Students often work on classroom projects. Projects most often require students to work in groups. Fortunately, CL can facilitate these group projects to function effectively and enjoyably.

Group Investigation was designed by Yael and Shlomo Sharan (1990) to be used with group projects. This CL technique was inspired by John Dewey, a famous educator of the first half of the 20th century. Dewey believed that education should not merely prepare students for life; education should immerse students in life.

Here are the steps in Group Investigation.

Step 1: The class and teacher agree to investigate a complex problem they feel is important. Such problems are also known as ‘fuzzy problems’ because they do not necessarily have only one viable solution. For example, achieving the SDGs certainly creates encounters with many fuzzy problems.

Step 2: Students form groups based on questions connected to the problem that the class has chosen. For example, if the class has chosen to investigate Zero Hunger (Sustainable Development Goal 2), one group can investigate the hunger situation in a particular country, and another group can investigate the food waste problem. Thus, the class becomes one group containing subgroups.

Step 3: Each group plans the ‘what,’ ‘how,’ ‘who,’ and ‘when’ of their investigations. This includes the questions to investigate, the resources to be used, which group members will investigate what, and when they will report back to the group. The groups could construct a roster of who will do what and by when. For instance, if the group is looking at hunger in Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, member(s) can look for basic information on the country (e.g., history, geography, population, economy, or religions). The other member(s) can look at what local and international organizations are doing to address hunger-related problems and solutions experienced by citizens of Guinea-Bissau.

Step 4: After the members report back to their group, the group discusses the questions listed below.

• Do we need more information?
• What can we do to find such additional information?
• Do we have ideas for helping the situation with our chosen SDG?
• Are such ideas practical?
• How should we present our ideas to the class and others?
• Is there anything else relevant that requires more research or discussion?

Step 5: Each group presents. Peer, teacher, and self-evaluations are done on the presentations using a rubric constructed by the class. Based on the data and recommendations of the various groups, the class discusses the overall problem chosen in Step 1 and considers what they might do on their own by reaching out to others to address the problem.

Presentations should be interactive and highlight main ideas, rather than repeating every detail the group learned during their investigation. In keeping with the CL principles of individual accountability and equal opportunity to participate, all group members have a speaking part in their group’s presentation. Presentations should not be like teacher-centered lectures. Instead, the rest of the class should be active by asking and answering questions and offering feedback. Presentation rehearsals can improve the quality of presentations and help groups keep within the time limit decided by the class.

Step 6: The final stage is evaluation and reflection. In addition to the presentation assessments using the rubric constructed by the students, the class can construct a test for student comprehension of the main ideas contained in the presentations. Alternatively, other forms of assessment can be used, including essays related to the problems raised by the presentations.

Reflective Break

Do you ever find student presentations to be boring? What are ideas that students can use to make their presentations interesting?

Sample Response

Yes, too often student presentations are boring for various reasons, including lack of preparation. Thus, students need to learn the many skills involved in presenting. Ways to enliven presentations include skits, quizzes, prizes, songs, poems, and gestures.