Student Groups for PBL

How many of you have had that sinking feeling when your teacher informs you that you are going to be doing a group project?

(Insert collective groan here)

There are so many benefits to working on a project with a group of people, but it can be a negative experience if you aren't working with the right group of people. I've tried many group making strategies including picking Popsicle sticks, letting students choose their own groups, and this random colored cube strategy:

  All of these strategies have produced very random results. Some groups end up being a great fit and very productive, having a great time coming up with a fantastic result; while others argue, participate in disruptive behavior, and turn in an incomplete project.

In an effort to create harmonious groups that not only work well together, but also complete their project on time, I have come up with an inventory of personality quizzes. Identifying your personality type, as well as your strengths that the group can capitalize on, will make your group experience more positive. After all, if you have a group of four people that are all “performers”, but no one with strong organization or reasoning skills, your presentation may be entertaining, but incomplete or lacking in supportive data. A well rounded group has a performer to present, an organizer that makes sure tasks are completed on time, a researcher that focuses on evidence, and a leader that makes sure everyone is included, doing their part, and disagreeing in a scholarly way.

Test:	Results
Learning Style: http://www.learning-styles-online.com/inventory/questions.php
Jung Typology Test: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp#questionnaire
http://www.truity.com/test/type-finder-research-edition There are several other types of tests here in the bar at the top if you want to take other quizzes.
http://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test
Your own analysis-2 resources for further reflection: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/MyersBriggsTypes.png/1280px-MyersBriggsTypes.png Types Explained: http://www.truity.com/view/types
Watch this video and decide for yourself : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQoOqQiVzwQ
Find out which faction you would belong in: http://divergentthemovie.com/aptitudetest
Find out what house you belong in at Hogwarts: http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/quiz/2015/feb/05/harry-potter-night-quiz-sorting-hat-which-house
Now take the quiz I made: http://www.qfeast.com/personality/quiz/kJYMzG/What-s-your-type?r

I don’t believe these tests are a complete description of who you are as a person. Most likely, you are sometimes one way and sometimes another. It is a tool for self reflection on where your strengths are, that can allow us to create diversely talented teams for different purposes.

Please take some time to take one (the last one that I made is mandatory) or all of these quizzes and use the data collection sheet to analyze your results. I believe that the more quizzes you take, the more data you will have, and the more accurate your findings will be. I took all of these quizzes and was an INTJ nearly every time. After reflecting on your data, comment on this post with your personality type, your identifying color (this comes from my quiz) and what it says about you. Of course, a shameless Star Wars plug is always acceptable too.

  

A note to teachers: I worked really hard on making this quiz, and have had friends and family take it and we all have agreed that the result are accurate. That being said, there are many pop culture references in my quiz, ie. Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Divergent, that make this quiz more appropriate for middle/high school students.  

   
   If you would like to use this, a link to my google doc is here.  To find images similar to the Star Wars chart, google search (topic MBTI) ex: "Lord of the Rings MBTI". I would love to hear from you if you do try this out and you have any suggestions for edits.