Group Assignments/Projects
I plan to utilize group assignments/projects as a way to facilitate the learning experience of the online learners. After week 1, I will begin to put students into groups according to the way they have performed during the 1st week of class. I intend to put students into groups of two, with one student having done poorly in the first week and the other having done exceptionally well. This way I feel that the students can help each other or the strong student can help the weak student. To prevent cheating or to ensure that one student is not obtaining all the answers from the other, I will give instructions that will require the answers to the assignments be written in their own words. Are there any pros or cons that may arise with this distribution of course work?
Dawn ,
Those same students are the ones working extra at work as well.
Shelly Crider
Honestly I am not a fan of group projects and never include them into my online courses or even on-ground courses.Too many times the students that truly care about their grades are doing most of the work and the others in the group benefit from this even though the work completed is nothing they contributed to. Most students I believe would rather not do group projects for this reason. I do like your idea of pairing a strong and weak student together, as I see your logic behind it. Does it always work, not always.
Dawn Huber
Sheryl,
Yes, having a student do evaluations is a must. Most online students are visual students, so reading what they did not help with and did help with is powerful.
Shelly Crider
Brenda,
You should always have an independent portion of the grade. There should also be a survey or review from the students on the group itself.
Shelly Crider
One component I always add to group projects is an evaluation component. Students must assess their contributions as well as the contributions of other group members. This is done without the whole group knowing how they assessed one another. This often makes it very clear who contributed and who didn't. Students are often very honest if they did not contribute as much as they should have.
How do one grade all members of the group fairly. This is always student concerns.
Karen,
You can actually set up a "group" in the discussion area where students can meet and convey ideas. They can also use email or live chat.
Shelly Crider
Dara,
Good idea....nice job thinking out of the box. You could even break the group project down and have steps 1 and 3 sent to the instructor individually and steps 2, 4,5 be completed and turned in by the group.....or something along those lines!
Shelly Crider
I have never assigned a group project online. I am not sure how they work. Do students email each other privately to get the work done? Also, what type of projects work well in the online environment? Can anyone be specific? Does anyone have any ideas on how to make a group project individually fair?
It might be a good idea to combine group projects and individual projects. For example: complete Assignment #1 with two other group members and submit Assignment #2 by yourself. This would foster a variety of learning options and help to reinforce the lesson.
Bonnie,
This is a true point in an online class or in a traditional class. You will always have students who do it all and some who do nothing, but we really do see that in the work force as well!
Shelly Crider
Not all students will participate in group projects.
Some students will do all of the work.
Ra'kia,
Very interesting!! Having the students to write in their own words accomplishes many factors including critical thinking!
Shelly Crider
