Group Projects
I had a student tell me how frustrated they were in being on a team in an on line environment. Apparently the other team members weren't contributing equally. How is this possible in an on line environment which tracks everyones participation?
Jeffrey:
Yes; an Instructor can monitor individual contributions to the project; however, the fact that we can do this does not mean that students will feel obligated to participate. What are some measures you believe we can take to ensure student participation in group projects?
Satrohan
I am interested also in this issue. Is it possible perhaps to make sure that groups meet for certain amount of time in a discussion forum before completion of a project? Absence of interaction might lower grades?
At the same time, these issues exist in on-the-ground classes as well, and often, it is the group's responsibility to cope with others in their groups. It isn't a perfect world, and this will help them learn life skills of interaction in the "real world".
I am open to new suggestions!
Laura
Laura:
Some Course Delivery Platforms have a facility in their "Team" feature through which students can post their individual contributions to group projects for other group members to review and offer feedback. Through this same feature,they can engage discussions. The facility is private to individual groups.
I agree that the same kinds of problems are likely to exist in an on-the-ground setting; however, my experience has been that it is easier to manage and resolve in an on-the-ground setting than online.
Satrohan
I always stress to my students that I assign individual grades to team projects, based upon the participation I observe from all team members. Otherwise, some students will not put forth their best effort!
Thanks!
John:
Advising students that you will be assigning grades for individual efforts also give them a strong sense of feeling of your involvement, and that their indivual efforts will be evaluated by you, the Instructor, and that their grade does not depend on the team's effort and peer evaluation.
Satrohan
I think a combination of requiring them to have at least 1 one hour discussion per week in a discussion area that can be monitored by the Instructor, student peer evaluations and Instructor evaluation will do the trick. Online peer evaluations work great, because the students don’t really know each other, thus they will be brutally honest.
Valid suggestions Mark. A note on peer evaluations: Per evaluations yield the best results if students are provided with a Rubric that guides their individual evaluations of each other or a group, and serves as a basis for hem to evaluate their evaluations by others.
Satrohan
Dividing the topics into the number of students in the group then assigning them each a topic then having each member bring information to the entire group.
I do the same. There is a group grade but also an indivdual grade. I put more grading weight to the individual grading.
Jo:
If I were assigning Group Projects, I also will assign a higher weighting to individual contributions. I suspect that by doing this, students' participation will be higher.
Satrohan
I agree that managing groups on-line is challenging just as it is on-ground. In fact, it's possible that on-line can be both better and worse. Group members are anonymous to each other on-line whereas in the classroom they have to deal with face-to-face confrontation about lack of participation. However, on-ground this can backfire if the group 'gangs up' on one individual. Individual grading by the instructor works great (I've used this) and so does peer grading (I provide a rubric to be used on each group member and this becomes a part of the overall project grade).
Joanne:
My opinion-----regardless of th elearning being delivered online or on th eground, as an Instructor I will sahre the ground rules for participating in group projects; and "ganging up" on anyone will not be tolerated. We cannot encourage that kind oif behavior especially among younger students.
Satrohan
Monitoring students, whether on-line or on-ground, is obviously an important part of our job as teachers. I find that occasionally a student will ignore expectations clearly outlined in the syllabus and explained in class. That person's contribution to the group is so minimal that the fellow group members get very frustrated because sometimes that person just doesn't care about the grade (or even passing the class!). That is one of the reasons that I never use just a group grade for any group project - it is not fair to those who end up feeling they did all the work because others are slackers.
Joanne:
Personally, participating in groupproject is not my prefeence as I experienced far too many instances in which I had to change my schedule because others were not fulfilling their obligations to the project. My grade is important to me for a number of reasons; hence, I had to pcik up the slacks. Perhaps you have th solution----not assigning a grade to the group project.
Question
Having taken that position, do you find that the participation level in the group projects is less than desired?
Satrohan
I think it would be important for the group members to see their peer evaluations and the instructor evaluation. If the group members evaluate each other without seeing instructor evaluations, the students may think they are grading each other and the instructor is using those grades as an aid to his/her evaluation process; in effect the students are doing the instructor's job. Clear expectations as shown on a rubric with additional comments are helpful when evaluating projects. I believe students learn from feedback, involvement and commitment to their own goals and progress.
Most definitely. The instructor's evaluation must be the one that counts. Peer evaluations are a way to help students learn not only from each other but allows for different perspectives. The final grade however, should not include the peer evaluations. I would do this more for a participation mark only
A marvellous proposal indeed, Chroistine. I have never thought of this precaution one should take when engaging peer evaluation. I would stretch it a bit farther to say that if students do not see the Instructor's evaluation, they are likely to conclude that their grade is based on peer evaluation alone; regardless of what was stated about the Instructor involvement in grading upfront when expectations were set.
Satrohan
I know group projects are to create the "teamwork atmosphere" which many businesses want to encourage; however, in the classroom all students have to receive the same grade. But in the business world, the one who is not performing up to optimal level will be terminated.
Adarine:
Please elaborate on why you believe all students have to receive the same grade. Yes; you are quite right. Being a team player is a requiremnt on many job postings. If you are working on a project with a team and you do not perform your duties; you will definitely be out of the team and possibly out of a job. Capable team players fulfill their roles becasue their livelihood may depend on it.
Satrohan
