>From the point of view of the facilitator, I think that group size affects
your role. Once you are past about 8 or 9, the facilitator's role becomes
more one of policing the interaction than being able to attend to the needs
of all the participants.
So it depends on what you are trying to achieve, which role you are
comfortable with, and the extent to which your participants are prepared to
behave and work in a larger group.
Paul
Paul Robinson
GP and Course Organiser
Scarborough
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask]
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Toby
Lipman 7, Collingwood Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne. Tel
0191-2811060 (home), 0191-2869178 (surgery)
Sent: 25 June 1999 17:35
To: Robbins, Brett
Cc: Evidence-Based-Health List
Subject: Re: Small Group Learning
In message <[log in to unmask]>, Robbins, Brett
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>EBM is best taught in small groups. Traditionally, this means 4-8 or so.
>Any ideas or data on 'how big is too big?'
>
I don't think you can say dogmatically what is the right size of group.
I'd agree that if a small group gets much beyond 8 + facilitators it can
get unwieldy, yet you can have a perfectly good interactive learning
session with 20 or 40 or...I don't know, in a "large group".
Has anyone tried videoing small groups? I'd guess that one of the
limiting factors is how many participants you have to have before the
facilitators start to overlook non-participants and let them stew in
their own miserable little corner. I think that has happened with me in
groups of around 12, but it would be interesting to see a video to find
out what's going on. (and maybe sometimes there are participants you'd
really like to ignore, and you yield to temptation if the group's big
enough!)
Cheers
Toby
--
Toby Lipman
General practitioner, Newcastle upon Tyne
Northern and Yorkshire research training fellow
Tel 0191-2811060 (home), 0191-2437000 (surgery)
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