buddy system
From my experience the buddy system only works when the instructor is involved and can hear what is transpiring between the others. I have had students advise giving the wrong information. It is so very important to share with the instructor the information being passed on.
Patricia
I also have the students rate each other and themselves in group projects.
Thanks
Fred K
Patricia, I think that your technique of having students grade each other on participation is a good strategy! At present, I have students evaluate the participation of their group members in the last week of class. Perhaps, I should do this in the second week of the class and then again in the fourth AND fifth weeks of a five-week class, for example. Patricia, what do you think about having students evaluate participation of other students three out of five weeks of a five-week class?
John,
Yes, this is one of the many opportunities in this burgeoning segment. Thanks for your contributions.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
It seems to work with the most motivated students, so we are still left to figure out approaches for all the rest. It would be an interesting study.
John,
Many instructors feel it is sometimes a significant benefit. I haven't seen any good research on it yet.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Unfortunately we do not have a video feature, but I recently attended a symposium that points to the benefits of that.
John,
Very good. Do your synchronous chats include a video component? It seems to strengthen the effect in some of my experience.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I have had success and then encountered problems with this approach as well. One approach I have used with success is to have a synchronous chat study group that I lead. Students can work in teams and consult with each other in other chats. These chats assist in preparing for upcoming tests.
As is mentioned in other posts, when the students do not have the instructor involved in the discussion or at least available it often times falls apart. Different levels of student motivation and availability also play a role in this.
In my first example, even students who did not participate in the chat can access the discussion as a study guide. Student questions assist the instructor to see the level of the students in the class.
Ruth,
The irony of the course being an ethics class makes it just a little more painful. The design of group projects should begin with the instructional design team establishing roles that are interdependent, yet have clearly delineated responsibilities. It is up to the instructor/facilitator to monitor closely the individual team memebers' participation. When a team member does not meet the requiremnts of the assigned/selected role, the facilitator must compensate for the deficiency.
Online groupwork is highly beneficial when implemented correctly, but can be very difficult when followthrough does not occur. When it is accomplished correctly by the design team and the facilitator, it is one of the most time-consuming instructional techniques. That's probably why not much of it is around. The right way is a very tough road for this particular instructional method in the online classroom. Nevertheless, it CAN be very beneficial. Thank you so much for sharing.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
The biggest problem with group projects in the online venue is retention rate and what happens to the group when some of an assigned group team have dropped the course before the due date of the assignment. How do you establish a fair grade for the remaining few students that were supposed to be part of an assignment designed for a larger group? There is a need of closer monitoring of the student enrollment status when online group projects are required by a curriculum.
Another problem occurs when students in the group refuse or fail to follow through with group interactions--in my experience, some never logged on to the group meetings at all. As a student on an online course, I once experienced an instructor that took a cruise during the course depending on sketchy online connections and irregular times when he was unavailable. We had an online project in which I was one of four members. Even though I tried several times to get responses from my "team members," within the first week I realized that I was on my own and powerless to get response from the instructor as to how to proceed for nearly two more weeks--meanwhile the deadline was ticking along. It was the most frustrating experience. I handed in work covering basically what four people were supposed to do in concert and felt cheated that there was no compensation for the extra time and effort that I had to put out to get the job done.
It turned out that the instructor would have amended the requirements had he been available to do so at the time, but with the deadline looming, I was afraid to turn in less than what was originally assigned for the group since there wasn't any evidence which person was responsible for what part of the project--all due to lack of communication and access.
In this case, I feel that the instructor was irresponsible and possibly naive to think he could manage a class from a cruise ship in Mexico, but how much of that blame is shared by the Administration of the school? Once a student pays for the course, are there other parameters that should be met or face consequences of the student being dropped from the class? It soured the whole experience for me--and that was an Ethics course!
Devon,
The 'real-time' interaction (from time to time) among students and the instructor in the chat can significantly enhance the buddy system. Good point.
Having chat room sessions is an effective way of student interaction.
I have group projects where students grade each other on participation. Students are harder on each other and it enables me to get a good insight who contributes or not.
When I do not let students change groups in a project (10 weeks long) and get involved with conflict resolution. This also helps me to see who or what is the problem. When the next course starts, I then allow the group to change and place the student in another group. The majority of the time it is a personality clash.
I do tell students that the final project is a group grade divided eveningly amongst the group.
This is a good point. Perhaps having an open/separate forum created by the peer groups to allow for interaction privately for them, but publicly so that the instructor can monitor.
