Small group teaching

Small group teaching involves learning and teaching sessions with small groups of students.

There is no “ideal” number of students, as this depends on the activity to be undertaken. However, group sizes between 3-10 students are typically considered effective in most situations; with small group teaching approaches still possible in larger classes by simply dividing the students into smaller groups.

One of the most important aspects of small group teaching is that it is student-centred, promotes student engagement, involves active learning and that the educator acts more as a facilitator to the students learning. Therefore, discussion, dialogue and collaboration between staff and students is fundamental to effective small group learning.

At Cardiff University a diverse range of small group teaching methods are implemented as effective approaches to learning and teaching. These include, but are not limited to; tutorials, seminars, problem-based learning, inquiry-based learning and workshops, all of which can be delivered directly or online.

This topic presents examples of how small group teaching provides a dynamic and interactive environment for students to construct their learning, in addition to providing the opportunity for students to obtain immediate formative feedback from both their peers and tutor.