V E L E Z C O L L E G E 
DEPARTMENT of OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY 

CLASSROOM STRATEGIES WORKSHEET

NAMES: Bontia, Alyssa Nicole C. ROLE: Summarizer
Gozalo, Val Virgil M. Trust Builder
Manigque, Rose Anne G. Elaborator
Paler, Kyle Marie M. Information and Opinion Seeker
Sajulan, Kate Audrey S. Evaluator of Emotional Climate
Saladaga, Kean Debert T. Communication Helper
Veloso, Millen Therese J. Active Listener/Follower
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Fill in the demographics above (name and role). For the role, refer to Teaching and learning in the Health
Sciences reference p.111 – 112 and use the roles under both task functions and maintenance functions. Each
member of the group must have taken on a different role
2. Work as a group to answer the items stated below

STRATEGIES IN TEACHING IN THE CLASSROOM

STRATEGY ADVANTAGE
Small Group ● As an evaluator of emotional climate in a
small group, advantages include having a
knowledge about how the members feel
about the group work and his/her group
mates. Another would be to be able to
cater everyone given that it is a small
group.
● As a communication helper, my
advantages in a small group include
shared decision making, shared
resources, synergy, and exposure to
diversity.
● Seeking for information and opinions in a
small group provides a great opportunity
for members to speak their minds and
present their ideas regarding a certain
topic; giving members a chance to
contribute.
● Interdependence is required in a small
group, this will ease up my task as a trust
builder like; encouraging members as it
only has few members to communicate
individually, and strengthening risk
taking since there is a shared decision
making and a group with few members
can openly and collectively interact to
produce an outcome.
● An active listener/follower observes
respect especially towards his/her
members for the individual has the
initiative to listen and do assigned tasks
with no question. Also, the individual
respects and acknowledges interesting
new ideas of other members that would
increase camaraderie within the group.
Large Group ● Being an active listener/follower, I avoid
misunderstandings within the group by
DISADVANTAGE
● For those students who are more introverted or
feel that they learn better from a traditional setup,
they may feel shy and anxious which may lead to
them not voicing out what they really feel. Thus,
this can be considered as a disadvantage for the
evaluator of emotional climate.
● As a communication helper, the disadvantages
include unnecessary group information and
difficulty with accountability and social loafing.
● In a small group, seeking for information and
opinions may provide the group a limited range of
ideas. Similarity of ideas may also be inevitable.
● Being an active listener/follower in a small group
also has its disadvantages such as not being able to
share one's thoughts and ideas to the group. This
could affect the group’s output for his/her ideas
could help in the success of their task.
● Since it is my task as a trust builder to encourage
each and everyone, it would require me to make
an extra effort in adjusting and understanding
people who have uncommon values and interests
as me.
● One disadvantage of being an active
listener/follower in a large group setting would be,

V E L E Z C O L L E G E 
DEPARTMENT of OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY 
being open to the ideas and suggestions
made by my other group members and I
also make sure to accomplish the
assigned tasks given to me. Being in a
large group, teamwork should be evident
and properly observed. Thus, I actively
participate in the process of making the
given activity and through this, the
group’s efficiency and productivity will
be enhanced.
● As an information and opinion seeker,
the group is given a greater range of
ideas to work on. There is an existing
collaboration which allows the members
to brainstorm and develop an idea
through seeking for information and
opinions.
● As an evaluator of emotional climate in a
large group, an advantage would be the
different and overwhelming feelings
coming from different individuals of the
large group.
● As a communication helper, there will be
an increase in output since
communication involves a large group of
people with different ideas.
● One advantage for trust builders in large
is accepting or supporting openness,
with plenty of members means there
would be an increasing variety of
suggestions that would be great in
producing an output.
Individualized ● This strategy in teaching covers a variety
Instruction of students with regards to the factors
contributing to differences among
learners. Trust builders can personally
address members who have troubles in
coping mechanisms by conforming to
their needs, skills and interests.
Online Class - ● There is no pressure in asynchronous
Asynchronous learning as learners are given the time to
reflect and learn at their own pace.
When asking for information and
opinions from other members, there is a
mutual agreement that immediate
response or feedback may be low.
● Similar to synchronous , it would be easy
for me as a communication helper and
my group members to communicate via
telecommunication applications.
not being able to voice out my own opinions and
ideas about the given task/activity. I am just doing
what is asked of me.
● A disadvantage of working in a large group as an
information and opinion seeker is how some
members refuse to cooperate and solely rely on
other members to provide ideas for the team.
● The disadvantage of communication helpers in a
large group is that there is no freedom for
individual thinking. It means the point of a member
won’t be agreed upon if the rest of the members
disagree with it.
● As an evaluator of emotional climate in a large
group, one disadvantage would be unable to cater
everyone given that there is quite a number of
people.
● It is time consuming for trust builders to address
encouragement to each member since there are
plenty of members.
● This strategy may require the trust builder an extra
preparation since it caters personalized learning
outcomes. Another disadvantage includes time
management in dealing with each member to
conform to their personalized concerns and
constraints.
● Problems arise when there is a need for immediate
response or feedback and members are not able to
provide because of this type of setting. Lack of
response may disrupt the group’s flow of learning.
● As a communication helper, similar to
synchronous, our communication relies only on
internet connection.
● As an evaluator of emotional climate in
asynchronous learning, a disadvantage could be
there are group members who will be hard to
motivate and are hard headed thus delaying or
disrupting the progress of the group.
 
V E L E Z C O L L E G E 
DEPARTMENT of OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY 

● As an evaluator of emotional climate in ● As an active listener/follower in a asynchronous

asynchronous learning, I will know who
to push or motivate more in order for us
to move forward and really finish an
activity.
● As an active listener/follower in an
asynchronous setting, productivity
increases for I actively participate in both
listening to lectures and doing assigned
tasks. This would also help me to fully
understand the discussions and lectures.
Online Class - ● In synchronous online learning, it would
Synchronous be easy for me as a communication
helper and my group members to
communicate via telecommunication
applications.
● For synchronous online learning, it is
simpler to gather information and
opinions as there is a real-time
interaction between members.
● As a trust builder in synchronous online
class, it would be easy for me to address
each member since there is a constant
online engagement.
● As an evaluator of emotional climate in
synchronous learning, an advantage
would be all of the students would share
their thoughts and feelings at the same
time on an online platform. Thus,
transparency is evident.
● As an active listener/follower in a
synchronous setting, I am participative
during online lectures, listening to the
instructor and doing the assigned tasks
would help me have an efficient learning
experience especially during this tough
times.
setting, communication is done through online
telecommunications and it could be hindrance for
me to be able to
● As a trust builder in asynchronous online class, one
disadvantage would be reinforcing risk taking
results to undesired/unwanted outcomes since
there is no online group engagement.
● An advantage of being an active listener/follower
in an asynchronous setting is that my inability to
share my thoughts and questions would hinder me
from fully understanding the given lecture or topic.
Doing tasks and/ activities is not enough in
learning. One should ensure understanding and/
comprehension.
● Communicating online can be challenging for me as
a communication helper, since we have to rely on
the internet connection in order for us to
communicate.
● As an information and opinion seeker, there is a
pressure for learners to provide an immediate
response even when they’ve got only a limited
knowledge about the topic.
● As an evaluator of emotional climate in
synchronous learning, a disadvantage could be
confusion may arise especially that they do it at the
same time.
● One disadvantage of an online synchronous class is
the demand for a faster internet connection, as a
trust builder whose task is to offer encouragement
for each member who has coping problems, it will
be hard if I have an unstable internet connection.
● Being an active listener/follower in a synchronous
setting, feedback on the lecture is not achieved for
having the same reason as in the previous learning
strategies, I am not able to share my own thoughts,
ideas and questions about the given topic that
would negatively affect my learning.

In your experiences in Velez College during your 1​st​ and 2​nd​ Semester, note the scenarios or problems where the following classroom
strategies may be beneficial.
The problem must be clear and explain why the particular strategy may be beneficial.
SMALL GROUPS During the 2nd semester, the whole class was assigned to do a role play for our NSTP course. It would be
very chaotic and disorganized if everyone was part of the cast. As a solution, we divided the class into
small groups and each group was assigned to do different tasks namely the directors, casts, script writers
and prop makers.
LARGE GROUPS During the 2nd semester, our class was divided into two groups and were tasked to make a roleplay
about our topic in that certain subject. Due to the large quantity of members, misunderstandings
occurred but were later then resolved. Furthermore, each member had a role which increased the
 
V E L E Z C O L L E G E 
DEPARTMENT of OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY 

group’s productivity. Each member made sure to participate and comply with their respective roles thus,
a well performed roleplay was presented.
INDIVIDUALIZED The concept of this strategy is to effectively meet and address each learner’s needs, skills and interests.
INSTRUCTION Our OT instructors are mostly, if not all, open or available to all students who have personalized
concerns regarding the subject matter - since we all have different pace in learning, and there were
topics which were tough for other students, our OT instructores where able to addressed to such
concerns by the use an online platform (google classroom) wherein there were private teacher-student
interaction. Through this, students can grasp topics at their own pace and make the learning experience
more meaningful.
ONLINE CLASS/ PLATFORM The asynchronous online class is being used as an alternative for learning under this pandemic. It is of
Asynchronous great help as it is a learner-centered method that gives us, students, complete control and responsibility
over our learning. There is no pressure to immediately provide information or feedback as students are
given the time to fully grasp the concepts. They are free to work at their own pace, review and research
more about the topics before presenting an idea to the members.
ONLINE CLASS/ PLATFORM In this pandemic, we resumed our class using online platforms. Since we are still given group activities to
Synchronous work on, it’s important for us to find a way to communicate with all the other members to brainstorm
and plan for ideas. However, our type of online class is not synchronous, it means we only communicate
in our free time.

Which specific small group learning strategy did your group use and why?

Forming small groups is a great method for learning. The name itself may sound ineffective or weak for some
people, but we should not underestimate it. Being in a small group can make the environment safer for students in a
way that they don’t need to feel pressured or scared to ask questions because sometimes some of us are afraid to ask
questions because maybe we think that it’s nonsense or out of the topic and so with a small group, it can boost our
confidence to share and speak up. It helps students develop skills in critical thinking, problem-solving, communication,
interpersonal relations, teamwork, team leadership and lifelong learning skills and it also provides opportunities for
students to receive feedback on their learning (“Small Group Teaching”, 2018). When we are in a small group, we can
easily communicate with our members and share our ideas and in this kind of setting, it makes students feel more
comfortable in engaging with their group members.

The strategy we used is brainstorming. The topic given to us was found in the worksheet and Kean, our leader,
delegated each member to a topic. The members shared what they had researched about their assigned subject and we
asked for clarifications. After the clarifications, a summary about the topic was made. Brainstorming allowed us to freely
share our ideas and questions and this created another idea which ultimately led us to understand different concepts
further. However, brainstorming may also allow the more outspoken members to speak. Fortunately, Kean (in this case,
he is the facilitator) assured the group that no idea was wrong and encouraged us to speak up.

Brainstorming is a good strategy for sharing ideas, however, the facilitator should have a time limit for the topics
to be discussed so that the goal can be accomplished. Brainstorming can also create concepts through the different
ideas shared. However, this type of strategy is not advised for larger groups since there may be less interactions with the
members.

References:

Teaching at UNSW. (2018). Small Group Teaching. Retrieved from​ ​https://teaching.unsw.edu.au/small-group-teaching