Hi John,
I teach a lot online too and have found myself really having to step up my communication skills. My voice, my tone in my writing, and overall explanations needed to improve. :) When you can't make eye contact it's hard to gauge what is happening. Great points!
Thanks Dr. Meers. It is a critical part of my evaluation.
Kelly,
this is a great strategy to get to know your students better & also sounds like it helps you in evaluating them & their contributions to group projects.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I have a great opportunity to teach lab. Since they are working in small groups, I am available to walk around the classroom and engage all my students on an individual and group level. I get to know them, and sit down next to them. I am available for them to ask me questions, but I also ask them questions to test their comprehension. I redraw diagrams for them and really make sure they have the take-home message before they leave my classroom. My feedback from my students is always high and I really enjoy that as well. :)
Emma,
these are all great strategies to help ensure that the groups are the most effective that they can be.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I was in a part of a course where, at the end of the 16 weeks, each member of the group would give grades for all of the other members. It was a 3 person group and I had done 90% of the work. I wanted the other students to succeed but I also want to be fair. I ended up spliting the credit into even thirds. The professor asked to meet with our group and asked the other 2 why they gave themselves such low grades and they explained that I had done must of the work throughout the semester. So I've seen first hand that students who know they've not done the work will tend to treat themselves fairly.
The group must be informed of each Individual student performance; in other words, the group will have also the popportunity how their members are doing.Giving students an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of their group by designing and completing a brief evaluation form on the effectiveness of the groups, its members, and or its projects.
This form must include items about the groups overall objective, accomplishments, roles and suggestions.
I believe in grading students individually, through their contribution, individual test scores, or the group's evaluation of each member's work.
It is difficult or challenging to assign the same grade to the entire group, as the grade cannot account for more than a small part of a student's grade in the class.
I will ensure that students are held accountable by including spot quizzes to be completed individually and calling on individual students to present their group's progress.
Members of the group need to understand that they need to collaborate with each other to complete projects and they cannot let others do all the work while they sit back and earn good grades doing nothing.
Kimberly,
This is true but it is so important that we utilize group projects as much career fields now have some type of group work involved.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Most of our young generation has grown up in a highly individually motivated culture and they seem to lack team spirit. The ability to work with people who have different ideas and viewpoints should be a part of our educational intention. In a Group project every group member needs be involved and be encouraged to carry their share of the load and utilize the combined strength of the group to successfully accomplish their project.
1. Clear set of guide lines showing how students will graded
2. Group Project End Result 50%
3. Individual participation 20%
4. Peer evaluation 10%
5. Self evaluation 10%
6. Project Report - What has been learned from this group project assignment and what would you do differently to improve the project. 10%
The comments should be positive feedback or constructive criticism to improve/help the team member or the group project.
Most students do not like team or group projects. It is imperative that a good instructor get everyone to participate. Powperpoint presentations and table topic discussions get the ball rolling and help students get to know who is in their class.
John,
I think your post reflects the importance of we instructors doing our jobs of monitoring & also understanding the nuances of communication so we can read these situations properly.
Dr. Ryan Meers
The majority of my teaching has been online, I'm not able to see my students; but, I've learned to 'read' the tone of a group by comments/submissions. I usually at on target when I notice a situation that requires correction. Usually (my students being adults) I simply have to make my presence known/felt; I communicate with the appointed team leader asking him/her if my impression is correct and to see what they can do to get the team back on track if required. I followup and if I have to I will communication via email or even meet (with audio) the team to discussion the situation. But, it all comes down to communication, monitoring and followups.
Andy ,
Yes when the students know that we are monitoring them & also that they will be evaluated by their peers at the end of the project, I have found that they are generally more engaged in the process.
Dr. Ryan Meers
While monitoring the entire group, I also need to be sure and watch individuals as well. Therefore I go in and keep track of the work being done throughout the term. i monitor their attendance as well as motivation in getting the job done.
I also require all team members to provide me with feedback at the end of the term or assignment. here they will rate each team member and let me know if there was any problems throughout the term that I should have been aware of.
From my experience the students tend to work well together especially when they know that they will be reviewed by their own pears at the end.
Tehea,
I too have found peer reviews to be a great way to evaluate the even distribution of work within the groups, especially when I can't spend a lot of time with each one.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Evaluting individual effort while working with a group is obtained by making sure all individual have participated in the group. Peer reviews help especially if someone is not "pulling their weight"
Timothy,
Great job! I especially like your efforts to get all of the students engaged in the discussion. I think this can also be a great example to all of the students as to how they can draw out ideas from others in future work groups.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Billy,
This is a great idea. A couple of things here, first of all congratulations on your willingness to step into a new teaching method & try it out! Secondly, great job in providing an activity where a variety of majors/students could all utilize their talents & still accomplish the task of writing an essay.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Tracy,
This is a great idea for these type of settings. I have to confess that in my undergrad Chemistry class, I was definitely the one who did not understand the concepts & heavily relied on my lab partners...Great now I have guilt!
Dr. Ryan Meers
First what I believe is a very important piece of student groups is the size of the group, the make up of the group, and the environment for the group session. I teach mostly foreign students and sometimes they are from several different countries so I always limit the size of the group to a maximum of 8 and when possible each group will have representation from every country in my seminar. Finally, I seperate each group either in different room or at opposite ends of a classroom to allow for private group interaction and I put the students at a round table or on both sides of a rectangular table so that everyone is facing each other. This seating makes it almost impossible for a student not to get involved because he has to be accountable to his peers at his table. Also, I try to identify the natural leader type students and make sure there is only one in each group so that they don't dominate the discussion. Finally, I spend time with each group and observe their behavior. You can tell by the body positions and expressions of the students on whether or not they are comfortable in the group. Once I have determined the dynamics of the group, I get each student involved in the discussion or problem solving process by asking them questions at the table so that their opinion is heard by the whole group.
