by:
  Joan Maloof

  Using the Jigsaw Method

From all the journal articles handed in for each chapter, I selected one to be copied and distributed to all students. (See Appendix 1 for a list of the selected articles.) Before copying the article, I divided it into four sections and labeled each of the sections in the margin. Articles were commonly divided into sections as follows:

1. abstract and introduction
   
   
2. materials and methods
   
   
3. results
   
   
4. discussion

Following our class discussion on the relevant chapter in the text, I gave each student a copy of the selected journal article and presented a brief lesson on any biology or terminology necessary to understand the paper. The five-person teams then decided who was to be the “expert” for each section (explained below). Some teams liked to permanently assign experts for each section, and other teams liked to rotate assigned sections. There were four sections to each paper, and five experts on each team.

This overlap allowed for flexibility in attendance. If a student knew in advance that they might not be in attendance for the next class they could alert their teammates to have them be the extra person assigned to a topic. Leaving the decision of “expert assignments” to the student teams worked very well. I believe that in the college classroom it is best to allow the students maximum flexibility within the necessary structure. This not only lets them “own” the process — leading to greater responsibility and less resentment — but it makes things simpler for the teacher as well. (A major consideration!) All students were expected to read the entire paper, outside of class, paying special attention to the section on which they were the expert.

When students arrived for the next class they met with students from different teams who were experts on the same section that they were. These experts were expected to thoroughly understand their section, and, by consensus, to arrive at four major points from that section. Formulating this list of points helped the group focus and use their time productively. It was encouraging to see the students “digging deep” to understand the material and to explain things to each other. Every individual was aware that soon they would be returning to their team and would be responsible for helping their team understand the content of that section. During this process, which took about fifteen minutes, I was available to assist any groups that had a question about the reading, or that needed guidance in working as a group.

• Introduction
• Primary Sources and Course Design
• Using the Jigsaw Method
• Communication, Accountability and Knowledge
• Summary
• Appendix A
• References
• print version