One of the biggest challenges of having students work in groups is ensuring that each member of the team is contributing their fair share and finding ways to hold each student accountable.
There are some challenges to assigning group work such as some students take on most of the work while others sit back and let them do the work while they relax and do nothing. I have faced this many times before. In order to prevent this from happening, I have given a group grade and an individual grade for each project. I observe how the group members are working, seeing who is doing what and how and then give them anonymous group evaluation forms where they can tell me who did what and who didn't give enough input etc. Then I give individual grades based on that and the group grade holistically on what they hand in to me. It seems to work so far. Also, I would like to point out that I feel that groups of 3-4 work better than the suggested 6-8 member groups. It leaves less of a chance to have students slack off, being unnoticed and reaping the benefits of their peers' work. Why are such large groups suggested?
The biggest challenge I find in using students groups for projects is that there are always those students who do nothing. That leaves the burden on the other members. For this reason I do not feel that students should be graded as a group. Individual assessment is a fairer way to judge.
If the group is used for an assignment and a student is not participating, I can catch that when I go from group to group to listen and observe.
Irving,
this is true & many suggestions have been given on this forum to try to help mitigate this situation. I would still contend that this is not a reason to discard student groups all together.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
When using student groups, one of the biggest challenges faced deals with the amount of work each member puts into the project. There is always the one or two students that "take over" and do the majority of the work, while one or two students sit back and do nothing. This inequality of work needs to be stopped before it begins. Therefore, the instructor must make sure that work is divided evenly between group members.
One of the main challenges of student groups is the fact that everyone doesn't carry their own weight. There is never equal cooperation but there always seems to be a slacker. Someone always reaps the benefits the hard work of others.
Hmmm. I guess I have always looked at group projects as specific to content application only; however, I have a new thought to use the dynamics of the group to mirror a working environment while engaged in content application. Hmmm. Hope it is successful.
Kimberley,
this is definitely a significant challenge & one reason why I like the idea of having well defined roles for the various group members.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Chelsea,
this is why really like the idea of having the well defined roles for the group members to help keep them on track.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
having all the students contribute equally
One or 2 students might end up doing all the work while the other students go along for the ride.
The wandering student who pays more attention to other groups and the nonparticpative student who sits without self-engagement..its awesome when they are in the same group..AHHH
One challenge I have when putting students into groups is that only some of the student will put effort into the activity, while others will sit back and not participate. Or I will see too much socializing and not enough work being put into the activity.
Sheena,
this is definitely a challenge with groups. I like to use an individual grading format that allows the group members to grade each other (anonymously of course) & have found that this helps some with the sharing of the work.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
One of the biggest challenges I have observed is ensuring all members participate and share the work equally.
This is very true. Group work will not help you to learn a complex subject but it will help you to learn how to collaborate and work with others as a team. Collaboration provides many opportunities to share diverse perspectives and expertise.
The biggest challenges of student groups is equal distribution of the workload because you will always have students who take the lead, a couple who will do just enough to make it look like they are doing something,and then those who do nothing. Because of these dynamics, I only use student groups for "hands on" projects.
I have small classes, and these classes have the same student makeup each term. This can develop resentment over time if you allow the same groups to be formed in each class and term to term. I like to change or breakup these groups to prevent alliance which can cause disruption to the class dynamics. Plus, it forces people to learn how to work with others despite their difference and learn from each other.
Roger,
I think it is important to separate the group grade & individual grade as you've indicated. This tends to help the concerned students alleviate their fears at least a little bit.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
This can be a problem. However one thing that I have done is to let students know that the entire group will not automatically all get the same grade, They will complete a team evaluation following the project and members will complete the information for all team members. I let them see the evaluation prior to the start of the project so that they know what they will be assessing each other on. When students realize that they will be held accountable for their participation, they are more likely to participate and pull their weight in the group.
