I like the course 106 ideas of giving them individual tasks to complete to insure against one or two doing all the work. That is the hard part for me as the instructor to create is in the lesson plan.
By far the biggest hurdle seems to be getting the students to respect one another enough to show up for class and pull their weight in the group. The majority of classes that I teach where we employ the use of group work is a formal group setting. The students remain together for the duration of the module (5 weeks) working on a continuous project. Frequently there are one or two students in each group who attempt to coast through the module on the other students efforts and then try to claim the actively contributed when it comes time for grades. We do have the students perform peer-evaluations on each other but usually find a negative response for this reason. The students who do all the work are usually frustrated and feel that the projects would have been a better experience without having to rely on other less motivated students. I think at this point in time I am a bigger advocate of informal groups that are used to get the students comfortable working in a team-environment. If the group is assigned during class and only pertains to that day's work, students don't have to be concerned about every group member pulling their weight over a long-term assignment. This takes away much of the stress that can accompany group project classes.
I find that one of the challenges is when they are in groups with friends to keep them on task. In order to help with class management and keep them on task, I walk around to the different groups and discuss how they are approaching the assignment and answer questions. This refocuses them on what needs to be completed and helps to cut down on off subject chatting.
I have found that a challenge in group projects or assisgnments is when there are personality conflicts and I then have be a referee. This is very challenging especially when you are an instructor for adults.
I also sometimes have problems with groups staying on the same pace durign the class period, but usually the ones who finish first took a shortcut or missed a part of the class discussion so I have to redirect them.
I teach on a quarter schedule so it is difficult to use small groups, except in "debating" situations. Once I assigned a project using the small group concept, and I found that some of the students did all the "work" for the group. Not good.
The most perplexing problem I encountered in student groups is when a student is not contributing and the other students resent the fact and ignore the student or when a student is an obvious"misfit" and is distruptive to the group efforts.
I think some of the biggest challenges is having all students work well together and making sure everyone is pulling their own weight. I've seen it numerous times before where students want to transfer groups because they don't get along with certain people and that throws the whole dynamic of the group off. Also, some students don't want to participate as much as others, either because they are shy or just don't want to participate.
Well clearly right off the bat there is the leader/follower dynamic that you have to attempt to overcome with regard to overall equitable participation. The leaders tend to do all the work and then ultimately feel used by the followers who received the same grade, but without the work involved to earn it. In order to overcome this, each student should be evaluated on their own work and contribution. Even in a group setting.
I think one of the major challenges of having students work in groups is making sure each group member is pulling their own weight. Following a group project, I often allow students to anonymously evaluate their group members. Usually, if there is one group member that is not contributing, the evaluation shows that without putting to student in an uncomfortable position of "telling" on their classmate.
Some students do not like each other, some students from diverse backgrounds or culture do not feel comfortable with individuals from other cultures, some are shy and some students just do not want to work with other students. I think brevity is the key. If it is an in classroom assignment as long as the activity is short the instructor can guide the students along to avoid any conflicts. If it is an external assignment choosing the group should be done with care. As long as no student is left out the students can volunteer to sign up with a group.
I totally agree Tim. I often feel like the classroom group exercise doesn't really help students in the real world - too sterile.
Keep up the good work!
Jane davis
ED106 Facilitator
I have had challenges with personalities within groups. But I feel this is part of the exercise because they will have to encounter these types of environments in the working world.
Scott Cooper's observation (personality clashes) has me nodding, but I've discovered another: lack of interest. Some students prefer to attack the learning process by themselves. I use the same technique others mention - that the work world will require they develop a "team" mentality/approach, but I'm interested in other responses. How do we motivate a student who doesn't want to to engage in group activity?
I teach adults as well, and what happens with group projects they end of doing their end of the deal on their own, while avoiding having to work with someone they do not get a long with.
A common theme is one or two people in the group always do all the work, while the others do not do anything or procrastinate, this drives the peak performing students crazy. The peak performing student wants to get the assignment done early and correctly. They also avoid confronting the students who do not care, as well as bringing it to the attention of the instructor, since their ultimate goal is to get the job done and get it done correctly.
Some students may feel that they are doing more work than others in the group. Also, deciding how to grade the individual students within a group.
Biggest challenge I have is keeping groups together
It is not a 'natural' occurence in 'my' industry which tends to value individualism to a large degree
It may be necessary to have people help each other occaisionally but usually just for a very short time or specific task (usually less than 30 mins)
A group implies everyone is equal, in the industry it's more likely that there will be a team where everyone may know how to do the job but will be better at specific tasks.
In a learning environment groups can help slower learners due to peer help but by the same token, slower, less able, or just plain lazy students can allow the 'leader' to do all the work.
I guess it could be a Bart Simson syndrome
Someone smart enough to avoid doing anything they don't find interesting or meaningful enough
I've seen one main problem with students working in groups and that is that one or a few students do the majority of the work because they want the good grade, but a way to combat that is to have them work in groups but give each student one job to do and then have them bring all the work together.
Varying attendance plays havoc with group projects. When a person is absent, the burden shifts to the other members of the group. If the absent individual is the critical path of the project, it could mean that the entire team comes to a standstill.
To avoid this, I encourage teams to share contact information and to keep teammates informed when they cannot meet a deliverable deadline.
To mitigate the problems associated with an absent individual in the critical path, I work with the team to develop a Plan B (or even a Plan C) to ameliorate the situation.
