The Class
Passport
Assigning Students to Diverse Teams
Instructor Guide:
I
use a class passport to help me learn my student's names, learn a
little bit about them, and to help me assign them to teams. The
instructions for creating the class passport are below. When
students bring these to class, I order them (highest to lowest) by the
total number of points they assigned themselves in the 6-question
survey. When I have determined the number and size of the teams I
want for the class, I go through the stack of passports one at a time,
assigning students to each team. So let's say I have 50 students
in my class and I want to have 10 teams of 5 students. The 1st
student in the stack of passports is assigned to team 1, the 2nd to
team 2 etc...until one student has been assigned to each of the 10
teams. The next ten students in the stack of passports are then
assigned to each of the 10 teams, one at a time until each team has 2
students. This continues until all 50 students have been assigned
to the 10 teams. The value of this method of assigning students
to teams is that each team member has at least one student that has
scored high on the survey, and one student who scored low.
Therefore teams end up being a diverse mix of students.
A link to the passport assignment, without the Instructor Guide can be
found at: http://www.cofc.edu/~petersj/Biology101PBL/Biology_101_ClassPassport.html
On a 3
x 5 index card
paste a recent, recognizable picture of yourself (a bust shot if
possible).
The picture should fit with in the boundaries of 1/4 of the index
card.
If the picture is too large, trim it so it will fit, or use another! Please
don't go and spend money to have a picture taken, see if you can find a
picture that you would be willing give away for this purpose, or make a
copy of your Student ID picture..
Please use a picture that will help
me recognize you (i.e. recent, no sun-glasses, silly-faces, hats
shading your face etc...). Paste the
picture in the top left corner of the card. On the rest
of the card include the following
information...
- Your
Team Name (Leave this blank for now...this will be filled in when you
are assigned to a team)
- Your Legal
Name - First Last (print
in large letters) - This should be the name that would appear on my
class role.
- Nickname
(or what you want me to call you if different from your first name
above)
- Your email
address
- Your local or
cell phone #
-
Your major or anticipated major
- Year in
college
- Your career
interests
- Other interests - tell me something
interesting about you!
Tally
up your total points for
the following questions...
Indicate by
giving yourself
the following point values for each of the following questions - "5" if
you strongly agree, "4" if you agree, "3" if you are neutral, "2" if
you
disagree, and "1" if you strongly disagree with the statement below. Please
write your number each individual statement on the back of the
card. Then,
tally these points and write the TOTAL in the front side lower left
corner of your class passport.
1) __ I consider myself an
active participant in class and in group discussions.
2)__ I am confident in my ability
to understand science concepts.
3)__ I generally like to take
a leadership role in group discussions.
4)__ My goal is to get an A
in this course.
5)__ I like to get my course
work done in a timely manner, and not wait until the last minute to
complete
assignments.
6)__ Give yourself 10 points
you are a senior, 7 a junior, 3 a sophomore, 1 if you are a Freshman!
If there is
someone in the class whose team you would rather not be on, or someone
(who is not your boyfriend or girlfriend) you would really like to work
with, please
indicate this on the back of your card. This information will be
kept in the strictest of confidence!