Instructor Resource Center

Some Suggestions For Using Teams in the Classroom

Mark V. Redmond, Communication Studies, Greenlee School

Fundamental Questions

1. What's the goal in assigning the activity?
2. What skills do students need to complete the class activity?
Students need to be taught about how to work in teams. This includes understanding group dynamics and problem solving/task methods, and improving their own performance in a team. Doesn't need to be done in all classes, but needs to occur early on. In what class(es) should this occur?

ISUComm recommends the following aids for teaching written communication.

As a follow-up to the interview unit, students viewed the documentary film Postville (often shown twice by the instructors). The instructors used various approaches in teaching the film (choosing one or more of the following):

• analyzing film techniques and comparing a documentary to other film forms
• evaluating the use of multiple interviews/perspectives (connection to the interview unit)
• discussing diversity issues
• examining the vocabulary of different faiths
  

Questions on Filming Techniques and Representation

1. Before you show the entire film, show a scene without sound. Then have students discuss what meaning they think they see in the scene. Next show the same scene with sound. Ask the class to discuss how the director used a narrator's script to shape the meaning of the scene.

2. Why does the discussion of "assimilation" occur with scenes of Jewish children attending school?

Teaching Resources for the Postville Documentary.

Sites for the Three faiths Mentioned in the Postville

Judaism: http://www.hebroots.com/judaism.html

1. Identify the following:
   • your audience:
   • kind of ads you analyzed:
   • your overall purpose in choosing this type of ad, given your intended audience:
2. Explain the decisions you made (e.g. fonts, headings, wording, etc.) to try to appeal to your intended audience.
3. What are you most pleased with as you look at your ad analysis for your intended audience?
4. What concerns you most about the content and organization of your ad analysis?