In my search to further my understanding of differentiation, there was one differentiation technique that I thought would fit into my classroom very well. This technique is group investigation. The name alone stood out to me due to the word “investigation”. In art education, educators are taught to provide investigation opportunities to their students in order for them to dissect and understand works of art. This is a critical step in art education. Art teachers need to teach their students the tools for visually reading works of art. When students “read” artwork, they then need to take the information that they have and form meaning. This whole method falls under the umbrella of artistic investigation. The video LEARNstyle LearnTube (August 2021). Group Investigation was a great help in clarifying the steps to understanding the process of group investigation and provided a helpful example.
LEARNstyle LearnTube (August 2021). Group Investigation. YouTube
Tomlinson, C. A. (pg 58. 2001) claims that group investigation is a “cooperative learning strategy (that) is excellent for helping students decide on a topic of personal interest, find out about the topic in defensible ways, work collaboratively, and present findings with confidence.” In group investigation, students are put into a group where they will be given a general topic. From that general topic, students will collaborate to determine the focus of their investigation. The example used in LEARNstyle LearnTube (August 2021). Group Investigation video was that the teacher told the group to do research on a Canadian Prime Minister. The group then decided which Prime Minister to do their research on. Once students decide the focus of their investigation they must then decide what to focus their research on. The Group Investigation video explains how students work individually to research certain areas of their topic individually. After the students collect their research, they come together to share their findings as a group. Collectively they then decide how to share their findings as a group. In a group investigation, students are able to make the decision of the best method for presenting their findings. Some examples of presentation methods include essays, PowerPoints, videos, dramatic performance, and tri-fold presentations.
In my art room I have used this technique with my students in the past. The most recent example of this was a “color detective” lesson I did with my second graders. Students worked individually, and with their “departments” (tables) to collaborate and determine where colors belong on a color wheel. I still have some questions about the flexibility of the group investigation. I would like to find a wider array of other uses of this technique in order to better my understanding and find even more uses for this differentiation technique.
Resources:
Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. Alexandria, Va: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
LEARNstyle LearnTube (August 2021). Group Investigation. YouTube
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