Using Homogenous Small-Group Work to Build Confidence in Female Identifying Students

Female identifying students in my more male dominated classes, namely Deslynn, Evelyn, Tina in my section 1 class in which they are the only female students in a class of 25-30 boys. 

In order to plan, I read through resources that talk about how homogenous and small scale discussion groups can increase engagement in larger class discussions. 

Baseline data

I collected data on participation in a socratic seminar that took place at the beginning of MP 2 before any small group interventions. The data showed that all three female students participated one or less times during a discussion that took place for 45 minutes. 

Measuring success

I measured success as a clear increase in participation and leadership in discussions in both small and large groups in my target students. 

This was a successful experiment because after having several small group in class ungraded discussions that were in groups of 4 people or less, all three target students were really engaged and excited to participate in the performance task which was a dinner party discussion. Two of the three served as student graders who both led and graded the assignment and both noted in their reflections that it was the small group space that encouraged them to take risks and lead in the more formal assignment.