Terry,
one of the ongoing challenges of these types of groups. Sometimes if you can divide the work up or have specific roles for group members this can help distribute the work.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Ensuring that alll students have a role and work as a team.
Many times get students who want to be the star and run the show or others who prefer not to participate because they feel inadaquate and/or shy.
Bill,
this is definitely a potential strategy for showing the students the importance of staying on task & completing their projects. This is reflective of many of the group assignments in the corporate environment & so can be used to help prepare them for their careers.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I agree. When I was a student in my graduate courses, the professor used that technique and it worked out very well. Everyone in the group pulled their own weight. Since then I have been utilizing the same concept for my students. It's also a great idea to give each student in the group a separate role in the project. The students have to do their share of the work to have a well-done project. Groups size is another factor, the smaller the group the better. I feel groups of three to four students works best.
I agree, it's difficult to ensure all students are participating equally. One way would be to follow up and check
this is so true. Several students will have the tendency to be lazy so I have to prod them to work.
The biggest challenge is that they think its a social hour and wont get the work done that is required. I set a deadline on when the work is due and leave it at that. I make sure everyone knows that i am available to answer any questions they may have, I walk around the room, I do everything possible to make sure you are a sucvcess. If they want to socialize and not do the work, that is on them, but, when I say time is up and they cant produce the required work, they get what they get.
One of the challenges of having students work in groups is initially to be able successfully divide them into groups. Each student from the group must contribute and at first it might be difficult for shy students to speak up and feel at ease among their group members.
My current class is all girls. It has been a challenge getting them to work together and be nice. No matter how I mix them up there is always some drama.
Christina,
this is a great reason to do the peer evaluations. Also, this can help the peers evaluate one another on the soft skills of communication & listening to each other & not just how hard they worked. These are key skills for the job site as well.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
One challenge I have using groups is:
For groups spanning multiple classes e.g. a case study, student absentees pose the largest problem. It is difficult at times for a group to overcome a missing piece. My thought on that however is it creates a real life scenario. I try to interject as much real life work experience into my labs as I can feasibly do and this situation fits. I of course will not let a group fail due to an absent member but I may or may not make that information known at the time…wink wink.
Students in my classroom have generally been together as a class for at least 1 semester already, so they know one another fairly well by the time they reach me. Clicks have been formed and that makes it harder to form groups that combine students that may not like one another. It seems much more productive when I allow these clicks to remain intact and work on their projects.
I like the idea of having the students evaluate each other in the group as well! I have endured those who want to "fly on the coat tails" of the more motivated students and it makes the "group" project really unfair so this is a great solution. Maybe even divide the 30% grade by making 15% the instructor grade and the other 15% from the other students in the group evalutation. Maybe then they would make sure to get their part done so they wont get low marks from their peers! Christina
Juan,
this is a great point & I think also its good to remind the students that all will be accountable for the skill checks & skills required. This adds a little motivation for them to practice themselves.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
My bigest challenge in a technical Enviroment with groups is that sometimes there is the one person in the lab group that feels he doesnt need to do the hands on portion of the labs. He/She becomes the secretary for the group and fills in the the labs. I have encountered that on the final skills performance they dont score as well. They fill out the paper work great, but lack the ability. In an effort not to micromanage, I instruct groups to let themselves figure ouut how everyone in the group can participate.
Robert ,
these are all definitely challenges with groups. I've found that if I provide the needed structure typically the groups perform better.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Students can stray from the topic and just socialize, although some socialization should take place with positive interaction. Students can become loud and distract other groups, although motivated "noise" can sometimes be good.
Some students may contribute much more than others.
Amy,
I agree that the monitoring is key along with providing a timeline or checksheet for them to complete. This helps them stay focused on the task at hand & accomplish it in a timely manner.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I think some of the challenges of student groups would be for them to remain on task and not to socialize too much, that is why student monitoring is so vital.
