I like this idea of accountability as group projects in college we're frustrating as not all participation was equal
I have often struggled with this in the past. I will incorporate the suggestions given in this module (I grade each student, my grade only being a smaller portion of what the groups grade each individual). That seems like a good compromise.
This has been a tough one for me. Not every person in a group is going to contribute the same amount of work. In the past I have given a grade for the group. In other words everyone in the group got the same grade. I've recently begun to think that a better approach is to have group members grade each other on their participation. I'm thinking of assigning peer evaluations a certain percentage of the overall grade for the assigned project, say 20%. How has this worked for others?
assign tasks and ask the group to distribute the work evenly through out the group. In any situation there are leaders and followers and this will be no different. In order to maintain a group dynamic, the group reports as a group weekly. In addition they will evaluate each others involvement and activities at the conclusion of the assignment.
Albert,
if handled correctly & efficiently I've found it to be a very beneficial tool with groups.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Peer review is a good thought, I'll try that in a class I'm teaching now which has a lot of group activities.
Whenever I have group projects I inform the students that I will be closely watching to see how well they participate both ways individual and together. I also let them know what I am looking for. When the project is presented I ask for a group participation list and also I see during the presentation who is inputting a little information up to who is inputting the most information. Each person will receive a group grade and an individaul grade and the two averaged out for a overall grade.
Antonio,
this is a good idea & is definitely a viable way to evaluate the group & the individuals involved.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
The best way to evaluate individual efforts in a group is annonymous evaluation of the groups performance. have each member discuss the pros and cons of the group and the over achievers and under acheivers.
My groups are anywhere from 3 to 5 students. They know when they start what is expected, and I monitor them to make sure they do not deviate from the task at hand.
I have had success with a work sheet that complements their lab sheet. The group completes the work but the each must complete their own lab sheet, and I will ask each one or two questions to make sure that they understand and know what they are doing.
Louis,
I think this is the best approach & also having group members assess one another & including this in the overall grade is a good idea too.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I like to use a combination of both instructor evaluation and student evaluation. I like to structure the assignment so that it can easily be broken down into individual tasks that can be distributed among the group members. As an instructor, this makes individual effort stand out more for evaluation. I will caution my students on the importance that everyone participates and that this will be monitored in both my observations and the peer evaluations I get from other students. To put students at ease about their evaluations, I also stress that student evaluations will only be seen by me.
I often struggle with grading group work. I am going to try to utilize the method of letting each member know what is expected of them and what they will be graded on.
Richard,
this is a great set up as it provides the accountability in a real work setting & rotation of duties is part of it.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Not to sound repetitive, but I also teach a surgical lab in the Vet Tech Dept of our college. We have a grouping of 3 students. One serves as the anesthesiology tech, another as the Sx prep tech and the last as the Floating nursing tech. They each are given duty sheets to fill out. I also ask questions of them pre-op, intra-op and post-op to see if they have an understanding of the procedures. I evaluate their sheets after surgery.
If one of them is deficient, I will discuss this with them privately.
The next Sx lab their roles are changed.
Antonette,
this is a good approach as it helps remind the students that they do have to learn to work with strangers & with those with whom they may not have a lot in common.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I teach lab. and I always group them. In grouping my students I always make sure that there is a leader whose willing to teach the slow learner. I balance them, but if I knew that one member is not comfortable in a group I made her fit in the group. She needs to cooperate and show effort as well. As much as I want all of them to excel it will not happen. I agree, you can't give all a perfect score.
I would use a combination of three examples given in this course. I believe to fully understand the dynamic each member of the group had while working on the project it would be best to heave each member grade themselves and their colleagues. I would also do my own assessment based on the achieved goals of the project. having a look from both sides of the group would allow you to best grade each individual and the group as a whole.
Carla,
this is true & this is why I really like the idea of having the students evaluate one another as they can tell us who is working & who isn't.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
