HANDOUT: Environment: Group Work
A handout for students working in groups
The next page of this document contains a handout intended for you to distribute to students in your
courses. It includes communication guidelines for students – deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing – working
in groups. Please feel free to alter it as desired to meet your specific needs.
Handout provided by Class Act (www.rit.edu/classact), a project of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of
Technology (NTID/RIT), Rochester, New York. Major funding from the Fund for Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) and
Demonstration Projects to Ensure Students with Disabilities Receive a Quality Higher Education, US Department of Education.
HANDOUT:
Communication Guidelines for Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, and
Hearing Students Working in Groups
Faculty Member:
Course:
Please observe these guidelines when working in groups in this course. Keep in mind that
when you leave school a significant amount of your work effort may take place while
working in a group environment. Everyone in your work group will need to work
cooperatively toward a common goal. At the heart of reaching this goal is working well
with others, starting with effective communication.
This handout provides suggested guidelines and expectations for communication between
deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing students who work together in groups in this course.
Group work in class:
1.
Be certain that all individuals are positioned so that everyone is able to see each
other. Maintaining a clear line of sight between speakers is vital for communication.
2. If a sign language interpreter or captionist is present, allow deaf and hard-of-hearing
students and the interpreter or captionist to determine their physical positioning
within the group.
3. Only one person should speak at a time. Be patient and take turns speaking. When a
hearing student is speaking, he/she should look at the deaf or hard-of-hearing
students and not address statements to an interpreter or captionist if present.
4. Clearly identify the current speaker. Have the current speaker raise his/her hand and
wait a few seconds before he/she begins to speak. Consider using an object like a
kick-bag to pass from speaker to speaker; the rule is that only the person in
possession of the bag can speak.
5.
If no interpreter or captionist is present, use paper and pencil, or flipcharts with
markers (or laptops if available), to write back and forth.
Group work outside of class:
1.
Schedule meetings in advance and schedule interpreting or captioning support if
available.
2. Follow the guidelines just above for ‘group work in class.’
Handout provided by Class Act (www.rit.edu/classact), a project of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of
Technology (NTID/RIT), Rochester, New York. Major funding from the Fund for Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) and
Demonstration Projects to Ensure Students with Disabilities Receive a Quality Higher Education, US Department of Education.