezanne, George Seurat; 2) Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Degas, Monet; 3) Mary Cassatt, Renoir, Toulouse Lautrec, End of Impressionistic period and what were the contributing factors.

One student in each group would take one of the three categories mentioned above (or I could split it into four categories if needed). They would use books, etc. that I would provide for them and research the following information: What kind of art did this artist do, what was their style and contribution to Impressionistic movement, what famous works are they known for, etc. This can include short bio, but not too long.

When they gathered their information they would write it down in their own words on a piece of paper, as a report. Then they would get together with their "expert groups" and trade or collaborate information so they all had a fully complete report. When the report was completed, one member of the group would go to one of the computers, using word processing software (Word 2007) and type a professional looking report, or several people in the group could get a chance to do some work (typing or insert a graphic) on the report, using the same computer station. If part of the objective is to get students familiar with word processing, then the students not doing the actually typing, would observe to see what was being done. If I had a printer in the room, they could print it out too. They would go back to original jigsaw group and make their individual reports to each other.

Advantages of this method: Face-to-face interaction, develops social skills, encourages teamwork & individual accountability, works well for bright students as well as for the slower ones.

Disadvantages of this method: Might be hard for everyone to use the computer since there is only five stations available. There might be some confusion about who gets to use the computer and when so you would have to set up a specific schedule and monitor this. Sometimes you might get a student who dominates the group or a slower student. Or you might get the problem of students being overly competitive or rowdy.