Higher Education 46: 431–446, 2003.

431
© 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

Development of an instrument to evaluate the effectiveness of

teachers in guiding small groups

D.H.J.M. DOLMANS∗, H.A.P. WOLFHAGEN, A.J.J.A. SCHERPBIER &

C.P.M. VAN DER VLEUTEN
Department of Educational Development and Research, University of Maastricht, Medical
School, Maastricht, the Netherlands
(∗ author for correspondence, e-mail: d.dolmans@educ.unimaas.nl)

Abstract. In many student-centred curricula, teachers work in small groups with students.
Guiding small groups is rather complex. Teachers need to aim to stimulate students in these
groups towards constructive, self-directed, contextual and collaborative learning. It is also
important that teachers demonstrate adequate interpersonal behaviour towards students. In this
study, an instrument was developed to provide teachers with feedback about their performance
to improve their behaviour. The aim of this study is to report on the development, reliability
and validity of an instrument to evaluate teachers’ performance in guiding small groups.
The items of the instrument were based on five theoretical dimensions: constructive,
self-directed, contextual and collaborative learning and the teacher’s interpersonal behaviour.
Students were asked to fill out this instrument and evaluate the performance of the teacher
guiding the small group at the end of several courses. The instrument was tested in a pilot-
study. Confirmatory factor analysis and generalizability studies indicated that the instrument
is fairly valid and reliable when six student responses are available per teacher. Teachers
receive detailed feedback about their performance indicating strong and weak aspects. Further
research is needed to determine whether this feedback indeed leads to improvement of
teachers’ behaviour.

Keywords: evaluation, feedback, problem-based learning, teaching

Introduction

Learning in small groups can be considered as an effective instructional

format, because it provides ample opportunities to stimulate student learning.
There is also clear evidence available that learning in groups positively influ-
ences student learning (Michaelsen, Fink and Black 1996). An increasing
number of schools use learning in groups. However, not all teachers and not
all students experience the desired positive effects of group work. All too
often students complain that the performances of some teachers guiding small
groups show deficiencies. Teachers on the other hand argue that their perfor-
432 DOLMANS, D.H.J.M. ET AL.

mance in guiding small groups may vary according to differential contextual

circumstances.
Several contextual circumstances have been shown to influence teacher’s
behaviour in guiding small groups. For example, if the group is confronted
with some students who let others do the work, group members who are
initially motivated start to contribute less to the group’s activities. This is
a very difficult situation for teachers to deal with. In these groups, no team
spirit is developed which encourages the group members to care about the
group. Instead of social cohesion, the group’s atmosphere has become social
‘loafing’ (Slavin 1996). In a study conducted by Dolmans et al. (1999), it
was demonstrated that small groups with relatively low levels of motiva-
tion require much more input from a teacher than highly motivated groups.
Another example concerns curricular materials that are not well structured
or do not fit well with students’ prior knowledge. Schmidt (1994) found that
small groups with relatively low structured courses or/and courses that do not
fit well with students’ prior knowledge also require more input from teachers
than small groups working with well structured courses and courses that link
up well with students’ prior knowledge. In other words, guiding small groups
is rather complex. This implies that teachers should be able to deal with
complex and differential circumstances and should be provided with feedback
on their performance in dealing with small groups (Braskamp and Ory 1994).
In contemporary constructivist approaches to learning and understanding,
learners build personal interpretations of the world based on individual exper-
iences and interactions. Specific strategies utilized by constructivists include
an emphasis on learners constructing their own knowledge, an emphasis on
self-directed learning, an emphasis on meaningful contexts and an emphasis
on collaboration with others (Ertmer and Newby 1993). Teachers should
create a learning environment stimulating students towards the construction
of powerful knowledge (Harris and Alexander 1998). The common principles
utilized by constructivists include constructive, self-directed, contextual and
collaborative learning. These principles will be described below.
Constructive learning implies that teachers stimulate students to actively
construct their own knowledge. Students should elaborate on and inter-
pret information instead of knowing facts and should be encouraged to
construct their own understandings (Ertmer and Newby 1993). Teachers
should encourage a deep approach to learning in which students construct or
reconstruct their knowledge networks. Elaboration plays an important role in
constructive learning. Elaboration can take several forms, such as discussion,
note-taking or answering questions. Thus, constructive learning implies that
students fully participate in their own learning and actively construct their
own knowledge (Harris and Alexander 1998).