4.1 Group Diversity

Instructor Preparation and Summary

This unit includes a number of activities for learners to engage in at various comprehension levels. Unique learners that have not had a good experience with group work in the past will have an opportunity to examine the diversity in groups and the strengths each member can bring to the task.

“Skills to Pay the Bills; Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success” is a valuable resource designed specifically for unique learners that was developed by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment (ODEP). This resource focuses on hands-on activities to do with learners to help them better understand the abstract concepts of soft skills in a concrete way. I highly recommend this resource to anyone working with students with unique learning needs.

There is a great deal of material and activities and instructors may choose to break it into two or three modules. The ” Marshmallows and Spaghetti Tower” activity gives learners a hands on group experience to reflect on theirs and their group members actions during the task. Allow 30 minutes to complete this activity. The “Choose Your Own Adventure” activity is a lot of fun for learners and you will need to allow at least an hour for this activity. The free online escape room included in the resources is quite challenging and time consuming but suitable for a group of Level 3 learners. The Interpersonal Skills Assessment tool helps participants to evaluate what their strengths are and what areas they could improve in. The Shapes Activity is a playful way to help learners understand their strengths and challenges according to their personality traits.

The principles of Universal Design for Learning are incorporated into the variety of activities in this unit.

This unit will help some students to:

  • Participate in a group activity to build a free standing structure.
  • Discuss the successful strategies used in group work.
  • List the 5 important traits of  a good group member.
  • Identify their personality strengths and skills through assessments and group activities.
  • Explain the benefits of having a diverse group.
  • Apply the group diversity knowledge acquired in a group decision making activity.

Classroom Activities

  1. Teamwork Video:: Soft Skills–Teamwork (1:30s)
  2. Marshmallow and Spaghetti group activity:
    • Establish groups of 4.
    • Select a group leader for this activity
    • Your group will have 15 minutes to build the tallest free standing structure out of marshmallows and spaghetti. (Adjust time according to learners needs)
    • The group leader may only offer instructions and supervise. They may not physically participate in this activity.
    • Set the timer and “Go!”
    • When time goes off, have a class discussion/debrief:
    • Besides group leader, what other roles did each person play in the group? How was each person helpful to the end goal? Was it better or not that the group leader couldn’t physically participate in the activity? How did the group leader feel about their level of participation? How did your group work together? What worked well? What difficulties did you experience? What would you do differently if given a second chance at this activity?
  3. Shapes Activity:
    • Print off 5 papers with a different shape on each.
    • Put up pictures of the 5 shapes on the slide on walls around the room.
    • Ask learners to go near the shape that they like best.
    • Once they are at their shape, read out what the different shapes mean in regards to their personality traits. ( this is on page 70 of the Skills to Pay the Bills Free Download) Then discuss as a class if they agree that the personality traits of the shape they like are true to who they are. If not, why not? Encourage them to give examples of what traits are true and what traits are false.
  4. Self Assessment: Interpersonal Skills Self Assessment from SkillsYouNeed.com
  5. Video: 10 Ways to Become a Star Team Player (1:46s)
  6. Web: 9 Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Games On YouTube & Netflix For Interactive Adventures From Home
    • Form small groups of no more than 3-4 learners.
    • Each group chooses one of the “Create Your Own Adventure” Games from the website below. Give groups 10 minutes to decide on a game if needed.
    • Begin with the introduction and then start the game.
    • During the game groups will need to make decisions before proceeding. Their decisions will affect their journey in the game. There are good decisions and not so good decisions.
    • When faced with decision, the group will need to pause and all members will participate in making the decision. Then once they agree, they will proceed with the decision.
    • It is important that all group members participate in the decision making process.
    • Once groups have completed the adventure, each group member will fill out the ‘Create Your Own Adventure” Feedback Worksheet and submit to the teacher.

Applied Learning Assessments

Instructor Resources

Slide Deck

Worksheets

Web Resources

References

Aksharanugraha, P. (2020, June 11). 9 interactive choose-your-own-adventure games on YouTube & Netflix. TheSmartLocal. Retrieved April 6, 2022, from https://thesmartlocal.com/thailand/interactive-games-netflix-youtube/

10.5 Team Diversity in Organizational Behavior by Rice University is under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

United States Department of Labor. (2014). “Skills to Pay the Bills: Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success. Office of Disability Employment Policy. Retrieved April 6, 2022, from https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep/program-areas/individuals/youth/transition/soft-skills

University Success – 2nd Edition by N. Mahoney; B. Klassen;, M. D’Eon, and L. Marken is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Working in Diverse Teams by Cameron W. Piercy, Ph.D. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

License

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Empowering Unique Learners for College Success Copyright © 2022 by Robin Frkovic, MEd., BSc is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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